Documentation TOP Key Bindings

Key bindings in Sublime Text are defined by files ending in .sublime-keymap. Key bindings use JSON, with the top-level structure being an array. Each binding is a JSON object.

• Example
• Bindings : - “keys” Key
  • “command” Key
  • “args” Key
  • “context” Key
• User Bindings

Example

The following is an example of the format of a .sublime-keymap file.

[
    {
        "keys": ["super+ctrl+m"],
        "command": "convert_syntax"
    },
    {
        "keys": ["super+shift+9"],
        "command": "set_layout",
        "args":
        {
            "cols": [0.0, 0.33, 0.66, 1.0],
            "rows": [0.0, 0.33, 0.66, 1.0],
            "cells":
            [
                [0, 0, 1, 1], [1, 0, 2, 1], [2, 0, 3, 1],
                [0, 1, 1, 2], [1, 1, 2, 2], [2, 1, 3, 2],
                [0, 2, 1, 3], [1, 2, 2, 3], [2, 2, 3, 3]
            ]
        }
    },
    {
        "keys": ["super+alt+up"],
        "command": "noop",
        "context":
        [
            {"key": "panel", "operand": "find"},
            {"key": "panel_has_focus"},
        ]
    }
]

Bindings

Each key binding requires two keys, “keys” and “command”. To pass args to a command, the “args” key should be specified. To restrict a key binding to a specific situation, the “context” key must be included.

“keys” Key

The “keys” value must be an array of strings, where each string contains a key press, comprised of a key and any modifiers. When multiple key presses are present in the array, the command will only be invoked if the presses are performed in sequence.

A key binding for the Escape key

{
    "keys": ["escape"],
    "command": "noop"
}

A key binding for the key A with the modifier Ctrl**

{
    "keys": ["ctrl+a"],
    "command": "noop"
}

Modifiers

The following modifiers may be combined with key names for each key press.

• ctrl
• control
• alt
• option - Mac
• command - Mac
• super - the Windows key on Windows and Linux, or ⌘ on Mac
• primary - Ctrl on Windows and Linux, or ⌘ on Mac

Key Names

Key names are specified either by the (non-shifted) character : printed on the key, or a key name:

a b c d e f g h i j k l m

n o p q r s t u v w x y z

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

, . \ / ; ' ` + - = [ ]

up down left right insert home end pageup pagedown backspace delete tab enter pause escape space

keypad0 keypad1 keypad2 keypad3 keypad4 keypad5 keypad6 keypad7 keypad8 keypad9 keypad_period keypad_divide keypad_multiply keypad_minus keypad_plus keypad_enter clear

f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7 f8 f9 f10 f11 f12 f13 f14 f15 f16 f17 f18 f19 f20

“command” Key

The “command” key specifies the name of the command to : execute when the key press(es) are detected. The command may be a built-in command, or a command implemented by a plugin.

{
    "keys": ["ctrl+a"],
    "command": "select_all"
}

Currently there is no compiled list of all built-in commands. The names of many commands can be found by looking at the Default ({PLATFORM_NAME}).sublime-keymap files in the Default/ package.

“args” Key

The arguments to send to the “command” key may be specified by a JSON object under the “args” key.

{
    "keys": ["primary+shift+b"],
    "command": "build",
    "args": {"select": true}
}

“context” Key

To allow for key bindings that react differently based on the situation, the “context” key allows specifying one or more conditions that must evaluate to true for the key binding to be active.

The “context” value is an array of objects. Each object must contain a “key” key that has a string value. A key is one of a predefined list of values that may be compared using an “operator” and “operand”.

If a “key” support equality operators, the “operator” must be one of: “equal” or “not_equal”. For matching it must be one of: “regex_match”, “not_regex_match”, “regex_contains” or “not_regex_contains”. The default “operator” is “equal” and the default “operand” is true.

For “key” values that deal with selections, an additional key “match_all” is supported. This defaults to false, which means the condition only needs to evaluate to true for a single selection. If “match_all” is true, then the condition must evaluate to true for all selections.

The following is a list of valid context “key” values:

User Bindings

Users can customize their key bindings by creating a file named Default.sublime-keymap in their Packages/User/ directory.

For example, the following will create a key binding to show unsaved changes, if any exist, via Ctrl+Shift+`.

[
    {
        "keys": ["ctrl+shift+`"],
        "command": "diff_changes"
    }
]

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