Keybindings

Dumber uses modal keybindings. Pick the activation style with workspace.keymap:

• zellij (default): each mode has its own activation key, listed below.
• tmux: one prefix key, then a single action key. See Keymap presets.

Mode Activation

Press Escape or Enter to exit any mode. Ctrl+Y can activate Vim Mode even when a page input is already focused, so you can use Vim commands without first moving focus away from the editor.

Keybinding tables use uppercase letters as visual labels for unshifted letter keys. In config, use lowercase (for example, ["w"] for Pane Mode eject). Shifted keys are shown with an explicit Shift+ prefix.

Default actions missing from your config are always active. Your own bindings override defaults (a default is skipped if one of its keys is already used in the same mode), and keys = [] disables an action.

Pane Mode (Ctrl+P)

Tab Mode (Ctrl+T)

Vim Mode (Ctrl+Y)

Vim Mode is an explicit Vim-style navigation mode for the active pane only. Its frame uses workspace.styling.vim_mode_color, a bottom-left VIM MODE toaster stays visible while the mode is active, and a shortcut legend expands from it after 500 ms. Click the toaster to collapse or expand the legend (the choice is saved in workspace.styling.mode_legend_collapsed and shared by all modes). Set workspace.styling.mode_legend to always or off to change the legend timing. The mode exits automatically when focus moves into the omnibox, find bar, overlays, or an editable element inside the page. The default timeout_ms is 0, so Vim Mode does not auto-time out unless you configure one. Arrow keys continue to flow through the browser engine's native page-navigation path while Vim Mode is active, while other app-level shortcuts stay suspended until you leave the mode. Ctrl+Y remains available when an editable page control is already focused.

CEF and WebKit execute Vim Mode scroll commands (h/j/k/l, Shift+J/K) with the shared BuildPageScrollByJS resolver. Each step starts under the viewport center, walks up through ancestors that can move in the requested direction, and hands scrolling to the document when a nested container reaches its boundary. Cross-origin frame contents remain best-effort.

gi focuses the next visible, editable page input. With no eligible input focused it starts at the first one; repeated gi commands cycle through the inputs. ]] and [[ move through visible h1–h6 headings and outline the selected heading with the current Dumber theme accent. Enter activates the first link inside the selected heading, or a link wrapping that heading, then leaves Vim Mode; without an associated link, it only leaves the mode. Escape leaves without activation. When a page input is focused, Tab and Shift+Tab keep focus traversal inside the page; traversal stops safely at the page boundaries instead of moving into the host window. These live input, heading, activation, and page-focus actions currently use the CEF engine path; the WebKit fallback supports Vim scrolling but not these semantic actions yet.

Link hints label the visible targets in the viewport; type a label to pick one, Backspace to undo a letter, and Escape to close the hints and stay in Vim Mode. f follows a link or activates a control, F opens a link in a new pane, and yf copies a link URL.

v starts visual selection. A non-empty selection that is visible in the viewport is used as is. Otherwise text-anchor hints label the visible text blocks; type a label to put the caret at the start of that text, or press Escape to place it at the first visible text of at least 50 characters (any visible text if none is that long). The mode indicator follows the page state: VIM MODE · HINTS, · CARET, · VISUAL, · VISUAL LINE.

In caret mode a large blinking accent cursor marks the position and motions move it without selecting: h/j/k/l, w/b/e, 0/^/$, (/) for sentences, {/} for paragraphs, gg/G for the document edges, and a count prefix such as 3w. The view scrolls to keep the cursor visible. v starts a character selection from the caret and V selects whole lines; in both, the same motions extend the selection and o swaps its ends. v in a selection returns to the caret, V in a character selection switches to lines, and v in a line selection switches to characters. y or Enter copies the selection and returns to the caret at its end, so you can keep moving and copy again. Escape steps back from a selection to the caret, and Escape in caret mode ends visual selection and leaves plain Vim Mode.

Text-object yanks copy one block without selecting it: yah copies the current section (the heading nearest the top of the viewport through the next heading of the same or a higher level), and yap, yac, yat, and yal copy the first visible paragraph, code block, table, or list. The copied block flashes with the theme accent. Hints, visual selection, and yanks use the CEF engine path.

While hints or visual selection are active, the page owns every key; the Vim Mode toggle shortcut (Ctrl+Y by default, or your activation_shortcut) is never forwarded to it. Pressing it always leaves Vim Mode and ends the interaction, so it is the way out even if a page misbehaves. Caret and visual selection anchor only to text in the page's main document: text inside shadow roots (some web components) is not offered as a caret position, while link hints and text-object yanks still reach into shadow DOM.

Resize Mode (Ctrl+N)

Session Mode (Ctrl+O)

Keymap Presets

[workspace]
keymap = "tmux"   # or "zellij" (default)

With keymap = "tmux", the Pane, Tab, Resize, and Session activation keys are unbound. Press the prefix (Ctrl+Space by default), then one action key. Dumber runs the action and returns to normal mode; an unbound key or Escape cancels the prefix. Vim Mode keeps Ctrl+Y in both presets.

Change the prefix or its actions under [workspace.prefix_mode]. Symbols such as % and " match whichever Shift state your layout needs, so write them without shift+. Ctrl+Space is often used to switch input methods; pick another prefix (for example alt+a) if your desktop already uses it.

[workspace.prefix_mode]
activation_shortcut = "alt+a"
timeout_ms = 2000

[workspace.prefix_mode.actions.split-right]
keys = ["%", "v"]

Global Shortcuts

These work outside modal modes in both keymaps. Every entry lives under [workspace.shortcuts.actions], so you can rebind it or disable it with keys = [].

• Alt+F is the only floating-pane shortcut enabled by default.
• Alt+F toggles floating visibility and keeps floating pane state intact.
• Ctrl+H toggles the native GTK history sidebar. The sidebar shows browsing history grouped by day with search/filter, keyboard navigation (arrows, Home/End, Ctrl+arrows for day jumps), and activation modes (Enter to navigate while keeping the sidebar open, Ctrl+Enter to navigate while keeping the sidebar open, Shift+Enter to open in a new split). If the native sidebar is unavailable, the shortcut returns an error instead of falling back to dumb://history.
• Ctrl+B toggles the native GTK Favorites sidebar. Search matches favorite titles, URLs, and tag names. Tab/Shift+Tab traverse search, every tag filter, and the favorites list; arrow keys navigate favorites once the list is focused. The + at the right end of the tag-filter row creates a named tag. With a favorite selected in the list, + opens its tag binding controls. Enter and Ctrl+Enter open the selected favorite in the current pane while keeping the sidebar open; Shift+Enter opens it in a new split. Inside the sidebar, a adds, e edits, s opens shortcut mode, Delete starts delete confirmation, / focuses search, Esc clears/cancels/closes, r reloads, and c clears search and filters.
• Ctrl+D toggles the active page as a favorite/bookmark. Favorite shortcut metadata can be assigned in the sidebar, but global Alt+1..9 remains tab switching.
• Ctrl+W closes the active pane; when the floating pane is active, it fully releases that floating session.
• Any URL shortcut (for example Alt+G) must be defined explicitly in workspace.floating_pane.profiles.
• Floating profile shortcuts support modifier combos with ctrl, shift, and alt (for example ctrl+shift+y or ctrl+alt+m).

Warning: some Alt+<key> combinations may conflict with browser-engine shortcuts, website handlers, or your desktop environment. If a shortcut does not trigger in Dumber, choose a different keybinding.

For details, see Floating Pane.

Customization

All keybindings can be customized in ~/.config/dumber/config.toml:

[workspace.pane_mode.actions]
split-right = ["arrowright", "r"]
close-pane = ["x", "q"]

[workspace.vim_mode]
activation_shortcut = "ctrl+y"
timeout_ms = 0

[workspace.vim_mode.actions.vim-scroll-left]
keys = ["h"]

[workspace.vim_mode.actions.vim-scroll-down]
keys = ["j"]

[workspace.vim_mode.actions.vim-scroll-up]
keys = ["k"]

[workspace.vim_mode.actions.vim-scroll-right]
keys = ["l"]

[workspace.vim_mode.actions.vim-scroll-down-fast]
keys = ["shift+j"]

[workspace.vim_mode.actions.vim-scroll-up-fast]
keys = ["shift+k"]

[workspace.vim_mode.actions.focus-input]
keys = ["gi"]

[workspace.vim_mode.actions.heading-next]
keys = ["]]"]

[workspace.vim_mode.actions.heading-prev]
keys = ["[["]

[workspace.vim_mode.actions.hint-follow]
keys = ["f"]

[workspace.vim_mode.actions.hint-follow-new]
keys = ["F"]

[workspace.vim_mode.actions.hint-yank-url]
keys = ["yf"]

[workspace.vim_mode.actions.visual]
keys = ["v"]

[workspace.vim_mode.actions.yank-section]
keys = ["yah"]

[workspace.vim_mode.actions.yank-paragraph]
keys = ["yap"]

[workspace.vim_mode.actions.yank-code]
keys = ["yac"]

[workspace.vim_mode.actions.yank-table]
keys = ["yat"]

[workspace.vim_mode.actions.yank-list]
keys = ["yal"]

[workspace.shortcuts.actions.close-pane]
keys = ["ctrl+w"]

[workspace.shortcuts.actions.toggle-floating-pane]
keys = ["alt+f"]

[workspace.shortcuts.actions.toggle-history-systemview]
keys = ["ctrl+h"]

[workspace.shortcuts.actions.toggle-favorites-sidebar]
keys = ["ctrl+b"]

[workspace.shortcuts.actions.toggle-current-page-favorite]
keys = ["ctrl+d"]

[workspace.shortcuts.actions.toggle-config-systemview]
keys = []

[workspace.floating_pane]
width_pct = 0.82
height_pct = 0.72

[workspace.floating_pane.profiles.google]
keys = ["alt+g"]
url = "https://google.com"

[workspace.floating_pane.profiles.github]
keys = ["alt+h"]
url = "https://github.com"

See Configuration for full details.