Configuration

Keybindings & actions

Every command in Sinclair is an action, and any action can be bound to any key combination from your config file. Sinclair ships with a sensible default keymap so it works the moment you launch it, but nothing is fixed: override a default, remove one you never use, or invent entirely new shortcuts — including chords and bindings that drive plugin commands. Changes take effect the instant you save the file.

Syntax

Keybindings live in your settings file ($XDG_CONFIG_HOME/sinclair/settings.json or ~/.config/sinclair/settings.json). Each binding is one entry in the keybind array:

"keybind": ["trigger=action"]   // optionally with a :param

The keybind array takes as many entries as you like. A trigger is one or more modifiers and a key, joined with +:

• Modifiers: cmd, ctrl, alt, shift (super is accepted as an alias for cmd).
• Keys: the alphanumerics (a–z, 0–9); the named keys enter, tab, escape, space, backspace, delete, insert, up, down, left, right, home, end, page_up, page_down, f1–f12; and the punctuation names plus, minus, equal, comma, period, slash, backslash, semicolon, apostrophe, grave_accent, bracket_left, bracket_right.

Chain keys into a chord with > — the binding fires only when the keys are pressed in sequence (for example ctrl+a>n means "press ⌃A, then N").

keybind = cmd+t=new_tab
keybind = cmd+shift+d=new_split:down
keybind = ctrl+a>n=next_tab

Customizing

Your bindings are merged on top of the defaults, so you only declare what you want to change:

• Override a default by binding the same trigger to a different action.
• Remove a default by binding its trigger to unbind.
• Add new shortcuts freely — including chords and plugin commands.

# Override: make Cmd+T open a split instead of a tab
keybind = cmd+t=new_split:right

# Unbind: reclaim Cmd+K for the shell
keybind = cmd+k=unbind

# Chord: leader key for jumping to the first tab
keybind = ctrl+b>1=goto_tab:1

# Bind a plugin command
keybind = cmd+shift+j=plugin_command:git/status

Default keybindings

These bindings are active out of the box. (⌘ is Command on macOS and Ctrl on Linux/Windows.)

macOS-only readline keys

On macOS, Sinclair maps the familiar Cocoa text-navigation shortcuts to the control sequences a readline shell expects, so line editing feels native.

Action catalog

Every action you can bind, with its config string and any parameters. Parameters follow the action after a colon (for example new_split:right). Where an action lists an alias, either name works in your config.