1 # ![Micro](./assets/logo.png)
3 [![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/zyedidia/micro.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/zyedidia/micro)
4 [![Go Report Card](https://goreportcard.com/badge/github.com/zyedidia/micro)](https://goreportcard.com/report/github.com/zyedidia/micro)
5 [![Join the chat at https://gitter.im/zyedidia/micro](https://badges.gitter.im/zyedidia/micro.svg)](https://gitter.im/zyedidia/micro?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=badge&utm_campaign=pr-badge&utm_content=badge)
6 [![MIT License](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-blue.svg)](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/blob/master/LICENSE)
8 Micro is a terminal-based text editor that aims to be easy to use and intuitive, while also taking advantage of the full capabilities
9 of modern terminals. It comes as one single, batteries-included, static binary with no dependencies, and you can download and use it right now.
11 As the name indicates, micro aims to be somewhat of a successor to the nano editor by being easy to install and use in a pinch, but micro also aims to be
12 enjoyable to use full time, whether you work in the terminal because you prefer it (like me), or because you need to (over ssh).
14 Here is a picture of micro editing its source code.
16 ![Screenshot](./assets/micro-solarized.png)
18 To see more screenshots of micro, showcasing all of the default colorschemes, see [here](http://zbyedidia.webfactional.com/micro/screenshots.html).
22 * Easy to use and to install
23 * No dependencies or external files are needed -- just the binary you can download further down the page
24 * Common keybindings (ctrl-s, ctrl-c, ctrl-v, ctrl-z...)
25 * Keybindings can be rebound to your liking
27 * You shouldn't have to configure much out of the box (and it is extremely easy to configure)
29 * Extremely good mouse support
30 * This means mouse dragging to create a selection, double click to select by word, and triple click to select by line
31 * Cross platform (It should work on all the platforms Go runs on)
32 * Note that while Windows is supported, there are still some bugs that need to be worked out
33 * Plugin system (plugins are written in Lua)
35 * Automatic linting and error notifications
36 * Syntax highlighting (for over [75 languages](runtime/syntax)!)
38 * By default, micro comes with 16, 256, and true color themes.
39 * True color support (set the `MICRO_TRUECOLOR` env variable to 1 to enable it)
40 * Copy and paste with the system clipboard
44 * Common editor things such as undo/redo, line numbers, Unicode support...
46 Although not yet implemented, I hope to add more features such as autocompletion ([#174](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/issues/174)), and multiple cursors ([#5](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/issues/5)) in the future.
50 To install micro, you can download a [prebuilt binary](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/releases), or you can build it from source.
52 If you want more information about ways to install micro, see this [wiki page](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/wiki/Installing-Micro).
56 All you need to install micro is one file, the binary itself. It's as simple as that!
58 Download the binary from the [releases](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/releases) page.
60 On that page you'll see the nightly release, which contains binaries for micro which are built every night,
61 and you'll see all the stable releases with the corresponding binaries.
63 If you'd like to see more information after installing micro, run `micro -version`.
67 You can also install micro using Homebrew on Mac:
70 $ brew tap zyedidia/micro
74 ### Building from source
76 If your operating system does not have a binary release, but does run Go, you can build from source.
78 Make sure that you have Go version 1.5 or greater (Go 1.4 will work if your version supports CGO).
81 go get -u github.com/zyedidia/micro/...
84 ### Linux clipboard support
86 On Linux, clipboard support requires the 'xclip' or 'xsel' commands to be installed.
91 sudo apt-get install xclip
94 If you don't have xclip or xsel, micro will use an internal clipboard for copy and paste, but it won't work with external applications.
96 ### Colors and syntax highlighting
98 If you open micro and it doesn't seem like syntax highlighting is working, this is probably because
99 you are using a terminal which does not support 256 color. Try changing the colorscheme to `simple`
100 by running `> set colorscheme simple`.
102 If you are using the default Ubuntu terminal, to enable 256 make sure your `TERM` variable is set
105 Many of the Windows terminals don't support more than 16 colors, which means
106 that micro's default colorscheme won't look very good. You can either set
107 the colorscheme to `simple`, or download a better terminal emulator, like
110 ### Plan9, NaCl, Cygwin
112 Please note that micro uses the amazing [tcell library](https://github.com/gdamore/tcell), but this
113 means that micro is restricted to the platforms tcell supports. As a result, micro does not support
114 Plan9, NaCl, and Cygwin (although this may change in the future).
118 Once you have built the editor, simply start it by running `micro path/to/file.txt` or simply `micro` to open an empty buffer.
120 Micro also supports creating buffers from `stdin`:
126 You can move the cursor around with the arrow keys and mouse.
128 You can also use the mouse to manipulate the text. Simply clicking and dragging
129 will select text. You can also double click to enable word selection, and triple
130 click to enable line selection.
132 # Documentation and Help
134 Micro has a built-in help system which you can access by pressing `Ctrl-E` and typing `help`. Additionally, you can
135 view the help files here:
137 * [main help](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/tree/master/runtime/help/help.md)
138 * [keybindings](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/tree/master/runtime/help/keybindings.md)
139 * [commands](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/tree/master/runtime/help/commands.md)
140 * [colors](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/tree/master/runtime/help/colors.md)
141 * [options](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/tree/master/runtime/help/options.md)
142 * [plugins](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/tree/master/runtime/help/plugins.md)
144 I also recommend reading the [tutorial](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/tree/master/runtime/help/tutorial.md) for
145 a brief introduction to the more powerful configuration features micro offers.
149 If you find any bugs, please report them! I am also happy to accept pull requests from anyone.
151 You can use the [GitHub issue tracker](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/issues) to report bugs, ask questions, or suggest new features.
153 For a more informal setting to discuss the editor, you can join the [Gitter chat](https://gitter.im/zyedidia/micro).