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)
7 [![Snap Status](https://build.snapcraft.io/badge/zyedidia/micro.svg)](https://build.snapcraft.io/user/zyedidia/micro)
9 Micro is a terminal-based text editor that aims to be easy to use and intuitive, while also taking advantage of the full capabilities
10 of modern terminals. It comes as one single batteries-included binary with no dependencies, and you can download and use it right now.
12 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
13 enjoyable to use full time, whether you work in the terminal because you prefer it (like me), or because you need to (over ssh).
15 Here is a picture of micro editing its source code.
17 ![Screenshot](./assets/micro-solarized.png)
19 To see more screenshots of micro, showcasing some of the default colorschemes, see [here](http://zbyedidia.webfactional.com/micro/screenshots.html).
21 You can also check out the website for Micro at https://micro-editor.github.io.
24 - [Features](#features)
25 - [Installation](#installation)
26 - [Prebuilt binaries](#prebuilt-binaries)
27 - [Package Managers](#package-managers)
28 - [Building from source](#building-from-source)
29 - [MacOS terminal](#macos-terminal)
30 - [Linux clipboard support](#linux-clipboard-support)
31 - [Colors and syntax highlighting](#colors-and-syntax-highlighting)
32 - [Plan9, Cygwin, Mingw](#plan9-cygwin-mingw)
34 - [Documentation and Help](#documentation-and-help)
35 - [Contributing](#contributing)
41 * Easy to use and to install
42 * No dependencies or external files are needed -- just the binary you can download further down the page
44 * Common keybindings (ctrl-s, ctrl-c, ctrl-v, ctrl-z...)
45 * Keybindings can be rebound to your liking
47 * You shouldn't have to configure much out of the box (and it is extremely easy to configure)
49 * Nano-like menu to help you remember the keybindings
50 * Extremely good mouse support
51 * This means mouse dragging to create a selection, double click to select by word, and triple click to select by line
52 * Cross platform (It should work on all the platforms Go runs on)
53 * Note that while Windows is supported Mingw/Cygwin is not (see below)
54 * Plugin system (plugins are written in Lua)
56 * Automatic linting and error notifications
57 * Syntax highlighting (for over [120 languages](runtime/syntax)!)
59 * By default, micro comes with 16, 256, and true color themes.
60 * True color support (set the `MICRO_TRUECOLOR` environment variable to 1 to enable it)
61 * Copy and paste with the system clipboard (requires xclip/xsel on Linux)
62 * Built-in diff gutter
63 * Simple autocompletion
67 * Common editor things such as undo/redo, line numbers, Unicode support, softwrap...
71 To install micro, you can download a [prebuilt binary](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/releases), or you can build it from source.
73 If you want more information about ways to install micro, see this [wiki page](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/wiki/Installing-Micro).
77 All you need to install micro is one file, the binary itself. It's as simple as that!
79 Download the binary from the [releases](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/releases) page.
81 On that page you'll see the nightly release, which contains binaries for micro which are built every night,
82 and you'll see all the stable releases with the corresponding binaries.
84 If you'd like to see more information after installing micro, run `micro -version`.
86 ### Installation script
88 There is a great script which can install micro for you by downloading the latest prebuilt binary. You can find it at https://getmic.ro (the github repo for it is [here](https://github.com/benweissmann/getmic.ro)).
90 Then you can easily install micro:
92 $ curl https://getmic.ro | bash
94 The script will install the micro binary to the current directory.
96 See the [Github page](https://github.com/benweissmann/getmic.ro) for more information.
100 You can install micro using Homebrew on Mac:
106 On Debian Linux, you can install micro through [snap](https://snapcraft.io/docs/core/install)
109 snap install micro --classic
112 Homebrew and snap are the two "officially" maintained package manager distributions of micro.
114 Micro is also available through other package managers on Linux such as AUR, Nix, and package managers
115 for other operating systems:
117 * Windows: [Chocolatey](https://chocolatey.org) and [Scoop](https://github.com/lukesampson/scoop)
118 * `choco install micro`
119 * `scoop install micro`
120 * OpenBSD: Available in the ports tree and also available as a binary package
123 ### Building from source
125 If your operating system does not have a binary release, but does run Go, you can build from source.
127 Make sure that you have Go version 1.11 or greater and Go modules are enabled.
130 git clone https://github.com/zyedidia/micro
133 sudo mv micro /usr/local/bin # optional
136 The binary will be placed in the current directory and can be moved to
137 anywhere you like (for example `/usr/local/bin`).
139 The command `make install` will install the binary to `$GOPATH/bin` or `$GOBIN`.
141 You can install directly with `go get` (`go get github.com/zyedidia/micro/cmd/micro`) but this isn't
142 recommended because it doesn't build micro with version information, and doesn't disable debug mode.
146 If you are using MacOS, you should consider using [iTerm2](http://iterm2.com/) instead of the default Mac terminal. The iTerm2 terminal has much better mouse support as well as better handling of key events. For best keybinding behavior, choose `xterm defaults` under `Preferences->Profiles->Keys->Load Preset`. The newest versions also support true color.
148 If you still insist on using the default Mac terminal, be sure to set `Use Option key as Meta key` under
149 `Preferences->Profiles->Keyboard` to use <kbd>option</kbd> as <kbd>alt</kbd>.
151 ### Linux clipboard support
153 On Linux, clipboard support requires the 'xclip' or 'xsel' commands to be installed.
158 sudo apt-get install xclip
161 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.
163 ### Colors and syntax highlighting
165 If you open micro and it doesn't seem like syntax highlighting is working, this is probably because
166 you are using a terminal which does not support 256 colors. Try changing the colorscheme to `simple`
167 by pressing CtrlE in micro and typing `set colorscheme simple`.
169 If you are using the default Ubuntu terminal, to enable 256 make sure your `TERM` variable is set
172 Many older Windows terminals don't support more than 16 colors, which means
173 that micro's default colorscheme won't look very good. You can either set
174 the colorscheme to `simple`, or download a better terminal emulator, like
175 mintty. However, if you are on a recent version of Windows 10, the default
176 `cmd.exe` should do fine.
178 ### Plan9, Cygwin, Mingw
180 These platforms are unfortunately not supported.
182 Micro uses the amazing [tcell library](https://github.com/gdamore/tcell), but this
183 means that micro is restricted to the platforms tcell supports. As a result, micro does not support
184 Plan9, and Cygwin (although this may change in the future). Micro also doesn't support NaCl (but NaCl is deprecated anyways).
188 Once you have built the editor, simply start it by running `micro path/to/file.txt` or simply `micro` to open an empty buffer.
190 Micro also supports creating buffers from `stdin`:
196 You can move the cursor around with the arrow keys and mouse.
198 You can also use the mouse to manipulate the text. Simply clicking and dragging
199 will select text. You can also double click to enable word selection, and triple
200 click to enable line selection.
202 # Documentation and Help
204 Micro has a built-in help system which you can access by pressing `Ctrl-E` and typing `help`. Additionally, you can
205 view the help files here:
207 * [main help](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/tree/master/runtime/help/help.md)
208 * [keybindings](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/tree/master/runtime/help/keybindings.md)
209 * [commands](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/tree/master/runtime/help/commands.md)
210 * [colors](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/tree/master/runtime/help/colors.md)
211 * [options](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/tree/master/runtime/help/options.md)
212 * [plugins](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/tree/master/runtime/help/plugins.md)
214 I also recommend reading the [tutorial](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/tree/master/runtime/help/tutorial.md) for
215 a brief introduction to the more powerful configuration features micro offers.
219 If you find any bugs, please report them! I am also happy to accept pull requests from anyone.
221 You can use the [GitHub issue tracker](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/issues)
222 to report bugs, ask questions, or suggest new features.
224 For a more informal setting to discuss the editor, you can join the [Gitter chat](https://gitter.im/zyedidia/micro).