Integrated Editor

Three Modes for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven Keymaps for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine Editors for Mortal Men doomed to compile,
One Kward to rule them all,
One Kward to find them,
One Kward to bring them all and in the transcript bind them
In the Land of Ruby where the agents lie.

Kward includes a terminal editor with 3 editing modes to choose from: Modern, Emacs and Vibe. It opens inside the chat composer, so you can jump into a file, make a change, save it, and return to the conversation without switching tools.

The editor is scoped to the current workspace. It only opens files inside that directory, which helps keep edits tied to the project you started Kward in.

Quick start

Open the file picker by typing $ as the first character in the composer:

$lib/kward/agent.rb

As you type, Kward shows matching files. Use the arrow keys to choose one and press Enter to open it.

For a nested project tree, run:

/files

In the tree browser, use ↑/↓ to move, ←/→ to collapse or expand directories, Enter to toggle a directory or open a file, Tab or / to search, @ to insert the selected file as an @path mention, and Esc to close. When you open a file from /files, quitting the editor returns to the browser at the same position.

For an unsaved buffer, open a scratchpad:

/scratchpad
/scratchpad markdown
/scratchpad ruby

Scratchpads start as virtual editor buffers named scratchpad.txt, scratchpad.md, or scratchpad.rb. In Vibe mode, save one to a real file with :w filename. Ruby scratchpads can run with :run in Vibe mode or Ctrl+R in Modern mode; Kward executes the buffer and writes combined output after __END__, replacing any previous output there.

puts "foo"

__END__

The next run receives the current __END__ section as Ruby DATA, then replaces it with the new output.

You can also type a relative path yourself and press Enter. If the file does not exist, Kward asks whether to create it.

A few things to know:

• $ only opens the editor when it is the first character in the composer.
• /scratchpad opens a plain-text scratchpad; pass markdown or ruby to pick another mode.
• Once a file or scratchpad opens, the composer becomes the editor.
• Save or quit to return to normal chat.
• If the file changed on disk while you were editing, Kward asks before overwriting it.
• If you quit with unsaved changes, Kward asks before discarding them.

Example workflow

$doc/editor.md

1. Type $doc/editor.md in the composer.
2. Pick the file from the matching results, or press Enter if the path is already complete.
3. Edit the file.
4. Save with Ctrl+S in Modern mode, C-x C-s in Emacs mode, or :w in Vibe mode. For an unsaved scratchpad in Vibe mode, use :w filename.
5. Quit with Ctrl+Q, C-x C-c, or :q.
6. Continue chatting with Kward.

What the editor supports

The editor is intentionally compact, but it covers the basics you need for quick changes:

• Syntax highlighting for common languages, including Ruby, Crystal, Elixir, Julia, JavaScript, TypeScript, JSON, Markdown, YAML, Shell, Makefile, HTML, CSS, SCSS, Python, Go, Rust, Java, C#, C, C++, Swift, Kotlin, Lua, and SQL. Unknown file types render as plain text.
• Auto-indent, enabled by default. New lines inherit indentation, Tab jumps to the expected indentation or the next indentation stop, Shift+Tab moves indentation back, obvious closing tokens are re-indented, and Backspace in leading whitespace removes one indentation unit when possible. For Ruby, Crystal, Elixir, Julia, Lua, Makefiles, and shell scripts, Enter after a block opener inserts the matching closing keyword; Ctrl+Enter also works from the middle of the line in terminals that report modified Enter keys.
• Undo and redo, with up to 100 history entries per buffer.
• Incremental search forward and backward.
• Selection, copy, cut, and paste. Copy and cut also write to the terminal clipboard through OSC 52 when the terminal supports it.
• A line-number gutter and a status line that shows the current mode and prompts.
• Soft-wrap, enabled by default so long lines wrap within the editor width instead of scrolling sideways. Disable it with editor.soft_wrap: false.

Choosing an editor mode

The editor has three keybinding modes:

• Modern: default mode, with familiar shortcuts like Ctrl+S, Ctrl+Q, / search, and ? reverse search.
• Emacs: non-modal Emacs-style chords, including C-x C-s, C-x C-c, and a per-buffer kill ring.
• Vibe: modal editing inspired by classic vi/vim workflows, with normal, insert, replace, visual, and command modes.

Change the mode from:

/settings > Interface > Editor mode

New editor buffers use the updated setting immediately. You do not need to restart Kward.

You can also configure it in config.json:

{
  "editor": {
    "mode": "modern"
  }
}

mode can be modern, emacs, or vibe. The old default value is still accepted as an alias for modern.

To disable auto-indent or auto-close pairs:

{
  "editor": {
    "auto_indent": false,
    "auto_close_pairs": false
  }
}

Auto-close pairs inserts matching (), [], {}, quotes, and backticks while editing.

Line numbers are absolute by default. Set editor.line_numbers to relative to show distances from the cursor line in editable buffers while keeping the current line absolute.

Editable editor buffers request a vertical bar cursor by default. Set editor.bar_cursor to false if you want Kward to leave the terminal cursor shape alone.

See Configuration for the full editor settings reference.

Modern mode

Modern mode is the default and is the easiest place to start. It uses common terminal-editor shortcuts and supports Shift+Arrow selection.

Key	Action
Ctrl+S	Save
Ctrl+Q	Quit; press again to discard unsaved changes
/	Search forward
?	Search backward
Ctrl+C	Copy selection, or cancel search
Ctrl+X	Cut selection
Ctrl+V	Paste kill buffer
Ctrl+Y	Copy selection, or paste if there is no selection
Ctrl+Z	Undo
Ctrl+Shift+Z	Redo
Ctrl+Space	Begin selection
Shift+Arrow	Extend selection
Alt+Up on macOS, Ctrl+Up elsewhere	Move up by indentation level
Alt+Down on macOS, Ctrl+Down elsewhere	Move down by indentation level
Alt+Right on macOS, Ctrl+Right elsewhere	Move to indentation, then word end
Alt+Shift+Up on macOS, Ctrl+Shift+Up elsewhere	Select up by indentation level
Alt+Shift+Down on macOS, Ctrl+Shift+Down elsewhere	Select down by indentation level
Alt+Shift+Right on macOS, Ctrl+Shift+Right elsewhere	Select to indentation, then word end
Ctrl+Left	Move to start of line
Alt+Shift+Left	Extend selection to previous word boundary
Ctrl+A	Move to start of line
Ctrl+E	Move to end of line
Ctrl+B	Move left
Ctrl+F	Move right
Ctrl+N	Move down
Ctrl+P	Move up
Ctrl+K	Kill to end of line
Ctrl+U	Kill to start of line
Ctrl+W	Delete word before cursor
Ctrl+D	Delete character at cursor
Alt+B	Move to previous word
Alt+F	Move to next word
Alt+D	Delete word after cursor
Alt+Backspace	Delete word before cursor
Arrow keys	Move cursor
Home / End	Move to start / end of line
PageUp / PageDown	Scroll
Enter	Insert newline, or confirm search
Tab	Smart-indent to the expected indentation or next stop
Shift+Tab	Move indentation back by one stop
Backspace	Delete before cursor
Delete	Delete character at cursor
Esc	Cancel search or clear selection

Emacs mode

Emacs mode is for users who prefer classic Emacs-style non-modal editing. Save and quit use two-key C-x commands, and kills are stored in a per-buffer kill ring so you can yank and cycle recent kills.

Key	Action
C-x C-s	Save
C-x C-c	Quit; press again to discard unsaved changes
C-s	Search forward
C-r	Search backward
C-g	Cancel search, pending command, or selection
Esc	Clear selection, or cancel search
C-Space	Set the mark and begin a region
C-w	Kill region, or delete word before cursor
M-w	Copy region
C-y	Yank from kill ring
M-y	Cycle kill ring after a yank
C-a	Move to start of line
C-e	Move to end of line
C-b	Move left
C-f	Move right
C-n	Move down
C-p	Move up
C-k	Kill to end of line
C-u	Kill to start of line
M-d	Delete word after cursor
M-Backspace	Delete word before cursor
M-b	Move to previous word
M-f	Move to next word
C-v	Page down
M-v	Page up
Arrow keys	Move cursor
Home / End	Move to start / end of line
PageUp / PageDown	Scroll
Enter	Insert newline, or confirm search
Tab	Smart-indent to the expected indentation or next stop
Shift+Tab	Move indentation back by one stop
Backspace	Delete before cursor
Delete / C-d	Delete character at cursor

Vibe mode

Vibe mode is a modal editor built for Kward, inspired by classic Vi and Vim. If you already know Vim, you will feel at home here. Files open in normal mode, where keys run commands. Press i, a, o, or another insert command to type text, then press Esc to return to normal mode.

It supports a compact but practical modal-editing set: counts, operators with motions, visual selections, visual block edits, marks, registers, macros, search, repeat (.), Ruby-aware navigation, and : commands. It is not a full Vim clone — there are no splits or ex-mode scripting — but it covers everyday keyboard editing inside the conversation.

The status line always shows the current mode (NORMAL, INSERT, VISUAL, REPLACE, or :) so you never lose track of where you are.

Normal mode

Use normal mode for movement, operators, marks, registers, macros, search, and command mode. Visual-mode-specific commands are listed in their own section below.

Key	Action
h / ← / Backspace	Move left
j / ↓ / Ctrl+N	Move down
k / ↑ / Ctrl+P	Move up
l / Space	Move right
0 / Home	Move to start of line
^	Move to first non-blank character
$ / End	Move to end of line
w	Move to next word
e	Move to end of word
b	Move to previous word
gg	Move to start of file
G	Move to end of file
N G	Move to line N
H	Move to top of screen
M	Move to middle of screen
L	Move to bottom of screen
zz	Center cursor line in viewport
zt	Scroll cursor line to top of viewport
zb	Scroll cursor line to bottom of viewport
+ / Enter	Move to first non-blank of next line
-	Move to first non-blank of previous line
_	Move to first non-blank of current line
Ctrl+J	Move down by indentation level
Ctrl+K	Move up by indentation level
Ctrl+F	Page down
Ctrl+B	Page up
Ctrl+D	Half page down
Ctrl+U	Half page up
Ctrl+E	Scroll down one line
Ctrl+Y	Scroll up one line
i	Insert before cursor
I	Insert at first non-blank of line
a	Insert after cursor
A	Insert at end of line
o	Open line below and insert
O	Open line above and insert
x	Delete character at cursor
X	Delete character before cursor
dd	Delete line
D	Delete to end of line
C	Change to end of line
cc	Change line
s	Substitute character
S	Change line
J	Join lines
r then char	Replace character
R	Replace mode
dw / yw / cw	Delete / yank / change with motion
diw / yiw / ciw	Delete / yank / change inner word
daw / yaw / caw	Delete / yank / change a word plus spacing
di(/ci(/yi(	Delete / change / yank inside a pair
da(/ca(/ya(	Delete / change / yank around a pair
dib / ciB	Pair aliases for parentheses/braces
dip / cip / yip	Delete / change / yank inside a paragraph
dap / cap / yap	Delete / change / yank around a paragraph
dir / cir / yir	Delete / change / yank inside a Ruby block
dar / car / yar	Delete / change / yank around a Ruby block
yy	Yank line
"ayy / "ap	Yank / paste with named registers
p	Paste after cursor
P	Paste before cursor
u	Undo
Ctrl+R	Redo
%	Jump to matching pair
f/F/t/T	Find character on current line
{` / `}	Move by paragraph
]m / [m	Jump to next / previous Ruby method
df) / ct, / d%	Use character and pair motions with operators
; / ,	Repeat character find forward/backward
U	Restore current line
.	Repeat last change
v	Visual character mode
V	Visual line mode
Ctrl+V	Visual block mode
gv	Restore previous visual selection
ma / `a / 'a	Set and jump to marks
qa / @a / @@	Record and replay macros
/	Search forward
?	Search backward
n	Repeat search
N	Repeat search in opposite direction
*	Search word under cursor forward
#	Search word under cursor backward
:	Enter command mode
:%s/a/b/g	Substitute text across command ranges
Esc / Ctrl+C	Cancel pending command
Ncommand	Repeat command N times, such as 3dd or 2w

Visual mode

Visual mode uses the same motion language as normal mode where practical. Start characterwise visual mode with v, linewise mode with V, or visual block mode with Ctrl+V.

Key	Action
o	Switch active end of visual selection
G / gg / Nmotion	Extend visual selection with counts/motions
%, f/F/t/T	Extend visual selection with advanced motions
iw / a( / ip	Select visual text objects
> / <	Indent / outdent selected lines
I / A	Insert / append text across visual block lines
J	Join selected lines
~ / u / U	Swapcase / lowercase / uppercase selection
/ / ? / n / N	Extend visual selection with search
y / d / c / p	Yank / delete / change / paste selection

Insert mode

In insert mode, typed characters are inserted at the cursor. Press Esc or Ctrl+C to return to normal mode. Arrow keys move the cursor without leaving insert mode.

Vibe insert mode also supports readline-style shortcuts for efficient editing without dropping back to normal mode:

Key	Action
type text	Insert characters
Enter	Insert newline
Tab	Smart-indent to the expected indentation or next stop
Shift+Tab	Move indentation back by one stop
Backspace	Delete before cursor
Delete	Delete character at cursor
Ctrl+A	Move to start of line
Ctrl+E	Move to end of line
Ctrl+B	Move left
Ctrl+F	Move right
Ctrl+D	Delete character at cursor
Ctrl+K	Kill to end of line
Ctrl+U	Kill to start of line
Ctrl+W	Delete word before cursor
Ctrl+Y	Paste kill buffer
Alt+B	Move to previous word
Alt+F	Move to next word
Alt+D	Delete word after cursor
Alt+Backspace	Delete word before cursor
Arrow keys	Move cursor
Home / End	Move to start / end of line
Esc / Ctrl+C	Return to normal mode

Replace mode

Replace mode overwrites characters at the cursor instead of inserting. Each typed character replaces the character under the cursor and advances. Press Esc or Ctrl+C to return to normal mode.

Key	Action
type text	Replace character at cursor
Enter	Insert newline
Backspace	Delete before cursor
Esc / Ctrl+C	Return to normal mode

Typing an opening bracket ((, [, {) or quote (", ', `) in visual mode wraps the selection in the matching pair, then returns to normal mode.

Command mode

Enter command mode with : from normal mode. Type a command and press Enter. Press Esc or Ctrl+C to cancel.

Command	Action
:w	Save
:q	Quit; refuses if there are unsaved changes
:q!	Quit and discard changes
:wq	Save and quit
:x	Save if changed, then quit
:N	Go to line N

Vibe design notes

Vibe mode is not trying to be Vim. It is a focused subset designed for quick edits inside a chat-based coding agent. Here is what to expect:

• Counts work with commands and motions: 3dd deletes three lines, 2w moves two words, 5x deletes five characters.
• . repeats the last change: after cw word Esc, pressing . changes the next word the same way. Insert-mode keystrokes are recorded as part of the change.
• / and ? search forward and backward: n and N repeat the last search. * and # search for the word under the cursor.
• Operators with motions: d, y, and c work with w (word), e (end of word), b (back word), $ (end of line), 0 (start of line), and ^ (first non-blank).
• Yanks copy to the terminal clipboard: when OSC 52 is supported, yanked text is also sent to the system clipboard, so you can paste into other applications.
• Registers and macros are supported: named registers work with yank/delete/paste flows, and q/@ record and replay simple macros for repeated edits.
• Viewport commands: zz, zt, and zb reposition the cursor line to the center, top, or bottom of the viewport without moving the cursor itself — the same as Vim.
• Indentation navigation: Ctrl+J and Ctrl+K jump to the next or previous indentation level, which is useful for navigating nested code blocks in Ruby and other indented languages.