buffr default keymap (page mode)

Reference for the default page-mode bindings shipped by buffr_modal::Keymap::default_bindings.

Leader key: the default is a single space (general.leader = " " in Config), so the one <leader> binding below (<leader>p → PinTab) is typed as <Space>p out of the box. Set [general] leader = "\\" for the vim convention; build_keymap feeds that character to Keymap::default_bindings, so every <leader> chord follows the config. (buffr --audit-keymap prints the raw table strings, so a leader chord shows as the literal token <leader>p rather than the key you actually press — Keymap::audit_default_bindings ignores the leader it is handed. Cosmetic only.)

Defaults mirror Vieb (stock app/renderer/input.js). Intentional divergences are flagged inline with [buffr].

The engine speaks vim-flavoured chord notation. <C-...> = Ctrl, <S-...> = Shift, <M-...> / <A-...> = Alt, <D-...> = Super (Cmd on macOS), <leader> = configured leader char.

Modes

Mode	Trigger	Notes
`Normal`	initial / `<Esc>`	Default; bindings below.
`Visual`	left-drag ≥ 4 px	Text selection in the page. `y` yanks, `<Esc>` cancels.
`Command`	`:` or `e`	Command line / omnibar focused. `<Esc>` returns.
`Hint`	`f` / `F`	DOM hint overlay active. `<Esc>` returns.
`Pending`	(transient)	Multi-key prefix in flight. Not user-bindable.
`Insert`	text-field focus	Forwarded to `Engine::feed_edit_mode_key`.

Count prefix

Leading digits accumulate: 5j scrolls down 5 lines, 12G jumps to line 12 (when implemented). 0 alone is bindable (vim convention: column 0); digits 1-9 always start a count.

Ambiguity timeout

When a binding is a prefix of a longer one (g vs gg), the engine waits up to Engine::timeout() (default 1000ms). If the user does not extend the prefix, the shorter action fires.

Normal-mode bindings

Scroll

Keys	Action	Notes
`j`	`ScrollDown(1)`
`k`	`ScrollUp(1)`
`h`	`ScrollLeft(1)`
`l`	`ScrollRight(1)`
`<Down>`	`ScrollDown(1)`
`<Up>`	`ScrollUp(1)`
`<Left>`	`ScrollLeft(1)`
`<Right>`	`ScrollRight(1)`
`<C-e>`	`ScrollDown(1)`
`<C-y>`	`ScrollUp(1)`
`<C-d>`	`ScrollHalfPageDown`
`<C-u>`	`ScrollHalfPageUp`
`<C-f>`	`ScrollFullPageDown`
`<C-b>`	`ScrollFullPageUp`
`<PageDown>`	`ScrollFullPageDown`
`<PageUp>`	`ScrollFullPageUp`
`gg`	`ScrollTop`
`G`	`ScrollBottom`
`<Home>`	`ScrollTop`
`<End>`	`ScrollBottom`

Tabs

Keys	Action	Notes
`H`	`TabPrev`	[buffr] Vieb uses `H` for history-back.
`L`	`TabNext`	[buffr] Vieb uses `L` for history-forward.
`gt`	`TabNext`
`gT`	`TabPrev`
`o`	`TabNewRight`	[buffr] Open tab to the right of active; omnibar opens so you type a URL.
`O`	`TabNewLeft`	[buffr] Open tab to the left of active; omnibar opens so you type a URL.
`<C-t>`	`TabNewRight`	Conventional-browser alternate for `o`.
`d`	`TabClose`
`<C-w>`	`TabClose`	Deliberately a leaf — there are no `<C-w>X` prefix chords.
`u`	`ReopenClosedTab`	Stack-based: repeated `u` undoes successive closes.
`<C-S-t>`	`ReopenClosedTab`	Conventional-browser alternate for `u`.
`<leader>p`	`PinTab`	Default leader is space, i.e. `<Space>p`.
`p`	`PasteUrl { after: true }`	Open the clipboard URL in a tab to the right. Non-URL clipboard = no-op.
`P`	`PasteUrl { after: false }`	Same, to the left.
`<C-S-h>`	`MoveTabLeft`	Shuffle the active tab one slot left.
`<C-S-l>`	`MoveTabRight`	Shuffle the active tab one slot right.

TabClose (and :q) close the active tab. The application only exits when the last tab is gone. PinTab toggles the pinned bit (pinned tabs sort to the front — pin does not prevent close). There is no PageAction for duplicating a tab — the capability exists only as the "Duplicate Tab" entry in the tab-strip right-click menu (ContextMenuItem::TabDuplicate). See multi-tab.md and context-menu.md.

History

Keys	Action	Notes
`J`	`HistoryBack`	[buffr] Vieb uses `J` for next-tab.
`K`	`HistoryForward`	[buffr] Vieb uses `K` for previous-tab.
`<C-o>`	`HistoryBack`
`<C-i>`	`HistoryForward`

Reload / stop

Keys	Action	Notes
`r`	`Reload`
`R`	`ReloadHard`
`<C-r>`	`ReloadHard`

Note: <Esc> is not bound to StopLoading in Normal mode; it is ExitInsertMode — it blurs the focused DOM element and resets the engine to Normal unconditionally.

<C-c> is StopLoading (a buffr extension); y is YankUrl.

Omnibar / command line

Keys	Action	Notes
`e`	`OpenOmnibar`
`<C-l>`	`OpenOmnibar`
`:`	`OpenCommandLine`
`;`	`OpenCommandLine`	[buffr] alias; Vieb uses `;` for hints.

Hints

Keys	Action
`f`	`EnterHintMode`
`F`	`EnterHintModeBackground`

Find

Keys	Action
`/`	`Find { forward: true }`
`?`	`Find { forward: false }`
`n`	`FindNext`
`N`	`FindPrev`

Yank

Keys	Action	Notes
`y`	`YankUrl`

Zoom

Keys	Action	Notes
`+`	`ZoomIn`
`=`	`ZoomIn`	Matches Chromium's `Ctrl+=` alias for zoom-in.
`-`	`ZoomOut`
`_`	`ZoomOut`
`0`	`ZoomReset`
`)`	`ZoomReset`
`<C-0>`	`ZoomReset`	Vieb-style alias for the conventional chord.

DevTools

Keys	Action
`<F12>`	`OpenDevTools`
`<C-S-i>`	`OpenDevTools`

Insert mode

Keys	Action	Notes
`i`	`FocusFirstInput`	[buffr] Same as `gi` — JS focuses first form input; focusin auto-promotes to Insert.
`gi`	`FocusFirstInput`	[buffr] Vieb's `insertAtFirstInput`. JS focuses first input; focusin auto-promotes.
`<Esc>`	`ExitInsertMode`	Blurs the active DOM element; resets edit state and engine to Normal unconditionally.

EnterInsertMode remains in the action enum for advanced user config (e.g. [keymap.normal] "<F2>" = "enter_insert_mode") but is unbound by default.

Visual-mode bindings

Visual mode is entered automatically by dragging with the left mouse button in the page area (more than a 4 px threshold); the embedded CEF view renders the selection itself. There is no key that enters Visual mode by default.

Keys	Action	Notes
`y`	`YankSelection`	Copies the page selection via CEF's native `frame.copy()`.
`<C-c>`	`YankSelection`	Same.
`<Esc>`	`EnterMode(Normal)`	Cancels without yanking.

Hint- and Command-mode bindings

Mode	Keys	Action
`Hint`	`<Esc>`	`EnterMode(Normal)`
`Command`	`<Esc>`	`EnterMode(Normal)`

Every other keystroke in those modes is consumed by the hint filter or the input bar — see the overlay table below.

Mode transitions

The engine reads the resolved [PageAction] and auto-transitions:

OpenOmnibar, OpenCommandLine → Command
EnterHintMode, EnterHintModeBackground → Hint
EnterInsertMode → Insert (trie bypassed; feed_edit_mode_key takes over)
ExitInsertMode → Normal (blurs DOM active element; clears EditFocus)
EnterMode(m) → m

<Esc> is bound in Normal to ExitInsertMode and in Visual / Command / Hint to EnterMode(Normal) so every mode has a guaranteed escape hatch.

In-overlay shortcuts (command line / omnibar)

When : opens the command line or e/<C-l> opens the omnibar, all keystrokes route to the input bar instead of the page-mode trie. The bindings below mirror readline / vim's command-line conventions.

Keys	Action
`<Esc>` / `<C-c>`	Cancel — close overlay, return to Normal mode.
`<CR>`	Confirm — dispatch the command or navigate to the URL.
`<Tab>` / `<Down>`	Move suggestion selection one row down (clamps at last).
`<S-Tab>` / `<Up>`	Move suggestion selection one row up (clears at top).
`<Left>` / `<Right>`	Move cursor through the buffer.
`<BS>`	Delete the codepoint before the cursor.
`<C-u>`	Clear the entire buffer.
`<C-w>`	Delete the word before the cursor.
`<C-v>`	Paste clipboard text, with CR/LF stripped.
`<Space>`	Literal space (the toolkit reports it as a named key).

In-prompt shortcuts (permissions)

When a page asks for a permission (camera, microphone, geolocation, notifications, clipboard, MIDI sysex, …) buffr surfaces a prompt strip and routes keystrokes to it until the request is resolved. The page content does not see these keys.

Keys	Action
`a` / `y`	Allow once (no row written).
`A` / `Y`	Allow + remember for this origin.
`d` / `n`	Deny once (no row written).
`D` / `N`	Deny + remember for this origin.
`s`	Synonym for `D` — deny + remember.
`<Esc>`	Defer — `Dismiss` / `cancel()`, no persistence.

If multiple requests pile up they queue; the statusline shows (N more pending) on the prompt strip. After resolving one the next prompt appears on the following frame.

See crates/buffr-permissions/README.md for the decision-precedence rules.

Gesture / input	Action
Right-click (page area)	Open context menu. Items depend on the hit-test target (see context-menu.md).
`<Up>` / `<Down>`	Move row selection in the open menu.
`<Enter>`	Activate selected menu item.
`<Esc>`	Dismiss menu without action.
Click outside panel	Dismiss menu without action.
Any non-navigation key	Dismiss menu and pass key to normal page-mode dispatcher.
Left-click (tab strip)	Switch tab and close the omnibar overlay (parity with `gt`/`gT`).
Two-finger swipe right	`HistoryBack` (≥ 150 px horizontal, 2× more horiz than vertical).
Two-finger swipe left	`HistoryForward` (same threshold).

Vieb chords intentionally NOT mapped

The following Vieb normal-mode actions have no buffr PageAction equivalent and are skipped until those features land:

Vieb chord(s)	Vieb action	Reason not mapped
`v`	startVisualSelect	Visual mode is mouse-entered; no keyboard entry chord yet
`<C-v>`	toVisualMode	Same
`<C-p>`	previousTab (pointer)	Pointer mode not implemented
`<C-n>`	nextTab (pointer)	Pointer mode not implemented
`m` / `M`	setMark / restoreMark	Marks not implemented
`<C-s>`	downloadLink	No `DownloadLink` action
`s` / `S`	toSearchMode (special)	Covered by `/` / `?`
`<C-a>` / `<C-x>`	incrementUrl / decrement	No URL increment action
`<kPlus>` / `<kMinus>`	zoomIn / zoomOut	`kPlus`/`kMinus` not a named key in buffr parser; covered by `+`/`-`
`<C-Tab>` / `<C-S-Tab>`	nextTab / prevTab	Covered by `H`/`L` and `gt`/`gT`

Note that p / P, u, <C-t>, and <C-f> are bound — see the Tabs and Scroll tables above. Only their Vieb semantics differ: buffr's p/P paste a clipboard URL into a new tab, u reopens the last closed tab, <C-t> opens a tab to the right, and <C-f> is a full-page scroll (Vieb's pointer-mode variant is what is unmapped).

Customising

Bindings come from a static table in crates/buffr-modal/src/keymap.rs. User overrides go in ~/.config/buffr/config.toml under [keymap.<mode>] — see config.md for the full schema and action notation. The watcher reloads the keymap on file changes (250ms debounced).