prose

A text editor for writing.

What it does

• Modal editing inspired by vim -- three simple modes (Default, Edit, Line-Select) let you navigate, write, and select text without reaching for the mouse.
• Markdown and RTF format modes -- markdown mode works as you'd expect. RTF mode adds smart quotes, first-line paragraph indentation, three distinct break types (line, paragraph, section), real ellipses, and em/en dashes -- everything you need for fiction and longform prose.
• Syntax highlighting -- headers, bold, italic, code blocks, links, and lists are all colour-coded so your document is easy to scan. Works in both markdown and RTF modes.
• British English spell checking -- toggle it on and misspelled words are highlighted in real time. Acronyms and contractions are handled gracefully.
• Distraction-free adjustable column layout -- centre your text in the terminal and resize the column width on the fly.

Installation

With Go installed

go install github.com/JackWReid/prose@latest

This puts the prose binary in your Go bin directory. To also get the man page, clone the repository and run:

git clone https://github.com/JackWReid/prose.git
cd prose
make install-man

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/JackWReid/prose.git
cd prose
make install

This builds the binary and installs it along with the man page to /usr/local by default. You can change the destination with make install PREFIX=~/.local.

Quick start

Open a file:

prose myfile.md

Open an RTF file (enters RTF mode automatically):

prose chapter.rtf

Or open several files at once (each gets its own tab):

prose chapter1.md chapter2.md notes.txt

Run prose with no arguments to start with an empty scratch buffer.

The three modes

prose has three modes. If you have never used vim, think of them as three different "gears" the editor can be in.

1. Default mode -- This is where you start. You can move around the document, delete lines, copy and paste, search, and run commands. You cannot type text directly in this mode.
2. Edit mode -- This is where you type. Press i to enter Edit mode at the cursor, then write normally. Press Esc when you are done to return to Default mode.
3. Line-Select mode -- This is for selecting whole lines. Press V to start selecting, use j and k to extend the selection up or down, then copy or delete the selected lines. Press Esc to cancel.

A quick loop to get comfortable: press i to type, press Esc to stop typing, move around with the arrow keys (or h j k l), and press i again when you want to type more.

Keybinding cheatsheet

Default mode

Movement

Key	Action
h j k l	Move left, down, up, right
Arrow keys	Move left, down, up, right
w	Jump to start of next word
b	Jump to start of previous word
0 or Home	Jump to start of line
$ or End	Jump to end of line
^	Jump to first non-whitespace character on line
gg	Jump to first line of document
G	Jump to last line of document
Ctrl-U or Page Up	Scroll up by one screen
Ctrl-D or Page Down	Scroll down by one screen
Shift-Page Up	Jump to first line (same as gg)
Shift-Page Down	Jump to last line (same as G)
Mouse click	Position cursor at click location

Editing

Key	Action
dd	Delete current line
yy	Yank (copy) current line
p	Paste below current line
P	Paste above current line
u	Undo
Ctrl-R	Redo
ss	Send current line to scratch buffer

Entering Edit mode

Key	Action
i	Enter Edit mode at cursor
A	Move to end of line and enter Edit mode
o	Insert new line below and enter Edit mode
O	Insert new line above and enter Edit mode

RTF mode only (Default mode)

These keys are only active when editing .rtf files. In RTF mode, o/O/Enter create a line break (soft return), while * and § create heavier breaks.

Key	Action
o	Insert line break below and enter Edit mode
O	Insert line break above and enter Edit mode
Enter	Insert line break below and enter Edit mode
*	Insert paragraph break below and enter Edit mode
§	Insert section break (dinkus) below and enter Edit mode

Other

Key	Action
V	Enter Line-Select mode
S	Jump to scratch buffer
?	Toggle command crib sheet
Tab	Next tab
Shift-Tab	Previous tab

Edit mode

Key	Action
Any character	Insert text at cursor
Esc	Return to Default mode
Backspace	Delete character before cursor
Delete	Delete character after cursor
Enter	Insert new line (paragraph break in RTF mode)
Ctrl-Enter	Insert line break (RTF mode only)
Arrow keys	Move cursor
Home	Jump to start of line
End	Jump to end of line
Mouse click	Position cursor at click location

In RTF mode, typing ", ', ..., --, and --- automatically converts to smart quotes, ellipses, en dashes, and em dashes.

Line-Select mode

Enter with V from Default mode.

Key	Action
j / k	Extend selection down / up
d	Delete selected lines
y	Yank (copy) selected lines
s	Send selected lines to scratch buffer
Esc	Cancel selection and return to Default mode

Leader commands (Space + key)

Key	Action
Space then O	Open directory browser
Space then H	Open document outline (Markdown files only)
Space then -	Adjust column width (use left/right arrows or h/l, Enter to confirm, Esc to cancel)

Command mode (:)

Press : in Default mode, type a command, and press Enter.

Command	Action
:w	Save current file
:q	Quit current tab
:q!	Quit without saving
:wq	Save and quit
:qa	Quit all tabs
:qa!	Quit all without saving
:wqa	Save all and quit all
:spell	Toggle spell checking on or off
:rename newname	Rename or move the current file
:convert rtf	Convert current markdown file to RTF (creates new file)
:convert md	Convert current RTF file to markdown (creates new file)

Search (/)

Key	Action
/	Start a search -- type your term and press Enter
n	Jump to next match
N	Jump to previous match
//	Clear search highlights
Esc	Cancel search entry

The status bar shows a match counter (e.g. "4 matches") while a search is active.

Spell check navigation

Spell checking is off by default. Toggle it with :spell (works on .md, .markdown, .txt, and .rtf files).

x and X work even with :spell off — pressing either key triggers a one-shot check on demand.

Key	Action
x	Jump to next spelling error
X	Jump to previous spelling error

Directory browser (Space-O)

Key	Action
j / k or arrow keys	Navigate the file list
Enter	Open file in current tab
b	Open file in a new tab
Esc	Close the browser

Document outline (Space-H)

Key	Action
j / k or arrow keys	Navigate headers
Enter	Jump to selected header
Esc	Close the outline

Man page

For the full reference, run:

man prose