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How To Do X?

Quick cookbook-style answers to common tasks in Pragtical.

Files & Navigation​

Open a file quickly​

Press Ctrl+P (or Cmd+P on macOS) to open the fuzzy file finder. Start typing the filename and press Enter.

Find files in my project​

Open command palette with Ctrl+Shift+P, type "Find File", then press Enter to search for files in your project

Switch between open files​

  • Ctrl+Tab - Cycle through recent files
  • Alt+1 through Alt+9 - Jump to specific tab
  • Middle-click on a tab to close it

Open the file tree​

Press Ctrl+\ to toggle the file tree sidebar.

Search & Replace​

Search in current file​

Ctrl+F - Find text, Ctrl+R - Find and replace

Search across entire project​

Ctrl+Shift+F - Opens project search with results in a new view

In the search dialog, click the regex button (or open command palette with Ctrl+Shift+P, type "Toggle Regex", then press Enter)

Find next/previous match​

F3 - Find next Shift+F3 - Find previous

Editing​

Multiple cursors​

  • Hold Ctrl and click to add cursors
  • Ctrl+D - Select next occurrence of current word
  • Ctrl+Shift+L - Select all occurrences
  • Ctrl+Shift+Up/Down - Add cursor above/below

Comment/uncomment lines​

Ctrl+/ - Toggle line comments on selected lines

Indent/unindent​

  • Tab - Indent
  • Shift+Tab - Unindent

Duplicate line​

Ctrl+Shift+D - Duplicate current line

Delete line​

Ctrl+Shift+K - Delete current line

Move lines up/down​

Ctrl+Up/Down - Move selected lines

Align columns​

Select lines, then open command palette with Ctrl+Shift+P, type "Tabularize", press Enter, and specify delimiter (e.g., = or ,)

Example:

name=John         →    name  = John
age=30            →    age   = 30
city=New York     →    city  = New York

Macros​

Record a macro​

  1. Press Ctrl+Shift+; to start recording
  2. Perform your actions (typing, navigation, etc.)
  3. Press Ctrl+Shift+; again to stop

Play a macro​

Press Ctrl+; to replay the last recorded macro

Example: Record typing console.log() and placing cursor inside, then replay on multiple lines.

View & Layout​

Split view​

Right-click a tab → "Split Right/Left/Up/Down" or drag a tab to screen edge

Zoom in/out​

  • Ctrl+= - Zoom in
  • Ctrl+- - Zoom out
  • Ctrl+0 - Reset zoom

Toggle fullscreen​

F11 - Toggle fullscreen mode

View whitespace​

Open command palette with Ctrl+Shift+P, type "Draw Whitespace: Toggle", then press Enter

Show line guide​

Open command palette with Ctrl+Shift+P, navigate to Settings → Plugins → Line Guide → Enable

Command Palette​

Open command palette​

Ctrl+Shift+P - Shows all available commands with fuzzy search

Tip: You can type partial command names. For example, "tof" finds "Toggle Fullscreen".

Settings & Customization​

Change theme​

Settings → Colors tab → Select theme

Change font​

Settings → Core → Editor → Code Font

Adjust font size​

Settings → Core → Editor → Font Size

Disable a plugin​

Add to your init.lua:

config.plugins.plugin_name = false

Change indentation​

Open command palette with Ctrl+Shift+P, navigate to Settings → Core → Editor

  • Set "Indent Size" (default: 2)
  • Set "Indentation Type" (default: space)

Change key bindings​

Settings → Keybindings → Find command → Add/change binding

Keybindings​

Bind a key to a command​

Add to your init.lua:

local keymap = require "core.keymap"
keymap.add {
  ["ctrl+k"] = "doc:delete-to-end-of-line",
  ["f5"] = "core:reload-module"
}

Bind multiple commands to one key​

Commands will execute in order:

keymap.add {
  ["ctrl+d"] = {
    "doc:select-word",
    "find-replace:select-next"
  }
}

Unbind a key​

local keymap = require "core.keymap"
keymap.unbind("ctrl+d", "doc:select-word")

Or unbind all commands from a key:

keymap.unbind("ctrl+d")  -- Removes all commands

Override a keybinding completely​

Pass true as second parameter to replace instead of adding:

keymap.add({
  ["ctrl+s"] = "my-plugin:custom-save"
}, true)  -- Replaces existing binding

Find what a key does​

Open command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) and look for the keybinding shown on the right, or check Settings → Keybindings.

Workspace & Sessions​

Save workspace​

Your workspace (open files, layout) saves automatically per project.

Open recent project​

Open command palette with Ctrl+Shift+P, type "Open Recent Project", then press Enter

Add folder to current project​

Open command palette with Ctrl+Shift+P, type "Core: Add Directory", then press Enter

Change project directory​

Open command palette with Ctrl+Shift+P, type "Core: Change Project Folder", then press Enter

Advanced​

Jump to line​

Ctrl+G - Opens "Go to Line" dialog

Toggle case​

Select text → open command palette with Ctrl+Shift+P, type "Uppercase/Lowercase", then press Enter

Trim trailing whitespace​

Disabled by default. To configure: Settings → Plugins → Trim Whitespace

Wrap long lines​

Settings → Plugins → Line Wrapping → Enable

Diff view​

Open command palette with Ctrl+Shift+P, type "Diff View: Start Files Comparison", then press Enter to compare two files side-by-side

Getting Help​

View all keybindings​

Settings -> Keybindings

Check logs​

Open command palette with Ctrl+Shift+P, type "Core: Open Log", then press Enter

Tips & Tricks​

Fuzzy matching works everywhere​

When searching files, commands, or autocomplete, you don't need to type the full name. "prse" matches "project_search".

Fuzzy matching in current doc​

Ctrl+G (go to line) also works to fuzzy match lines in the current doc.

Drag and drop​

Drag files from your file manager into Pragtical to open them.

Multiple projects​

Add multiple folders to work on several projects simultaneously: open command palette with Ctrl+Shift+P, type "Core: Add Directory", then press Enter

Pattern exclusions​

Configure ignored files/folders in Settings or init.lua:

-- additions to the default ignored files and folders
local config = require "core.config"
table.insert(config.ignore_files, "^%.git/")
table.insert(config.ignore_files, "^node_modules/")

Quick color picker​

Place cursor on a color code (like #FF0000) → open command palette with Ctrl+Shift+P, type "Pick Color", then press Enter

Can't Find What You Need?​

Remember: Commands are the heart of Pragtical. Almost every action in the editor has an associated command. If you're looking for a feature, it probably exists as a command!

How to discover commands:

  • Open command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) and browse or search - you'll find hundreds of available commands
  • Commands show their current keybindings (if any) on the right side
  • Many features don't have default keybindings but are available as commands
  • Plugin commands are prefixed with the plugin name (e.g., treeview:open)

Still stuck?

  • Ask in Discord!
  • Check the User Guide for detailed configuration
  • See Developer Guide for plugin development
  • Browse built-in plugins at data/plugins/ for examples
  • Visit the GitHub issues page for questions and feature requests