ZSHZLE(1) User Commands ZSHZLE(1)

NAME

zshzle - zsh command line editor

DESCRIPTION

If the ZLE option is set (which it is by default in interactive
shells) and the shell input is attached to the terminal, the user is
able to edit command lines.

There are two display modes. The first, multiline mode, is the
default. It only works if the TERM parameter is set to a valid
terminal type that can move the cursor up. The second, single line
mode, is used if TERM is invalid or incapable of moving the cursor
up, or if the SINGLE_LINE_ZLE option is set. This mode is similar to
ksh, and uses no termcap sequences. If TERM is "emacs", the ZLE
option will be unset by default.

The parameters BAUD, COLUMNS, and LINES are also used by the line
editor. See Parameters Used By The Shell in zshparam(1).

The parameter zle_highlight is also used by the line editor; see
Character Highlighting below. Highlighting of special characters and
the region between the cursor and the mark (as set with
set-mark-command in Emacs mode, or by visual-mode in Vi mode) is
enabled by default; consult this reference for more information.
Irascible conservatives will wish to know that all highlighting may
be disabled by the following setting:

zle_highlight=(none)

In many places, references are made to the numeric argument. This
can by default be entered in emacs mode by holding the alt key and
typing a number, or pressing escape before each digit, and in vi
command mode by typing the number before entering a command.
Generally the numeric argument causes the next command entered to be
repeated the specified number of times, unless otherwise noted below;
this is implemented by the digit-argument widget. See also the
Arguments subsection of the Widgets section for some other ways the
numeric argument can be modified.

KEYMAPS

A keymap in ZLE contains a set of bindings between key sequences and
ZLE commands. The empty key sequence cannot be bound.

There can be any number of keymaps at any time, and each keymap has
one or more names. If all of a keymap's names are deleted, it
disappears. bindkey can be used to manipulate keymap names.

Initially, there are eight keymaps:

emacs EMACS emulation
viins vi emulation - insert mode
vicmd vi emulation - command mode
viopp vi emulation - operator pending
visual vi emulation - selection active
isearch
incremental search mode
command
read a command name
.safe fallback keymap

The `.safe' keymap is special. It can never be altered, and the name
can never be removed. However, it can be linked to other names,
which can be removed. In the future other special keymaps may be
added; users should avoid using names beginning with `.' for their
own keymaps.

In addition to these names, either `emacs' or `viins' is also linked
to the name `main'. If one of the VISUAL or EDITOR environment
variables contain the string `vi' when the shell starts up then it
will be `viins', otherwise it will be `emacs'. bindkey's -e and -v
options provide a convenient way to override this default choice.

When the editor starts up, it will select the `main' keymap. If that
keymap doesn't exist, it will use `.safe' instead.

In the `.safe' keymap, each single key is bound to self-insert,
except for ^J (line feed) and ^M (return) which are bound to
accept-line. This is deliberately not pleasant to use; if you are
using it, it means you deleted the main keymap, and you should put it
back.

Reading Commands

When ZLE is reading a command from the terminal, it may read a
sequence that is bound to some command and is also a prefix of a
longer bound string. In this case ZLE will wait a certain time to
see if more characters are typed, and if not (or they don't match any
longer string) it will execute the binding. This timeout is defined
by the KEYTIMEOUT parameter; its default is 0.4 sec. There is no
timeout if the prefix string is not itself bound to a command.

The key timeout is also applied when ZLE is reading the bytes from a
multibyte character string when it is in the appropriate mode. (This
requires that the shell was compiled with multibyte mode enabled;
typically also the locale has characters with the UTF-8 encoding,
although any multibyte encoding known to the operating system is
supported.) If the second or a subsequent byte is not read within
the timeout period, the shell acts as if ? were typed and resets the
input state.

As well as ZLE commands, key sequences can be bound to other strings,
by using `bindkey -s'. When such a sequence is read, the replacement
string is pushed back as input, and the command reading process
starts again using these fake keystrokes. This input can itself
invoke further replacement strings, but in order to detect loops the
process will be stopped if there are twenty such replacements without
a real command being read.

A key sequence typed by the user can be turned into a command name
for use in user-defined widgets with the read-command widget,
described in the subsection `Miscellaneous' of the section `Standard
Widgets' below.

Local Keymaps

While for normal editing a single keymap is used exclusively, in many
modes a local keymap allows for some keys to be customised. For
example, in an incremental search mode, a binding in the isearch
keymap will override a binding in the main keymap but all keys that
are not overridden can still be used.

If a key sequence is defined in a local keymap, it will hide a key
sequence in the global keymap that is a prefix of that sequence. An
example of this occurs with the binding of iw in viopp as this hides
the binding of i in vicmd. However, a longer sequence in the global
keymap that shares the same prefix can still apply so for example the
binding of ^Xa in the global keymap will be unaffected by the binding
of ^Xb in the local keymap.

ZLE BUILTINS

The ZLE module contains three related builtin commands. The bindkey
command manipulates keymaps and key bindings; the vared command
invokes ZLE on the value of a shell parameter; and the zle command
manipulates editing widgets and allows command line access to ZLE
commands from within shell functions.

bindkey [ options ] -l [ -L ] [ keymap ... ]
bindkey [ options ] -d
bindkey [ options ] -D keymap ...
bindkey [ options ] -A old-keymap new-keymap
bindkey [ options ] -N new-keymap [ old-keymap ]
bindkey [ options ] -m
bindkey [ options ] -r in-string ...
bindkey [ options ] -s in-string out-string ...
bindkey [ options ] in-string command ...
bindkey [ options ] [ in-string ]
bindkey's options can be divided into three categories: keymap
selection for the current command, operation selection, and
others. The keymap selection options are:

-e Selects keymap `emacs' for any operations by the
current command, and also links `emacs' to `main' so
that it is selected by default the next time the editor
starts.

-v Selects keymap `viins' for any operations by the
current command, and also links `viins' to `main' so
that it is selected by default the next time the editor
starts.

-a Selects keymap `vicmd' for any operations by the
current command.

-M keymap
The keymap specifies a keymap name that is selected for
any operations by the current command.

If a keymap selection is required and none of the options
above are used, the `main' keymap is used. Some operations do
not permit a keymap to be selected, namely:

-l List all existing keymap names; if any arguments are
given, list just those keymaps.

If the -L option is also used, list in the form of
bindkey commands to create or link the keymaps.
`bindkey -lL main' shows which keymap is linked to
`main', if any, and hence if the standard emacs or vi
emulation is in effect. This option does not show the
.safe keymap because it cannot be created in that
fashion; however, neither is `bindkey -lL .safe'
reported as an error, it simply outputs nothing.

-d Delete all existing keymaps and reset to the default
state.

-D keymap ...
Delete the named keymaps.

-A old-keymap new-keymap
Make the new-keymap name an alias for old-keymap, so
that both names refer to the same keymap. The names
have equal standing; if either is deleted, the other
remains. If there is already a keymap with the
new-keymap name, it is deleted.

-N new-keymap [ old-keymap ]
Create a new keymap, named new-keymap. If a keymap
already has that name, it is deleted. If an old-keymap
name is given, the new keymap is initialized to be a
duplicate of it, otherwise the new keymap will be
empty.

To use a newly created keymap, it should be linked to main.
Hence the sequence of commands to create and use a new keymap
`mymap' initialized from the emacs keymap (which remains
unchanged) is:

bindkey -N mymap emacs
bindkey -A mymap main

Note that while `bindkey -A newmap main' will work when newmap
is emacs or viins, it will not work for vicmd, as switching
from vi insert to command mode becomes impossible.

The following operations act on the `main' keymap if no keymap
selection option was given:

-m Add the built-in set of meta-key bindings to the
selected keymap. Only keys that are unbound or bound
to self-insert are affected.

-r in-string ...
Unbind the specified in-strings in the selected keymap.
This is exactly equivalent to binding the strings to
undefined-key.

When -R is also used, interpret the in-strings as
ranges.

When -p is also used, the in-strings specify prefixes.
Any binding that has the given in-string as a prefix,
not including the binding for the in-string itself, if
any, will be removed. For example,

bindkey -rpM viins '^['

will remove all bindings in the vi-insert keymap
beginning with an escape character (probably cursor
keys), but leave the binding for the escape character
itself (probably vi-cmd-mode). This is incompatible
with the option -R.

-s in-string out-string ...
Bind each in-string to each out-string. When in-string
is typed, out-string will be pushed back and treated as
input to the line editor. When -R is also used,
interpret the in-strings as ranges.

Note that both in-string and out-string are subject to
the same form of interpretation, as described below.

in-string command ...
Bind each in-string to each command. When -R is used,
interpret the in-strings as ranges.

[ in-string ]
List key bindings. If an in-string is specified, the
binding of that string in the selected keymap is
displayed. Otherwise, all key bindings in the selected
keymap are displayed. (As a special case, if the -e or
-v option is used alone, the keymap is not displayed -
the implicit linking of keymaps is the only thing that
happens.)

When the option -p is used, the in-string must be
present. The listing shows all bindings which have the
given key sequence as a prefix, not including any
bindings for the key sequence itself.

When the -L option is used, the list is in the form of
bindkey commands to create the key bindings.

When the -R option is used as noted above, a valid range
consists of two characters, with an optional `-' between them.
All characters between the two specified, inclusive, are bound
as specified.

For either in-string or out-string, the following escape
sequences are recognised:

\a bell character
\b backspace
\e, \E escape
\f form feed
\n linefeed (newline)
\r carriage return
\t horizontal tab
\v vertical tab
\NNN character code in octal
\xNN character code in hexadecimal
\uNNNN unicode character code in hexadecimal
\UNNNNNNNN
unicode character code in hexadecimal
\M[-]X character with meta bit set
\C[-]X control character
^X control character

In all other cases, `\' escapes the following character.
Delete is written as `^?'. Note that `\M^?' and `^\M?' are
not the same, and that (unlike emacs), the bindings `\M-X' and
`\eX' are entirely distinct, although they are initialized to
the same bindings by `bindkey -m'.


vared [ -Aacghe ] [ -p prompt ] [ -r rprompt ]
[ -M main-keymap ] [ -m vicmd-keymap ]
[ -i init-widget ] [ -f finish-widget ]
[ -t tty ] name
The value of the parameter name is loaded into the edit
buffer, and the line editor is invoked. When the editor
exits, name is set to the string value returned by the editor.
When the -c flag is given, the parameter is created if it
doesn't already exist. The -a flag may be given with -c to
create an array parameter, or the -A flag to create an
associative array. If the type of an existing parameter does
not match the type to be created, the parameter is unset and
recreated. The -g flag may be given to suppress warnings from
the WARN_CREATE_GLOBAL and WARN_NESTED_VAR options.

If an array or array slice is being edited, separator
characters as defined in $IFS will be shown quoted with a
backslash, as will backslashes themselves. Conversely, when
the edited text is split into an array, a backslash quotes an
immediately following separator character or backslash; no
other special handling of backslashes, or any handling of
quotes, is performed.

Individual elements of existing array or associative array
parameters may be edited by using subscript syntax on name.
New elements are created automatically, even without -c.

If the -p flag is given, the following string will be taken as
the prompt to display at the left. If the -r flag is given,
the following string gives the prompt to display at the right.
If the -h flag is specified, the history can be accessed from
ZLE. If the -e flag is given, typing ^D (Control-D) on an
empty line causes vared to exit immediately with a non-zero
return value.

The -M option gives a keymap to link to the main keymap during
editing, and the -m option gives a keymap to link to the vicmd
keymap during editing. For vi-style editing, this allows a
pair of keymaps to override viins and vicmd. For emacs-style
editing, only -M is normally needed but the -m option may
still be used. On exit, the previous keymaps will be
restored.

Vared calls the usual `zle-line-init' and `zle-line-finish'
hooks before and after it takes control. Using the -i and -f
options, it is possible to replace these with other custom
widgets.

If `-t tty' is given, tty is the name of a terminal device to
be used instead of the default /dev/tty. If tty does not
refer to a terminal an error is reported.

zle
zle -l [ -L | -a ] [ string ... ]
zle -D widget ...
zle -A old-widget new-widget
zle -N widget [ function ]
zle -f flag [ flag... ]
zle -C widget completion-widget function
zle -R [ -c ] [ display-string ] [ string ... ]
zle -M string
zle -U string
zle -K keymap
zle -F [ -L | -w ] [ fd [ handler ] ]
zle -I
zle -T [ tc function | -r tc | -L ]
zle widget [ -n num ] [ -f flag ] [ -Nw ] [ -K keymap ] args ...
The zle builtin performs a number of different actions
concerning ZLE.

With no options and no arguments, only the return status will
be set. It is zero if ZLE is currently active and widgets
could be invoked using this builtin command and non-zero
otherwise. Note that even if non-zero status is returned, zle
may still be active as part of the completion system; this
does not allow direct calls to ZLE widgets.

Otherwise, which operation it performs depends on its options:

-l [ -L | -a ] [ string ]
List all existing user-defined widgets. If the -L
option is used, list in the form of zle commands to
create the widgets.

When combined with the -a option, all widget names are
listed, including the builtin ones. In this case the -L
option is ignored.

If at least one string is given, and -a is present or
-L is not used, nothing will be printed. The return
status will be zero if all strings are names of
existing widgets and non-zero if at least one string is
not a name of a defined widget. If -a is also present,
all widget names are used for the comparison including
builtin widgets, else only user-defined widgets are
used.

If at least one string is present and the -L option is
used, user-defined widgets matching any string are
listed in the form of zle commands to create the
widgets.

-D widget ...
Delete the named widgets.

-A old-widget new-widget
Make the new-widget name an alias for old-widget, so
that both names refer to the same widget. The names
have equal standing; if either is deleted, the other
remains. If there is already a widget with the
new-widget name, it is deleted.

-N widget [ function ]
Create a user-defined widget. If there is already a
widget with the specified name, it is overwritten.
When the new widget is invoked from within the editor,
the specified shell function is called. If no function
name is specified, it defaults to the same name as the
widget. For further information, see the section
`Widgets' below.

-f flag [ flag... ]
Set various flags on the running widget. Possible
values for flag are:

yank for indicating that the widget has yanked text
into the buffer. If the widget is wrapping an existing
internal widget, no further action is necessary, but if
it has inserted the text manually, then it should also
take care to set YANK_START and YANK_END correctly.
yankbefore does the same but is used when the yanked
text appears after the cursor.

kill for indicating that text has been killed into the
cutbuffer. When repeatedly invoking a kill widget,
text is appended to the cutbuffer instead of replacing
it, but when wrapping such widgets, it is necessary to
call `zle -f kill' to retain this effect.

vichange for indicating that the widget represents a vi
change that can be repeated as a whole with
`vi-repeat-change'. The flag should be set early in the
function before inspecting the value of NUMERIC or
invoking other widgets. This has no effect for a widget
invoked from insert mode. If insert mode is active when
the widget finishes, the change extends until next
returning to command mode.

-C widget completion-widget function
Create a user-defined completion widget named widget.
The completion widget will behave like the built-in
completion-widget whose name is given as
completion-widget. To generate the completions, the
shell function function will be called. For further
information, see zshcompwid(1).

-R [ -c ] [ display-string ] [ string ... ]
Redisplay the command line. If a display-string is
given and not empty, this is shown in the status line
(immediately below the line being edited).

If the optional strings are given they are listed below
the prompt in the same way as completion lists are
printed. If no strings are given but the -c option is
used such a list is cleared.

Note that immediately after returning from running
widgets, the command line will be redisplayed and the
strings displayed will be erased. Therefore, this
option is only useful for widgets that do not exit
immediately after using it.

This command can safely be called outside user defined
widgets; if zle is active, the display will be
refreshed, while if zle is not active, the command has
no effect. In this case there will usually be no other
arguments.

The status is zero if zle was active, else one.

-M string
As with the -R option, the string will be displayed
below the command line; unlike the -R option, the
string will not be put into the status line but will
instead be printed normally below the prompt. This
means that the string will still be displayed after the
widget returns (until it is overwritten by subsequent
commands).

-U string
This pushes the characters in the string onto the input
stack of ZLE. After the widget currently executed
finishes ZLE will behave as if the characters in the
string were typed by the user.

As ZLE uses a stack, if this option is used repeatedly
the last string pushed onto the stack will be processed
first. However, the characters in each string will be
processed in the order in which they appear in the
string.

-K keymap
Selects the keymap named keymap. An error message will
be displayed if there is no such keymap.

This keymap selection affects the interpretation of
following keystrokes within this invocation of ZLE.
Any following invocation (e.g., the next command line)
will start as usual with the `main' keymap selected.

-F [ -L | -w ] [ fd [ handler ] ]
Only available if your system supports one of the
`poll' or `select' system calls; most modern systems
do.

Installs handler (the name of a shell function) to
handle input from file descriptor fd. Installing a
handler for an fd which is already handled causes the
existing handler to be replaced. Any number of
handlers for any number of readable file descriptors
may be installed. Note that zle makes no attempt to
check whether this fd is actually readable when
installing the handler. The user must make their own
arrangements for handling the file descriptor when zle
is not active.

When zle is attempting to read data, it will examine
both the terminal and the list of handled fd's. If
data becomes available on a handled fd, zle calls
handler with the fd which is ready for reading as the
first argument. Under normal circumstances this is the
only argument, but if an error was detected, a second
argument provides details: `hup' for a disconnect,
`nval' for a closed or otherwise invalid descriptor, or
`err' for any other condition. Systems that support
only the `select' system call always use `err'.

If the option -w is also given, the handler is instead
a line editor widget, typically a shell function made
into a widget using `zle -N'. In that case handler can
use all the facilities of zle to update the current
editing line. Note, however, that as handling fd takes
place at a low level changes to the display will not
automatically appear; the widget should call `zle -R'
to force redisplay. As of this writing, widget
handlers only support a single argument and thus are
never passed a string for error state, so widgets must
be prepared to test the descriptor themselves.

If either type of handler produces output to the
terminal, it should call `zle -I' before doing so (see
below). Handlers should not attempt to read from the
terminal.

If no handler is given, but an fd is present, any
handler for that fd is removed. If there is none, an
error message is printed and status 1 is returned.

If no arguments are given, or the -L option is
supplied, a list of handlers is printed in a form which
can be stored for later execution.

An fd (but not a handler) may optionally be given with
the -L option; in this case, the function will list the
handler if any, else silently return status 1.

Note that this feature should be used with care.
Activity on one of the fd's which is not properly
handled can cause the terminal to become unusable.
Removing an fd handler from within a signal trap may
cause unpredictable behavior.

Here is a simple example of using this feature. A
connection to a remote TCP port is created using the
ztcp command; see the description of the zsh/net/tcp
module in zshmodules(1). Then a handler is installed
which simply prints out any data which arrives on this
connection. Note that `select' will indicate that the
file descriptor needs handling if the remote side has
closed the connection; we handle that by testing for a
failed read.

if ztcp pwspc 2811; then
tcpfd=$REPLY
handler() {
zle -I
local line
if ! read -r line <&$1; then
# select marks this fd if we reach EOF,
# so handle this specially.
print "[Read on fd $1 failed, removing.]" >&2
zle -F $1
return 1
fi
print -r - $line
}
zle -F $tcpfd handler
fi

-I Unusually, this option is most useful outside ordinary
widget functions, though it may be used within if
normal output to the terminal is required. It
invalidates the current zle display in preparation for
output; typically this will be from a trap function.
It has no effect if zle is not active. When a trap
exits, the shell checks to see if the display needs
restoring, hence the following will print output in
such a way as not to disturb the line being edited:

TRAPUSR1() {
# Invalidate zle display
[[ -o zle ]] && zle -I
# Show output
print Hello
}

In general, the trap function may need to test whether
zle is active before using this method (as shown in the
example), since the zsh/zle module may not even be
loaded; if it is not, the command can be skipped.

It is possible to call `zle -I' several times before
control is returned to the editor; the display will
only be invalidated the first time to minimise
disruption.

Note that there are normally better ways of
manipulating the display from within zle widgets; see,
for example, `zle -R' above.

The returned status is zero if zle was invalidated,
even though this may have been by a previous call to
`zle -I' or by a system notification. To test if a zle
widget may be called at this point, execute zle with no
arguments and examine the return status.

-T This is used to add, list or remove internal
transformations on the processing performed by the line
editor. It is typically used only for debugging or
testing and is therefore of little interest to the
general user.

`zle -T transformation func' specifies that the given
transformation (see below) is effected by shell
function func.

`zle -Tr transformation' removes the given
transformation if it was present (it is not an error if
none was).

`zle -TL' can be used to list all transformations
currently in operation.

Currently the only transformation is tc. This is used
instead of outputting termcap codes to the terminal.
When the transformation is in operation the shell
function is passed the termcap code that would be
output as its first argument; if the operation required
a numeric argument, that is passed as a second
argument. The function should set the shell variable
REPLY to the transformed termcap code. Typically this
is used to produce some simply formatted version of the
code and optional argument for debugging or testing.
Note that this transformation is not applied to other
non-printing characters such as carriage returns and
newlines.

widget [ -n num ] [ -f flag ] [ -Nw ] [ -K keymap ] args ...
Invoke the specified widget. This can only be done
when ZLE is active; normally this will be within a
user-defined widget.

With the options -n and -N, the current numeric
argument will be saved and then restored after the call
to widget; `-n num' sets the numeric argument
temporarily to num, while `-N' sets it to the default,
i.e. as if there were none.

With the option -K, keymap will be used as the current
keymap during the execution of the widget. The
previous keymap will be restored when the widget exits.

Normally, calling a widget in this way does not set the
special parameter WIDGET and related parameters, so
that the environment appears as if the top-level widget
called by the user were still active. With the option
-w, WIDGET and related parameters are set to reflect
the widget being executed by the zle call.

Normally, when widget returns the special parameter
LASTWIDGET will point to it. This can be inhibited by
passing the option -f nolast.

Any further arguments will be passed to the widget;
note that as standard argument handling is performed,
any general argument list should be preceded by --. If
it is a shell function, these are passed down as
positional parameters; for builtin widgets it is up to
the widget in question what it does with them.
Currently arguments are only handled by the
incremental-search commands, the history-search-forward
and -backward and the corresponding functions prefixed
by vi-, and by universal-argument. No error is flagged
if the command does not use the arguments, or only uses
some of them.

The return status reflects the success or failure of
the operation carried out by the widget, or if it is a
user-defined widget the return status of the shell
function.

A non-zero return status causes the shell to beep when
the widget exits, unless the BEEP options was unset or
the widget was called via the zle command. Thus if a
user defined widget requires an immediate beep, it
should call the beep widget directly.

ZLE WIDGETS

All actions in the editor are performed by `widgets'. A widget's job
is simply to perform some small action. The ZLE commands that key
sequences in keymaps are bound to are in fact widgets. Widgets can
be user-defined or built in.

The standard widgets built into ZLE are listed in the section
`Standard Widgets' below. Other built-in widgets can be defined by
other modules (see zshmodules(1)). Each built-in widget has two
names: its normal canonical name, and the same name preceded by a
`.'. The `.' name is special: it can't be rebound to a different
widget. This makes the widget available even when its usual name has
been redefined.

User-defined widgets are defined using `zle -N', and implemented as
shell functions. When the widget is executed, the corresponding
shell function is executed, and can perform editing (or other)
actions. It is recommended that user-defined widgets should not have
names starting with `.'.

USER-DEFINED WIDGETS
User-defined widgets, being implemented as shell functions, can
execute any normal shell command. They can also run other widgets
(whether built-in or user-defined) using the zle builtin command. The
standard input of the function is redirected from /dev/null to
prevent external commands from unintentionally blocking ZLE by
reading from the terminal, but read -k or read -q can be used to read
characters. Finally, they can examine and edit the ZLE buffer being
edited by reading and setting the special parameters described below.

These special parameters are always available in widget functions,
but are not in any way special outside ZLE. If they have some normal
value outside ZLE, that value is temporarily inaccessible, but will
return when the widget function exits. These special parameters in
fact have local scope, like parameters created in a function using
local.

Inside completion widgets and traps called while ZLE is active, these
parameters are available read-only.

Note that the parameters appear as local to any ZLE widget in which
they appear. Hence if it is desired to override them this needs to
be done within a nested function:

widget-function() {
# $WIDGET here refers to the special variable
# that is local inside widget-function
() {
# This anonymous nested function allows WIDGET
# to be used as a local variable. The -h
# removes the special status of the variable.
local -h WIDGET
}
}

BUFFER (scalar)
The entire contents of the edit buffer. If it is written to,
the cursor remains at the same offset, unless that would put
it outside the buffer.

BUFFERLINES (integer)
The number of screen lines needed for the edit buffer
currently displayed on screen (i.e. without any changes to the
preceding parameters done after the last redisplay);
read-only.

CONTEXT (scalar)
The context in which zle was called to read a line; read-only.
One of the values:

start The start of a command line (at prompt PS1).

cont A continuation to a command line (at prompt PS2).

select In a select loop (at prompt PS3).

vared Editing a variable in vared.

CURSOR (integer)
The offset of the cursor, within the edit buffer. This is in
the range 0 to $#BUFFER, and is by definition equal to
$#LBUFFER. Attempts to move the cursor outside the buffer
will result in the cursor being moved to the appropriate end
of the buffer.

CUTBUFFER (scalar)
The last item cut using one of the `kill-' commands; the
string which the next yank would insert in the line. Later
entries in the kill ring are in the array killring. Note that
the command `zle copy-region-as-kill string' can be used to
set the text of the cut buffer from a shell function and cycle
the kill ring in the same way as interactively killing text.

HISTNO (integer)
The current history number. Setting this has the same effect
as moving up or down in the history to the corresponding
history line. An attempt to set it is ignored if the line is
not stored in the history. Note this is not the same as the
parameter HISTCMD, which always gives the number of the
history line being added to the main shell's history. HISTNO
refers to the line being retrieved within zle.

ISEARCHMATCH_ACTIVE (integer)
ISEARCHMATCH_START (integer)
ISEARCHMATCH_END (integer)
ISEARCHMATCH_ACTIVE indicates whether a part of the BUFFER is
currently matched by an incremental search pattern.
ISEARCHMATCH_START and ISEARCHMATCH_END give the location of
the matched part and are in the same units as CURSOR. They are
only valid for reading when ISEARCHMATCH_ACTIVE is non-zero.

All parameters are read-only.

KEYMAP (scalar)
The name of the currently selected keymap; read-only.

KEYS (scalar)
The keys typed to invoke this widget, as a literal string;
read-only.

KEYS_QUEUED_COUNT (integer)
The number of bytes pushed back to the input queue and
therefore available for reading immediately before any I/O is
done; read-only. See also PENDING; the two values are
distinct.

killring (array)
The array of previously killed items, with the most recently
killed first. This gives the items that would be retrieved by
a yank-pop in the same order. Note, however, that the most
recently killed item is in $CUTBUFFER; $killring shows the
array of previous entries.

The default size for the kill ring is eight, however the
length may be changed by normal array operations. Any empty
string in the kill ring is ignored by the yank-pop command,
hence the size of the array effectively sets the maximum
length of the kill ring, while the number of non-zero strings
gives the current length, both as seen by the user at the
command line.

LASTABORTEDSEARCH (scalar)
The last search string used by an interactive search that was
aborted by the user (status 3 returned by the search widget).

LASTSEARCH (scalar)
The last search string used by an interactive search;
read-only. This is set even if the search failed (status 0, 1
or 2 returned by the search widget), but not if it was aborted
by the user.

LASTWIDGET (scalar)
The name of the last widget that was executed; read-only.

LBUFFER (scalar)
The part of the buffer that lies to the left of the cursor
position. If it is assigned to, only that part of the buffer
is replaced, and the cursor remains between the new $LBUFFER
and the old $RBUFFER.

MARK (integer)
Like CURSOR, but for the mark. With vi-mode operators that
wait for a movement command to select a region of text,
setting MARK allows the selection to extend in both directions
from the initial cursor position.

NUMERIC (integer)
The numeric argument. If no numeric argument was given, this
parameter is unset. When this is set inside a widget function,
builtin widgets called with the zle builtin command will use
the value assigned. If it is unset inside a widget function,
builtin widgets called behave as if no numeric argument was
given.

PENDING (integer)
The number of bytes pending for input, i.e. the number of
bytes which have already been typed and can immediately be
read. On systems where the shell is not able to get this
information, this parameter will always have a value of zero.
Read-only. See also KEYS_QUEUED_COUNT; the two values are
distinct.

PREBUFFER (scalar)
In a multi-line input at the secondary prompt, this read-only
parameter contains the contents of the lines before the one
the cursor is currently in.

PREDISPLAY (scalar)
Text to be displayed before the start of the editable text
buffer. This does not have to be a complete line; to display
a complete line, a newline must be appended explicitly. The
text is reset on each new invocation (but not recursive
invocation) of zle.

POSTDISPLAY (scalar)
Text to be displayed after the end of the editable text
buffer. This does not have to be a complete line; to display
a complete line, a newline must be prepended explicitly. The
text is reset on each new invocation (but not recursive
invocation) of zle.

RBUFFER (scalar)
The part of the buffer that lies to the right of the cursor
position. If it is assigned to, only that part of the buffer
is replaced, and the cursor remains between the old $LBUFFER
and the new $RBUFFER.

REGION_ACTIVE (integer)
Indicates if the region is currently active. It can be
assigned 0 or 1 to deactivate and activate the region
respectively. A value of 2 activates the region in line-wise
mode with the highlighted text extending for whole lines only;
see Character Highlighting below.

region_highlight (array)
Each element of this array may be set to a string that
describes highlighting for an arbitrary region of the command
line that will take effect the next time the command line is
redisplayed. Highlighting of the non-editable parts of the
command line in PREDISPLAY and POSTDISPLAY are possible, but
note that the P flag is needed for character indexing to
include PREDISPLAY.

Each string consists of the following whitespace-separated
parts:

+o Optionally, a `P' to signify that the start and end
offset that follow include any string set by the
PREDISPLAY special parameter; this is needed if the
predisplay string itself is to be highlighted.
Whitespace between the `P' and the start offset is
optional.

+o A start offset in the same units as CURSOR.

+o An end offset in the same units as CURSOR.

+o A highlight specification in the same format as used
for contexts in the parameter zle_highlight, see the
section `Character Highlighting' below; for example,
standout or fg=red,bold.

+o Optionally, a string of the form `memo=token'. The
token consists of everything between the `=' and the
next whitespace, comma, NUL, or the end of the string.
The token is preserved verbatim but not parsed in any
way.

Plugins may use this to identify array elements they
have added: for example, a plugin might set token to
its (the plugin's) name and then use
`region_highlight=( ${region_highlight:#*memo=token} )'
in order to remove array elements it have added.

(This example uses the `${name:#pattern}'
array-grepping syntax described in the section
`Parameter Expansion' in zshexpn(1).)

For example,

region_highlight=("P0 20 bold memo=foobar")

specifies that the first twenty characters of the text
including any predisplay string should be highlighted in bold.

Note that the effect of region_highlight is not saved and
disappears as soon as the line is accepted.

Note that zsh 5.8 and older do not support the `memo=token'
field and may misparse the third (highlight specification)
field when a memo is given.


The final highlighting on the command line depends on both
region_highlight and zle_highlight; see the section CHARACTER
HIGHLIGHTING below for details.

registers (associative array)
The contents of each of the vi register buffers. These are
typically set using vi-set-buffer followed by a delete, change
or yank command.

SUFFIX_ACTIVE (integer)
SUFFIX_START (integer)
SUFFIX_END (integer)
SUFFIX_ACTIVE indicates whether an auto-removable completion
suffix is currently active. SUFFIX_START and SUFFIX_END give
the location of the suffix and are in the same units as
CURSOR. They are only valid for reading when SUFFIX_ACTIVE is
non-zero.

All parameters are read-only.

UNDO_CHANGE_NO (integer)
A number representing the state of the undo history. The only
use of this is passing as an argument to the undo widget in
order to undo back to the recorded point. Read-only.

UNDO_LIMIT_NO (integer)
A number corresponding to an existing change in the undo
history; compare UNDO_CHANGE_NO. If this is set to a value
greater than zero, the undo command will not allow the line to
be undone beyond the given change number. It is still
possible to use `zle undo change' in a widget to undo beyond
that point; in that case, it will not be possible to undo at
all until UNDO_LIMIT_NO is reduced. Set to 0 to disable the
limit.

A typical use of this variable in a widget function is as
follows (note the additional function scope is required):

() {
local UNDO_LIMIT_NO=$UNDO_CHANGE_NO
# Perform some form of recursive edit.
}

WIDGET (scalar)
The name of the widget currently being executed; read-only.

WIDGETFUNC (scalar)
The name of the shell function that implements a widget
defined with either zle -N or zle -C. In the former case,
this is the second argument to the zle -N command that defined
the widget, or the first argument if there was no second
argument. In the latter case this is the third argument to
the zle -C command that defined the widget. Read-only.

WIDGETSTYLE (scalar)
Describes the implementation behind the completion widget
currently being executed; the second argument that followed
zle -C when the widget was defined. This is the name of a
builtin completion widget. For widgets defined with zle -N
this is set to the empty string. Read-only.

YANK_ACTIVE (integer)
YANK_START (integer)
YANK_END (integer)
YANK_ACTIVE indicates whether text has just been yanked
(pasted) into the buffer. YANK_START and YANK_END give the
location of the pasted text and are in the same units as
CURSOR. They are only valid for reading when YANK_ACTIVE is
non-zero. They can also be assigned by widgets that insert
text in a yank-like fashion, for example wrappers of
bracketed-paste. See also zle -f.

YANK_ACTIVE is read-only.

ZLE_RECURSIVE (integer)
Usually zero, but incremented inside any instance of
recursive-edit. Hence indicates the current recursion level.

ZLE_RECURSIVE is read-only.

ZLE_STATE (scalar)
Contains a set of space-separated words that describe the
current zle state.

Currently, the states shown are the insert mode as set by the
overwrite-mode or vi-replace widgets and whether history
commands will visit imported entries as controlled by the
set-local-history widget. The string contains `insert' if
characters to be inserted on the command line move existing
characters to the right or `overwrite' if characters to be
inserted overwrite existing characters. It contains
`localhistory' if only local history commands will be visited
or `globalhistory' if imported history commands will also be
visited.

The substrings are sorted in alphabetical order so that if you
want to test for two specific substrings in a future-proof
way, you can do match by doing:

if [[ $ZLE_STATE == *globalhistory*insert* ]]; then ...; fi

Special Widgets

There are a few user-defined widgets which are special to the shell.
If they do not exist, no special action is taken. The environment
provided is identical to that for any other editing widget.

zle-isearch-exit
Executed at the end of incremental search at the point where
the isearch prompt is removed from the display. See
zle-isearch-update for an example.

zle-isearch-update
Executed within incremental search when the display is about
to be redrawn. Additional output below the incremental search
prompt can be generated by using `zle -M' within the widget.
For example,

zle-isearch-update() { zle -M "Line $HISTNO"; }
zle -N zle-isearch-update

Note the line output by `zle -M' is not deleted on exit from
incremental search. This can be done from a zle-isearch-exit
widget:

zle-isearch-exit() { zle -M ""; }
zle -N zle-isearch-exit

zle-line-pre-redraw
Executed whenever the input line is about to be redrawn,
providing an opportunity to update the region_highlight array.

zle-line-init
Executed every time the line editor is started to read a new
line of input. The following example puts the line editor
into vi command mode when it starts up.

zle-line-init() { zle -K vicmd; }
zle -N zle-line-init

(The command inside the function sets the keymap directly; it
is equivalent to zle vi-cmd-mode.)

zle-line-finish
This is similar to zle-line-init but is executed every time
the line editor has finished reading a line of input.

zle-history-line-set
Executed when the history line changes.

zle-keymap-select
Executed every time the keymap changes, i.e. the special
parameter KEYMAP is set to a different value, while the line
editor is active. Initialising the keymap when the line
editor starts does not cause the widget to be called.

The value $KEYMAP within the function reflects the new keymap.
The old keymap is passed as the sole argument.

This can be used for detecting switches between the vi command
(vicmd) and insert (usually main) keymaps.

STANDARD WIDGETS

The following is a list of all the standard widgets, and their
default bindings in emacs mode, vi command mode and vi insert mode
(the `emacs', `vicmd' and `viins' keymaps, respectively).

Note that cursor keys are bound to movement keys in all three
keymaps; the shell assumes that the cursor keys send the key
sequences reported by the terminal-handling library (termcap or
terminfo). The key sequences shown in the list are those based on
the VT100, common on many modern terminals, but in fact these are not
necessarily bound. In the case of the viins keymap, the initial
escape character of the sequences serves also to return to the vicmd
keymap: whether this happens is determined by the KEYTIMEOUT
parameter, see zshparam(1).

Movement

vi-backward-blank-word (unbound) (B) (unbound)
Move backward one word, where a word is defined as a series of
non-blank characters.

vi-backward-blank-word-end (unbound) (gE) (unbound)
Move to the end of the previous word, where a word is defined
as a series of non-blank characters.

backward-char (^B ESC-[D) (unbound) (unbound)
Move backward one character.

vi-backward-char (unbound) (^H h ^?) (ESC-[D)
Move backward one character, without changing lines.

backward-word (ESC-B ESC-b) (unbound) (unbound)
Move to the beginning of the previous word.

emacs-backward-word
Move to the beginning of the previous word.

vi-backward-word (unbound) (b) (unbound)
Move to the beginning of the previous word, vi-style.

vi-backward-word-end (unbound) (ge) (unbound)
Move to the end of the previous word, vi-style.

beginning-of-line (^A) (unbound) (unbound)
Move to the beginning of the line. If already at the
beginning of the line, move to the beginning of the previous
line, if any.

vi-beginning-of-line
Move to the beginning of the line, without changing lines.

down-line (unbound) (unbound) (unbound)
Move down a line in the buffer.

end-of-line (^E) (unbound) (unbound)
Move to the end of the line. If already at the end of the
line, move to the end of the next line, if any.

vi-end-of-line (unbound) ($) (unbound)
Move to the end of the line. If an argument is given to this
command, the cursor will be moved to the end of the line
(argument - 1) lines down.

vi-forward-blank-word (unbound) (W) (unbound)
Move forward one word, where a word is defined as a series of
non-blank characters.

vi-forward-blank-word-end (unbound) (E) (unbound)
Move to the end of the current word, or, if at the end of the
current word, to the end of the next word, where a word is
defined as a series of non-blank characters.

forward-char (^F ESC-[C) (unbound) (unbound)
Move forward one character.

vi-forward-char (unbound) (space l) (ESC-[C)
Move forward one character.

vi-find-next-char (^X^F) (f) (unbound)
Read a character from the keyboard, and move to the next
occurrence of it in the line.

vi-find-next-char-skip (unbound) (t) (unbound)
Read a character from the keyboard, and move to the position
just before the next occurrence of it in the line.

vi-find-prev-char (unbound) (F) (unbound)
Read a character from the keyboard, and move to the previous
occurrence of it in the line.

vi-find-prev-char-skip (unbound) (T) (unbound)
Read a character from the keyboard, and move to the position
just after the previous occurrence of it in the line.

vi-first-non-blank (unbound) (^) (unbound)
Move to the first non-blank character in the line.

vi-forward-word (unbound) (w) (unbound)
Move forward one word, vi-style.

forward-word (ESC-F ESC-f) (unbound) (unbound)
Move to the beginning of the next word. The editor's idea of
a word is specified with the WORDCHARS parameter.

emacs-forward-word
Move to the end of the next word.

vi-forward-word-end (unbound) (e) (unbound)
Move to the end of the next word.

vi-goto-column (ESC-|) (|) (unbound)
Move to the column specified by the numeric argument.

vi-goto-mark (unbound) (`) (unbound)
Move to the specified mark.

vi-goto-mark-line (unbound) (') (unbound)
Move to beginning of the line containing the specified mark.

vi-repeat-find (unbound) (;) (unbound)
Repeat the last vi-find command.

vi-rev-repeat-find (unbound) (,) (unbound)
Repeat the last vi-find command in the opposite direction.

up-line (unbound) (unbound) (unbound)
Move up a line in the buffer.

History Control

beginning-of-buffer-or-history (ESC-<) (gg) (unbound)
Move to the beginning of the buffer, or if already there, move
to the first event in the history list.

beginning-of-line-hist
Move to the beginning of the line. If already at the
beginning of the buffer, move to the previous history line.

beginning-of-history
Move to the first event in the history list.

down-line-or-history (^N ESC-[B) (j) (ESC-[B)
Move down a line in the buffer, or if already at the bottom
line, move to the next event in the history list.

vi-down-line-or-history (unbound) (+) (unbound)
Move down a line in the buffer, or if already at the bottom
line, move to the next event in the history list. Then move
to the first non-blank character on the line.

down-line-or-search
Move down a line in the buffer, or if already at the bottom
line, search forward in the history for a line beginning with
the first word in the buffer.

If called from a function by the zle command with arguments,
the first argument is taken as the string for which to search,
rather than the first word in the buffer.

down-history (unbound) (^N) (unbound)
Move to the next event in the history list.

history-beginning-search-backward
Search backward in the history for a line beginning with the
current line up to the cursor. This leaves the cursor in its
original position.

end-of-buffer-or-history (ESC->) (unbound) (unbound)
Move to the end of the buffer, or if already there, move to
the last event in the history list.

end-of-line-hist
Move to the end of the line. If already at the end of the
buffer, move to the next history line.

end-of-history
Move to the last event in the history list.

vi-fetch-history (unbound) (G) (unbound)
Fetch the history line specified by the numeric argument.
This defaults to the current history line (i.e. the one that
isn't history yet).

history-incremental-search-backward (^R ^Xr) (unbound) (unbound)
Search backward incrementally for a specified string. The
search is case-insensitive if the search string does not have
uppercase letters and no numeric argument was given. The
string may begin with `^' to anchor the search to the
beginning of the line. When called from a user-defined
function returns the following statuses: 0, if the search
succeeded; 1, if the search failed; 2, if the search term was
a bad pattern; 3, if the search was aborted by the send-break
command.

A restricted set of editing functions is available in the
mini-buffer. Keys are looked up in the special isearch
keymap, and if not found there in the main keymap (note that
by default the isearch keymap is empty). An interrupt signal,
as defined by the stty setting, will stop the search and go
back to the original line. An undefined key will have the
same effect. Note that the following always perform the same
task within incremental searches and cannot be replaced by
user defined widgets, nor can the set of functions be
extended. The supported functions are:

accept-and-hold
accept-and-infer-next-history
accept-line
accept-line-and-down-history
Perform the usual function after exiting incremental
search. The command line displayed is executed.

backward-delete-char
vi-backward-delete-char
Back up one place in the search history. If the search
has been repeated this does not immediately erase a
character in the minibuffer.

accept-search
Exit incremental search, retaining the command line but
performing no further action. Note that this function
is not bound by default and has no effect outside
incremental search.

backward-delete-word
backward-kill-word
vi-backward-kill-word
Back up one character in the minibuffer; if multiple
searches have been performed since the character was
inserted the search history is rewound to the point
just before the character was entered. Hence this has
the effect of repeating backward-delete-char.

clear-screen
Clear the screen, remaining in incremental search mode.

history-incremental-search-backward
Find the next occurrence of the contents of the
mini-buffer. If the mini-buffer is empty, the most
recent previously used search string is reinstated.

history-incremental-search-forward
Invert the sense of the search.

magic-space
Inserts a non-magical space.

quoted-insert
vi-quoted-insert
Quote the character to insert into the minibuffer.

redisplay
Redisplay the command line, remaining in incremental
search mode.

vi-cmd-mode
Select the `vicmd' keymap; the `main' keymap (insert
mode) will be selected initially.

In addition, the modifications that were made while in
vi insert mode are merged to form a single undo event.

vi-repeat-search
vi-rev-repeat-search
Repeat the search. The direction of the search is
indicated in the mini-buffer.

Any character that is not bound to one of the above functions,
or self-insert or self-insert-unmeta, will cause the mode to
be exited. The character is then looked up and executed in
the keymap in effect at that point.

When called from a widget function by the zle command, the
incremental search commands can take a string argument. This
will be treated as a string of keys, as for arguments to the
bindkey command, and used as initial input for the command.
Any characters in the string which are unused by the
incremental search will be silently ignored. For example,

zle history-incremental-search-backward forceps

will search backwards for forceps, leaving the minibuffer
containing the string `forceps'.

history-incremental-search-forward (^S ^Xs) (unbound) (unbound)
Search forward incrementally for a specified string. The
search is case-insensitive if the search string does not have
uppercase letters and no numeric argument was given. The
string may begin with `^' to anchor the search to the
beginning of the line. The functions available in the
mini-buffer are the same as for
history-incremental-search-backward.

history-incremental-pattern-search-backward
history-incremental-pattern-search-forward
These widgets behave similarly to the corresponding widgets
with no -pattern, but the search string typed by the user is
treated as a pattern, respecting the current settings of the
various options affecting pattern matching. See FILENAME
GENERATION in zshexpn(1) for a description of patterns. If no
numeric argument was given lowercase letters in the search
string may match uppercase letters in the history. The string
may begin with `^' to anchor the search to the beginning of
the line.

The prompt changes to indicate an invalid pattern; this may
simply indicate the pattern is not yet complete.

Note that only non-overlapping matches are reported, so an
expression with wildcards may return fewer matches on a line
than are visible by inspection.

history-search-backward (ESC-P ESC-p) (unbound) (unbound)
Search backward in the history for a line beginning with the
first word in the buffer.

If called from a function by the zle command with arguments,
the first argument is taken as the string for which to search,
rather than the first word in the buffer.

vi-history-search-backward (unbound) (/) (unbound)
Search backward in the history for a specified string. The
string may begin with `^' to anchor the search to the
beginning of the line.

A restricted set of editing functions is available in the
mini-buffer. An interrupt signal, as defined by the stty
setting, will stop the search. The functions available in
the mini-buffer are: accept-line, backward-delete-char,
vi-backward-delete-char, backward-kill-word,
vi-backward-kill-word, clear-screen, redisplay, quoted-insert
and vi-quoted-insert.

vi-cmd-mode is treated the same as accept-line, and
magic-space is treated as a space. Any other character that
is not bound to self-insert or self-insert-unmeta will beep
and be ignored. If the function is called from vi command
mode, the bindings of the current insert mode will be used.

If called from a function by the zle command with arguments,
the first argument is taken as the string for which to search,
rather than the first word in the buffer.

history-search-forward (ESC-N ESC-n) (unbound) (unbound)
Search forward in the history for a line beginning with the
first word in the buffer.

If called from a function by the zle command with arguments,
the first argument is taken as the string for which to search,
rather than the first word in the buffer.

vi-history-search-forward (unbound) (?) (unbound)
Search forward in the history for a specified string. The
string may begin with `^' to anchor the search to the
beginning of the line. The functions available in the
mini-buffer are the same as for vi-history-search-backward.
Argument handling is also the same as for that command.

infer-next-history (^X^N) (unbound) (unbound)
Search in the history list for a line matching the current one
and fetch the event following it.

insert-last-word (ESC-_ ESC-.) (unbound) (unbound)
Insert the last word from the previous history event at the
cursor position. If a positive numeric argument is given,
insert that word from the end of the previous history event.
If the argument is zero or negative insert that word from the
left (zero inserts the previous command word). Repeating this
command replaces the word just inserted with the last word
from the history event prior to the one just used; numeric
arguments can be used in the same way to pick a word from that
event.

When called from a shell function invoked from a user-defined
widget, the command can take one to three arguments. The
first argument specifies a history offset which applies to
successive calls to this widget: if it is -1, the default
behaviour is used, while if it is 1, successive calls will
move forwards through the history. The value 0 can be used to
indicate that the history line examined by the previous
execution of the command will be reexamined. Note that
negative numbers should be preceded by a `--' argument to
avoid confusing them with options.

If two arguments are given, the second specifies the word on
the command line in normal array index notation (as a more
natural alternative to the numeric argument). Hence 1 is the
first word, and -1 (the default) is the last word.

If a third argument is given, its value is ignored, but it is
used to signify that the history offset is relative to the
current history line, rather than the one remembered after the
previous invocations of insert-last-word.

For example, the default behaviour of the command corresponds
to

zle insert-last-word -- -1 -1

while the command

zle insert-last-word -- -1 1 -

always copies the first word of the line in the history
immediately before the line being edited. This has the side
effect that later invocations of the widget will be relative
to that line.

vi-repeat-search (unbound) (n) (unbound)
Repeat the last vi history search.

vi-rev-repeat-search (unbound) (N) (unbound)
Repeat the last vi history search, but in reverse.

up-line-or-history (^P ESC-[A) (k) (ESC-[A)
Move up a line in the buffer, or if already at the top line,
move to the previous event in the history list.

vi-up-line-or-history (unbound) (-) (unbound)
Move up a line in the buffer, or if already at the top line,
move to the previous event in the history list. Then move to
the first non-blank character on the line.

up-line-or-search
Move up a line in the buffer, or if already at the top line,
search backward in the history for a line beginning with the
first word in the buffer.

If called from a function by the zle command with arguments,
the first argument is taken as the string for which to search,
rather than the first word in the buffer.

up-history (unbound) (^P) (unbound)
Move to the previous event in the history list.

history-beginning-search-forward
Search forward in the history for a line beginning with the
current line up to the cursor. This leaves the cursor in its
original position.

set-local-history
By default, history movement commands visit the imported lines
as well as the local lines. This widget lets you toggle this
on and off, or set it with the numeric argument. Zero for both
local and imported lines and nonzero for only local lines.

Modifying Text

vi-add-eol (unbound) (A) (unbound)
Move to the end of the line and enter insert mode.

vi-add-next (unbound) (a) (unbound)
Enter insert mode after the current cursor position, without
changing lines.

backward-delete-char (^H ^?) (unbound) (unbound)
Delete the character behind the cursor.

vi-backward-delete-char (unbound) (X) (^H)
Delete the character behind the cursor, without changing
lines. If in insert mode, this won't delete past the point
where insert mode was last entered.

backward-delete-word
Delete the word behind the cursor.

backward-kill-line
Kill from the beginning of the line to the cursor position.

backward-kill-word (^W ESC-^H ESC-^?) (unbound) (unbound)
Kill the word behind the cursor.

vi-backward-kill-word (unbound) (unbound) (^W)
Kill the word behind the cursor, without going past the point
where insert mode was last entered.

capitalize-word (ESC-C ESC-c) (unbound) (unbound)
Capitalize the current word and move past it.

vi-change (unbound) (c) (unbound)
Read a movement command from the keyboard, and kill from the
cursor position to the endpoint of the movement. Then enter
insert mode. If the command is vi-change, change the current
line.

For compatibility with vi, if the command is vi-forward-word
or vi-forward-blank-word, the whitespace after the word is not
included. If you prefer the more consistent behaviour with the
whitespace included use the following key binding:

bindkey -a -s cw dwi

vi-change-eol (unbound) (C) (unbound)
Kill to the end of the line and enter insert mode.

vi-change-whole-line (unbound) (S) (unbound)
Kill the current line and enter insert mode.

copy-region-as-kill (ESC-W ESC-w) (unbound) (unbound)
Copy the area from the cursor to the mark to the kill buffer.

If called from a ZLE widget function in the form `zle
copy-region-as-kill string' then string will be taken as the
text to copy to the kill buffer. The cursor, the mark and the
text on the command line are not used in this case.

copy-prev-word (ESC-^_) (unbound) (unbound)
Duplicate the word to the left of the cursor.

copy-prev-shell-word
Like copy-prev-word, but the word is found by using shell
parsing, whereas copy-prev-word looks for blanks. This makes a
difference when the word is quoted and contains spaces.

vi-delete (unbound) (d) (unbound)
Read a movement command from the keyboard, and kill from the
cursor position to the endpoint of the movement. If the
command is vi-delete, kill the current line.

delete-char
Delete the character under the cursor.

vi-delete-char (unbound) (x) (unbound)
Delete the character under the cursor, without going past the
end of the line.

delete-word
Delete the current word.

down-case-word (ESC-L ESC-l) (unbound) (unbound)
Convert the current word to all lowercase and move past it.

vi-down-case (unbound) (gu) (unbound)
Read a movement command from the keyboard, and convert all
characters from the cursor position to the endpoint of the
movement to lowercase. If the movement command is
vi-down-case, swap the case of all characters on the current
line.

kill-word (ESC-D ESC-d) (unbound) (unbound)
Kill the current word.

gosmacs-transpose-chars
Exchange the two characters behind the cursor.

vi-indent (unbound) (>) (unbound)
Indent a number of lines.

vi-insert (unbound) (i) (unbound)
Enter insert mode.

vi-insert-bol (unbound) (I) (unbound)
Move to the first non-blank character on the line and enter
insert mode.

vi-join (^X^J) (J) (unbound)
Join the current line with the next one.

kill-line (^K) (unbound) (unbound)
Kill from the cursor to the end of the line. If already on
the end of the line, kill the newline character.

vi-kill-line (unbound) (unbound) (^U)
Kill from the cursor back to wherever insert mode was last
entered.

vi-kill-eol (unbound) (D) (unbound)
Kill from the cursor to the end of the line.

kill-region
Kill from the cursor to the mark.

kill-buffer (^X^K) (unbound) (unbound)
Kill the entire buffer.

kill-whole-line (^U) (unbound) (unbound)
Kill the current line.

vi-match-bracket (^X^B) (%) (unbound)
Move to the bracket character (one of {}, () or []) that
matches the one under the cursor. If the cursor is not on a
bracket character, move forward without going past the end of
the line to find one, and then go to the matching bracket.

vi-open-line-above (unbound) (O) (unbound)
Open a line above the cursor and enter insert mode.

vi-open-line-below (unbound) (o) (unbound)
Open a line below the cursor and enter insert mode.

vi-oper-swap-case (unbound) (g~) (unbound)
Read a movement command from the keyboard, and swap the case
of all characters from the cursor position to the endpoint of
the movement. If the movement command is vi-oper-swap-case,
swap the case of all characters on the current line.

overwrite-mode (^X^O) (unbound) (unbound)
Toggle between overwrite mode and insert mode.

vi-put-before (unbound) (P) (unbound)
Insert the contents of the kill buffer before the cursor. If
the kill buffer contains a sequence of lines (as opposed to
characters), paste it above the current line.

vi-put-after (unbound) (p) (unbound)
Insert the contents of the kill buffer after the cursor. If
the kill buffer contains a sequence of lines (as opposed to
characters), paste it below the current line.

put-replace-selection (unbound) (unbound) (unbound)
Replace the contents of the current region or selection with
the contents of the kill buffer. If the kill buffer contains a
sequence of lines (as opposed to characters), the current line
will be split by the pasted lines.

quoted-insert (^V) (unbound) (unbound)
Insert the next character typed into the buffer literally. An
interrupt character will not be inserted.

vi-quoted-insert (unbound) (unbound) (^Q ^V)
Display a `^' at the cursor position, and insert the next
character typed into the buffer literally. An interrupt
character will not be inserted.

quote-line (ESC-') (unbound) (unbound)
Quote the current line; that is, put a `'' character at the
beginning and the end, and convert all `'' characters to
`'\'''.

quote-region (ESC-") (unbound) (unbound)
Quote the region from the cursor to the mark.

vi-replace (unbound) (R) (unbound)
Enter overwrite mode.

vi-repeat-change (unbound) (.) (unbound)
Repeat the last vi mode text modification. If a count was
used with the modification, it is remembered. If a count is
given to this command, it overrides the remembered count, and
is remembered for future uses of this command. The cut buffer
specification is similarly remembered.

vi-replace-chars (unbound) (r) (unbound)
Replace the character under the cursor with a character read
from the keyboard.

self-insert (printable characters) (unbound) (printable characters
and some control characters)
Insert a character into the buffer at the cursor position.

self-insert-unmeta (ESC-^I ESC-^J ESC-^M) (unbound) (unbound)
Insert a character into the buffer after stripping the meta
bit and converting ^M to ^J.

vi-substitute (unbound) (s) (unbound)
Substitute the next character(s).

vi-swap-case (unbound) (~) (unbound)
Swap the case of the character under the cursor and move past
it.

transpose-chars (^T) (unbound) (unbound)
Exchange the two characters to the left of the cursor if at
end of line, else exchange the character under the cursor with
the character to the left.

transpose-words (ESC-T ESC-t) (unbound) (unbound)
Exchange the current word with the one before it.

With a positive numeric argument N, the word around the
cursor, or following it if the cursor is between words, is
transposed with the preceding N words. The cursor is put at
the end of the resulting group of words.

With a negative numeric argument -N, the effect is the same as
using a positive argument N except that the original cursor
position is retained, regardless of how the words are
rearranged.

vi-unindent (unbound) (<) (unbound)
Unindent a number of lines.

vi-up-case (unbound) (gU) (unbound)
Read a movement command from the keyboard, and convert all
characters from the cursor position to the endpoint of the
movement to lowercase. If the movement command is vi-up-case,
swap the case of all characters on the current line.

up-case-word (ESC-U ESC-u) (unbound) (unbound)
Convert the current word to all caps and move past it.

yank (^Y) (unbound) (unbound)
Insert the contents of the kill buffer at the cursor position.

yank-pop (ESC-y) (unbound) (unbound)
Remove the text just yanked, rotate the kill-ring (the history
of previously killed text) and yank the new top. Only works
following yank, vi-put-before, vi-put-after or yank-pop.

vi-yank (unbound) (y) (unbound)
Read a movement command from the keyboard, and copy the region
from the cursor position to the endpoint of the movement into
the kill buffer. If the command is vi-yank, copy the current
line.

vi-yank-whole-line (unbound) (Y) (unbound)
Copy the current line into the kill buffer.

vi-yank-eol
Copy the region from the cursor position to the end of the
line into the kill buffer. Arguably, this is what Y should do
in vi, but it isn't what it actually does.

Arguments

digit-argument (ESC-0..ESC-9) (1-9) (unbound)
Start a new numeric argument, or add to the current one. See
also vi-digit-or-beginning-of-line. This only works if bound
to a key sequence ending in a decimal digit.

Inside a widget function, a call to this function treats the
last key of the key sequence which called the widget as the
digit.

neg-argument (ESC--) (unbound) (unbound)
Changes the sign of the following argument.

universal-argument
Multiply the argument of the next command by 4.
Alternatively, if this command is followed by an integer
(positive or negative), use that as the argument for the next
command. Thus digits cannot be repeated using this command.
For example, if this command occurs twice, followed
immediately by forward-char, move forward sixteen spaces; if
instead it is followed by -2, then forward-char, move backward
two spaces.

Inside a widget function, if passed an argument, i.e. `zle
universal-argument num', the numeric argument will be set to
num; this is equivalent to `NUMERIC=num'.

argument-base
Use the existing numeric argument as a numeric base, which
must be in the range 2 to 36 inclusive. Subsequent use of
digit-argument and universal-argument will input a new numeric
argument in the given base. The usual hexadecimal convention
is used: the letter a or A corresponds to 10, and so on.
Arguments in bases requiring digits from 10 upwards are more
conveniently input with universal-argument, since ESC-a etc.
are not usually bound to digit-argument.

The function can be used with a command argument inside a
user-defined widget. The following code sets the base to 16
and lets the user input a hexadecimal argument until a key out
of the digit range is typed:

zle argument-base 16
zle universal-argument

Completion

accept-and-menu-complete
In a menu completion, insert the current completion into the
buffer, and advance to the next possible completion.

complete-word
Attempt completion on the current word.

delete-char-or-list (^D) (unbound) (unbound)
Delete the character under the cursor. If the cursor is at
the end of the line, list possible completions for the current
word.

expand-cmd-path
Expand the current command to its full pathname.

expand-or-complete (TAB) (unbound) (TAB)
Attempt shell expansion on the current word. If that fails,
attempt completion.

expand-or-complete-prefix
Attempt shell expansion on the current word up to cursor.

expand-history (ESC-space ESC-!) (unbound) (unbound)
Perform history expansion on the edit buffer.

expand-word (^X*) (unbound) (unbound)
Attempt shell expansion on the current word.

list-choices (ESC-^D) (^D =) (^D)
List possible completions for the current word.

list-expand (^Xg ^XG) (^G) (^G)
List the expansion of the current word.

magic-space
Perform history expansion and insert a space into the buffer.
This is intended to be bound to space.

menu-complete
Like complete-word, except that menu completion is used. See
the MENU_COMPLETE option.

menu-expand-or-complete
Like expand-or-complete, except that menu completion is used.

reverse-menu-complete
Perform menu completion, like menu-complete, except that if a
menu completion is already in progress, move to the previous
completion rather than the next.

end-of-list
When a previous completion displayed a list below the prompt,
this widget can be used to move the prompt below the list.

Miscellaneous

accept-and-hold (ESC-A ESC-a) (unbound) (unbound)
Push the contents of the buffer on the buffer stack and
execute it.

accept-and-infer-next-history
Execute the contents of the buffer. Then search the history
list for a line matching the current one and push the event
following onto the buffer stack.

accept-line (^J ^M) (^J ^M) (^J ^M)
Finish editing the buffer. Normally this causes the buffer to
be executed as a shell command.

accept-line-and-down-history (^O) (unbound) (unbound)
Execute the current line, and push the next history event on
the buffer stack.

auto-suffix-remove
If the previous action added a suffix (space, slash, etc.) to
the word on the command line, remove it. Otherwise do
nothing. Removing the suffix ends any active menu completion
or menu selection.

This widget is intended to be called from user-defined widgets
to enforce a desired suffix-removal behavior.

auto-suffix-retain
If the previous action added a suffix (space, slash, etc.) to
the word on the command line, force it to be preserved.
Otherwise do nothing. Retaining the suffix ends any active
menu completion or menu selection.

This widget is intended to be called from user-defined widgets
to enforce a desired suffix-preservation behavior.

beep Beep, unless the BEEP option is unset.

bracketed-paste (^[[200~) (^[[200~) (^[[200~)
This widget is invoked when text is pasted to the terminal
emulator. It is not intended to be bound to actual keys but
instead to the special sequence generated by the terminal
emulator when text is pasted.

When invoked interactively, the pasted text is inserted to the
buffer and placed in the cutbuffer. If a numeric argument is
given, shell quoting will be applied to the pasted text before
it is inserted.

When a named buffer is specified with vi-set-buffer ("x), the
pasted text is stored in that named buffer but not inserted.

When called from a widget function as `bracketed-paste name`,
the pasted text is assigned to the variable name and no other
processing is done.

See also the zle_bracketed_paste parameter.

vi-cmd-mode (^X^V) (unbound) (^[)
Enter command mode; that is, select the `vicmd' keymap. Yes,
this is bound by default in emacs mode.

vi-caps-lock-panic
Hang until any lowercase key is pressed. This is for vi users
without the mental capacity to keep track of their caps lock
key (like the author).

clear-screen (^L ESC-^L) (^L) (^L)
Clear the screen and redraw the prompt.

deactivate-region
Make the current region inactive. This disables vim-style
visual selection mode if it is active.

describe-key-briefly
Reads a key sequence, then prints the function bound to that
sequence.

exchange-point-and-mark (^X^X) (unbound) (unbound)
Exchange the cursor position (point) with the position of the
mark. Unless a negative numeric argument is given, the region
between point and mark is activated so that it can be
highlighted. If a zero numeric argument is given, the region
is activated but point and mark are not swapped.

execute-named-cmd (ESC-x) (:) (unbound)
Read the name of an editor command and execute it. Aliasing
this widget with `zle -A' or replacing it with `zle -N' has no
effect when interpreting key bindings, but `zle
execute-named-cmd' will invoke such an alias or replacement.

A restricted set of editing functions is available in the
mini-buffer. Keys are looked up in the special command
keymap, and if not found there in the main keymap. An
interrupt signal, as defined by the stty setting, will abort
the function. Note that the following always perform the same
task within the executed-named-cmd environment and cannot be
replaced by user defined widgets, nor can the set of functions
be extended. The allowed functions are: backward-delete-char,
vi-backward-delete-char, clear-screen, redisplay,
quoted-insert, vi-quoted-insert, backward-kill-word,
vi-backward-kill-word, kill-whole-line, vi-kill-line,
backward-kill-line, list-choices, delete-char-or-list,
complete-word, accept-line, expand-or-complete and
expand-or-complete-prefix.

kill-region kills the last word, and vi-cmd-mode is treated
the same as accept-line. The space and tab characters, if not
bound to one of these functions, will complete the name and
then list the possibilities if the AUTO_LIST option is set.
Any other character that is not bound to self-insert or
self-insert-unmeta will beep and be ignored. The bindings of
the current insert mode will be used.

Currently this command may not be redefined or called by name.

execute-last-named-cmd (ESC-z) (unbound) (unbound)
Redo the last function executed with execute-named-cmd.

Like execute-named-cmd, this command may not be redefined, but
it may be called by name.

get-line (ESC-G ESC-g) (unbound) (unbound)
Pop the top line off the buffer stack and insert it at the
cursor position.

pound-insert (unbound) (#) (unbound)
If there is no # character at the beginning of the buffer, add
one to the beginning of each line. If there is one, remove a
# from each line that has one. In either case, accept the
current line. The INTERACTIVE_COMMENTS option must be set for
this to have any usefulness.

vi-pound-insert
If there is no # character at the beginning of the current
line, add one. If there is one, remove it. The
INTERACTIVE_COMMENTS option must be set for this to have any
usefulness.

push-input
Push the entire current multiline construct onto the buffer
stack and return to the top-level (PS1) prompt. If the
current parser construct is only a single line, this is
exactly like push-line. Next time the editor starts up or is
popped with get-line, the construct will be popped off the top
of the buffer stack and loaded into the editing buffer.

push-line (^Q ESC-Q ESC-q) (unbound) (unbound)
Push the current buffer onto the buffer stack and clear the
buffer. Next time the editor starts up, the buffer will be
popped off the top of the buffer stack and loaded into the
editing buffer.

push-line-or-edit
At the top-level (PS1) prompt, equivalent to push-line. At a
secondary (PS2) prompt, move the entire current multiline
construct into the editor buffer. The latter is equivalent to
push-input followed by get-line.

read-command
Only useful from a user-defined widget. A keystroke is read
just as in normal operation, but instead of the command being
executed the name of the command that would be executed is
stored in the shell parameter REPLY. This can be used as the
argument of a future zle command. If the key sequence is not
bound, status 1 is returned; typically, however, REPLY is set
to undefined-key to indicate a useless key sequence.

recursive-edit
Only useful from a user-defined widget. At this point in the
function, the editor regains control until one of the standard
widgets which would normally cause zle to exit (typically an
accept-line caused by hitting the return key) is executed.
Instead, control returns to the user-defined widget. The
status returned is non-zero if the return was caused by an
error, but the function still continues executing and hence
may tidy up. This makes it safe for the user-defined widget
to alter the command line or key bindings temporarily.

The following widget, caps-lock, serves as an example.

self-insert-ucase() {
LBUFFER+=${(U)KEYS[-1]}
}

integer stat

zle -N self-insert self-insert-ucase
zle -A caps-lock save-caps-lock
zle -A accept-line caps-lock

zle recursive-edit
stat=$?

zle -A .self-insert self-insert
zle -A save-caps-lock caps-lock
zle -D save-caps-lock

(( stat )) && zle send-break

return $stat

This causes typed letters to be inserted capitalised until
either accept-line (i.e. typically the return key) is typed or
the caps-lock widget is invoked again; the later is handled by
saving the old definition of caps-lock as save-caps-lock and
then rebinding it to invoke accept-line. Note that an error
from the recursive edit is detected as a non-zero return
status and propagated by using the send-break widget.

redisplay (unbound) (^R) (^R)
Redisplays the edit buffer.

reset-prompt (unbound) (unbound) (unbound)
Force the prompts on both the left and right of the screen to
be re-expanded, then redisplay the edit buffer. This reflects
changes both to the prompt variables themselves and changes in
the expansion of the values (for example, changes in time or
directory, or changes to the value of variables referred to by
the prompt).

Otherwise, the prompt is only expanded each time zle starts,
and when the display has been interrupted by output from
another part of the shell (such as a job notification) which
causes the command line to be reprinted.

reset-prompt doesn't alter the special parameter LASTWIDGET.

send-break (^G ESC-^G) (unbound) (unbound)
Abort the current editor function, e.g. execute-named-command,
or the editor itself, e.g. if you are in vared. Otherwise
abort the parsing of the current line; in this case the
aborted line is available in the shell variable
ZLE_LINE_ABORTED. If the editor is aborted from within vared,
the variable ZLE_VARED_ABORTED is set.

run-help (ESC-H ESC-h) (unbound) (unbound)
Push the buffer onto the buffer stack, and execute the command
`run-help cmd', where cmd is the current command. run-help is
normally aliased to man.

vi-set-buffer (unbound) (") (unbound)
Specify a buffer to be used in the following command. There
are 37 buffers that can be specified: the 26 `named' buffers
"a to "z, the `yank' buffer "0, the nine `queued' buffers "1
to "9 and the `black hole' buffer "_. The named buffers can
also be specified as "A to "Z.

When a buffer is specified for a cut, change or yank command,
the text concerned replaces the previous contents of the
specified buffer. If a named buffer is specified using a
capital, the newly cut text is appended to the buffer instead
of overwriting it. When using the "_ buffer, nothing happens.
This can be useful for deleting text without affecting any
buffers.

If no buffer is specified for a cut or change command, "1 is
used, and the contents of "1 to "8 are each shifted along one
buffer; the contents of "9 is lost. If no buffer is specified
for a yank command, "0 is used. Finally, a paste command
without a specified buffer will paste the text from the most
recent command regardless of any buffer that might have been
used with that command.

When called from a widget function by the zle command, the
buffer can optionally be specified with an argument. For
example,

zle vi-set-buffer A

vi-set-mark (unbound) (m) (unbound)
Set the specified mark at the cursor position.

set-mark-command (^@) (unbound) (unbound)
Set the mark at the cursor position. If called with a
negative numeric argument, do not set the mark but deactivate
the region so that it is no longer highlighted (it is still
usable for other purposes). Otherwise the region is marked as
active.

spell-word (ESC-$ ESC-S ESC-s) (unbound) (unbound)
Attempt spelling correction on the current word.

split-undo
Breaks the undo sequence at the current change. This is
useful in vi mode as changes made in insert mode are coalesced
on entering command mode. Similarly, undo will normally
revert as one all the changes made by a user-defined widget.

undefined-key
This command is executed when a key sequence that is not bound
to any command is typed. By default it beeps.

undo (^_ ^Xu ^X^U) (u) (unbound)
Incrementally undo the last text modification. When called
from a user-defined widget, takes an optional argument
indicating a previous state of the undo history as returned by
the UNDO_CHANGE_NO variable; modifications are undone until
that state is reached, subject to any limit imposed by the
UNDO_LIMIT_NO variable.

Note that when invoked from vi command mode, the full prior
change made in insert mode is reverted, the changes having
been merged when command mode was selected.

redo (unbound) (^R) (unbound)
Incrementally redo undone text modifications.

vi-undo-change (unbound) (unbound) (unbound)
Undo the last text modification. If repeated, redo the
modification.

visual-mode (unbound) (v) (unbound)
Toggle vim-style visual selection mode. If line-wise visual
mode is currently enabled then it is changed to being
character-wise. If used following an operator, it forces the
subsequent movement command to be treated as a character-wise
movement.

visual-line-mode (unbound) (V) (unbound)
Toggle vim-style line-wise visual selection mode. If
character-wise visual mode is currently enabled then it is
changed to being line-wise. If used following an operator, it
forces the subsequent movement command to be treated as a
line-wise movement.

what-cursor-position (^X=) (ga) (unbound)
Print the character under the cursor, its code as an octal,
decimal and hexadecimal number, the current cursor position
within the buffer and the column of the cursor in the current
line.

where-is
Read the name of an editor command and print the listing of
key sequences that invoke the specified command. A restricted
set of editing functions is available in the mini-buffer.
Keys are looked up in the special command keymap, and if not
found there in the main keymap.

which-command (ESC-?) (unbound) (unbound)
Push the buffer onto the buffer stack, and execute the command
`which-command cmd'. where cmd is the current command.
which-command is normally aliased to whence.

vi-digit-or-beginning-of-line (unbound) (0) (unbound)
If the last command executed was a digit as part of an
argument, continue the argument. Otherwise, execute
vi-beginning-of-line.

Text Objects

Text objects are commands that can be used to select a block of text
according to some criteria. They are a feature of the vim text editor
and so are primarily intended for use with vi operators or from
visual selection mode. However, they can also be used from vi-insert
or emacs mode. Key bindings listed below apply to the viopp and
visual keymaps.

select-a-blank-word (aW)
Select a word including adjacent blanks, where a word is
defined as a series of non-blank characters. With a numeric
argument, multiple words will be selected.

select-a-shell-word (aa)
Select the current command argument applying the normal rules
for quoting.

select-a-word (aw)
Select a word including adjacent blanks, using the normal
vi-style word definition. With a numeric argument, multiple
words will be selected.

select-in-blank-word (iW)
Select a word, where a word is defined as a series of
non-blank characters. With a numeric argument, multiple words
will be selected.

select-in-shell-word (ia)
Select the current command argument applying the normal rules
for quoting. If the argument begins and ends with matching
quote characters, these are not included in the selection.

select-in-word (iw)
Select a word, using the normal vi-style word definition. With
a numeric argument, multiple words will be selected.

CHARACTER HIGHLIGHTING

The line editor has the ability to highlight characters or regions of
the line that have a particular significance. This is controlled by
the array parameter zle_highlight, if it has been set by the user.

If the parameter contains the single entry none all highlighting is
turned off. Note the parameter is still expected to be an array.

Otherwise each entry of the array should consist of a word indicating
a context for highlighting, then a colon, then a comma-separated list
of the types of highlighting to apply in that context.

The contexts available for highlighting are the following:

default
Any text within the command line not affected by any other
highlighting. Text outside the editable area of the command
line is not affected.

isearch
When one of the incremental history search widgets is active,
the area of the command line matched by the search string or
pattern.

region The currently selected text. In emacs terminology, this is
referred to as the region and is bounded by the cursor (point)
and the mark. The region is only highlighted if it is active,
which is the case after the mark is modified with
set-mark-command or exchange-point-and-mark. Note that
whether or not the region is active has no effect on its use
within emacs style widgets, it simply determines whether it is
highlighted. In vi mode, the region corresponds to selected
text in visual mode.

special
Individual characters that have no direct printable
representation but are shown in a special manner by the line
editor. These characters are described below.

suffix This context is used in completion for characters that are
marked as suffixes that will be removed if the completion ends
at that point, the most obvious example being a slash (/)
after a directory name. Note that suffix removal is
configurable; the circumstances under which the suffix will be
removed may differ for different completions.

paste Following a command to paste text, the characters that were
inserted.

When region_highlight is set, the contexts that describe a region --
isearch, region, suffix, and paste -- are applied first, then
region_highlight is applied, then the remaining zle_highlight
contexts are applied. If a particular character is affected by
multiple specifications, the last specification wins.

zle_highlight may contain additional fields for controlling how
terminal sequences to change colours are output. Each of the
following is followed by a colon and a string in the same form as for
key bindings. This will not be necessary for the vast majority of
terminals as the defaults shown in parentheses are widely used.

fg_start_code (\e[3)
The start of the escape sequence for the foreground colour.
This is followed by one to three ASCII digits representing the
colour. Only used for palette colors, i.e. not 24-bit colors
specified via a color triplet.

fg_default_code (9)
The number to use instead of the colour to reset the default
foreground colour.

fg_end_code (m)
The end of the escape sequence for the foreground colour.

bg_start_code (\e[4)
The start of the escape sequence for the background colour.
See fg_start_code above.

bg_default_code (9)
The number to use instead of the colour to reset the default
background colour.

bg_end_code (m)
The end of the escape sequence for the background colour.

The available types of highlighting are the following. Note that not
all types of highlighting are available on all terminals:

none No highlighting is applied to the given context. It is not
useful for this to appear with other types of highlighting; it
is used to override a default.

fg=colour
The foreground colour should be set to colour, a decimal
integer, the name of one of the eight most widely-supported
colours or as a `#' followed by an RGB triplet in hexadecimal
format.

Not all terminals support this and, of those that do, not all
provide facilities to test the support, hence the user should
decide based on the terminal type. Most terminals support the
colours black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan and
white, which can be set by name. In addition. default may be
used to set the terminal's default foreground colour.
Abbreviations are allowed; b or bl selects black. Some
terminals may generate additional colours if the bold
attribute is also present.

On recent terminals and on systems with an up-to-date terminal
database the number of colours supported may be tested by the
command `echotc Co'; if this succeeds, it indicates a limit on
the number of colours which will be enforced by the line
editor. The number of colours is in any case limited to 256
(i.e. the range 0 to 255).

Some modern terminal emulators have support for 24-bit true
colour (16 million colours). In this case, the hex triplet
format can be used. This consists of a `#' followed by either
a three or six digit hexadecimal number describing the red,
green and blue components of the colour. Hex triplets can also
be used with 88 and 256 colour terminals via the zsh/nearcolor
module (see zshmodules(1)).

Colour is also known as color.

bg=colour
The background colour should be set to colour. This works
similarly to the foreground colour, except the background is
not usually affected by the bold attribute.

bold The characters in the given context are shown in a bold font.
Not all terminals distinguish bold fonts.

standout
The characters in the given context are shown in the
terminal's standout mode. The actual effect is specific to
the terminal; on many terminals it is inverse video. On some
such terminals, where the cursor does not blink it appears
with standout mode negated, making it less than clear where
the cursor actually is. On such terminals one of the other
effects may be preferable for highlighting the region and
matched search string.

underline
The characters in the given context are shown underlined.
Some terminals show the foreground in a different colour
instead; in this case whitespace will not be highlighted.

The characters described above as `special' are as follows. The
formatting described here is used irrespective of whether the
characters are highlighted:

ASCII control characters
Control characters in the ASCII range are shown as `^'
followed by the base character.

Unprintable multibyte characters
This item applies to control characters not in the ASCII
range, plus other characters as follows. If the MULTIBYTE
option is in effect, multibyte characters not in the ASCII
character set that are reported as having zero width are
treated as combining characters when the option
COMBINING_CHARS is on. If the option is off, or if a
character appears where a combining character is not valid,
the character is treated as unprintable.

Unprintable multibyte characters are shown as a hexadecimal
number between angle brackets. The number is the code point
of the character in the wide character set; this may or may
not be Unicode, depending on the operating system.

Invalid multibyte characters
If the MULTIBYTE option is in effect, any sequence of one or
more bytes that does not form a valid character in the current
character set is treated as a series of bytes each shown as a
special character. This case can be distinguished from other
unprintable characters as the bytes are represented as two
hexadecimal digits between angle brackets, as distinct from
the four or eight digits that are used for unprintable
characters that are nonetheless valid in the current character
set.

Not all systems support this: for it to work, the system's
representation of wide characters must be code values from the
Universal Character Set, as defined by IS0 10646 (also known
as Unicode).

Wrapped double-width characters
When a double-width character appears in the final column of a
line, it is instead shown on the next line. The empty space
left in the original position is highlighted as a special
character.

If zle_highlight is not set or no value applies to a particular
context, the defaults applied are equivalent to

zle_highlight=(region:standout special:standout
suffix:bold isearch:underline paste:standout)

i.e. both the region and special characters are shown in standout
mode.

Within widgets, arbitrary regions may be highlighted by setting the
special array parameter region_highlight; see above.

zsh 5.9 May 14, 2022 ZSHZLE(1)