Editor
The Editor, Overview
The editing surface is Monaco. It stays quick on a single script and on a very large repo. The agent is optional. You can just write.
What you're working with
The editor knows the mainstream languages from the start: syntax highlighting, bracket matching, code folding, and smart indentation. You do not install anything for those. Deeper help, such as go-to-definition, inline errors, and rename across files, comes from a language server running for the language you are editing.
IntelliSense
Completions that follow the context, parameter hints, and short docs as you type.
Code Navigation & Refactoring
Jump to a definition or a reference, rename a symbol across the project, and apply quick fixes.
Workspaces
One folder, or several roots, for a monorepo and for projects that span more than one repository.
Accessibility
Screen reader support, keyboard-only navigation, and a help system for accessibility.
Multi-cursor and selection
Several cursors let you make the same edit in more than one place at once, so you are not repeating a find-and-replace:
| Action | Windows / Linux | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Add a cursor above/below | Ctrl+Alt+↑/↓ | Cmd+Option+↑/↓ |
| Add a cursor at every click | Alt+Click | Option+Click |
| Select next match of current word | Ctrl+D | Cmd+D |
| Select all matches of current word | Ctrl+Shift+L | Cmd+Shift+L |
| Column (box) selection | Shift+Alt+drag | Shift+Option+drag |
Select next match, one at a time
Press Ctrl/Cmd + D again and again. It adds one occurrence of the current word at a time, which is often quicker than selecting every match. Press it again to move past a match you want to leave alone.
Emmet and snippets
HTML and CSS-family files include Emmet. Type
ul>li*3 and press Tab to expand it into a three-item list. You
can also define your own snippets, for one language or for every language.
Search Configure User Snippets in the Command Palette.
Workspace trust
The first time you open a folder, Gyaanmitra asks whether you trust the people who wrote it. A trusted workspace can run tasks, debug configurations, and workspace recommendations. Restricted Mode keeps those automatic actions off until you choose to trust the folder.
You can change that later from the Command Palette (Workspaces: Manage Workspace Trust) or from the trust indicator in the status bar. In a multi-root workspace, trust applies to the workspace file and to each folder it contains.
Large files and monorepos
The editor stays responsive on files much larger than a typical project produces. Search, Go to Symbol, and Find All References are built to keep up as a multi-root workspace grows. If you hit a file-watching limit on Linux with a very large repository, see the note in the Linux setup guide.