Keyboard Navigation in Nuclide

Keyboard Navigation in Nuclide

Note that all of these shortcuts are for Mac. You can use the key finder (described near the end of this article) to determine the linux/windows equivalents:

Navigating by Symbol

This is the core of understanding source code. If you remember one thing from this post, this is it:

Shortcut	Description
cmd-alt-enter	Goto Definition of the symbol under the cursor

Navigation Stack

Combined with Goto Definition, this is the power tool for understanding source code. Use Goto Definition repeatedly to investigate a sequence of calls in a call stack, then use the Navigation Stack to go back (and forwards again) to where you came from.

These shortcuts are the source code equivalents of the forward/backwards buttons in your web browser.

Shortcut	Description
ctrl-,/.	Forwards and backwards in the navigation stack.

Navigating by Diagnostics

After writing code, the first thing you want to do is fix your compile errors. Get used to doing this without the mouse.

Shortcut	Description
alt-</>	prev/next Diagnostic
alt-ctrl-</>	first/last Diagnostic
cmd-alt-</>	prev/next Diagnostic Trace. Navigate through the multiple locations reported in complex Hack/Flow diagnostics.
alt-shift-D	Show/hide the Diagnostics Panel

Navigating by Files

This is another area where its easy to fall back to using the mouse.

Shortcut	Description
cmd-shift-\	Reveal the current file in the file tree
ctrl-0	Toggle focus to/from the file tree
cmd-t	Open file by name (and more)
cmd-w	Close the current file
cmd-\	Show/hide the file tree. Useful on smaller screens.
ctrl-alt-shift-X	Copy relative (to the current project) file name to the clipboard.
ctrl-shift-X	Copy absolute file name to the clipboard.

The combination of the first 2 is convenient for opening a file in the same dir as the current file. The sequence is:

• reveal
• toggle focus
• arrows - select nearby file
• enter - open selected file

Also, you can search for a file within a subdirectory fro the file tree. Focus the file tree (ctrl-0), select the directory you want to search in using arrows. Once a directory is selected, typing any characters will search for files within that directory.

Note: the one major thing missing is opening a file in Nuclide given an absolute path. Hackathon project anyone?

Navigation Within a File

Moving the cursor around efficiently within a file.

Shortcut	Description
arrows	move by character/line
alt-arrows	move by word/paragraph
page up/page down	move by screen fulls
cmd-arrows	move to beginning/end
ctrl-m	Navigate to matching bracket (), [], {}

Note you will want to add paragraph movement to your atom key map file.

'atom-text-editor':
  'alt-up': 'editor:move-to-beginning-of-previous-paragraph'
  'alt-down': 'editor:move-to-beginning-of-next-paragraph'
  'shift-alt-up': 'editor:select-to-beginning-of-previous-paragraph'
  'shift-alt-down': 'editor:select-to-beginning-of-next-paragraph'

See the end of this article on opening your Atom keymap file.

Managing Panes & Tabs

I'll usually have 2 panes open when I'm editing code. My left pane will contain the file(s) I'm editing, while the right pane will contain tabs for related code files.

Shortcut	Description
cmd-k arrow	Move the current editor to a new pane in the given direction.
cmd-k cmd-arrow	Move focus to the pane in the given direction.
cmd-{/}	Focus the prev/next Tab(editor) within the current pane.
cmd-shift-T	Re-open the last closed tab

Managing Window Placement

I highly recommend the spectacle app for OSX. If you use a Mac download it and pay this man for all the time he will save you.

Spectacle gives you keyboard shortcuts for positioning the current window on your screen.

Shortcut	Description
cmd-alt-f	Resize the current window to full screen
cmd-alt-arrow	Move and resize the current window to fill half of the screen
ctrl-alt-arrow	Move and resize the current window to fill thirds of the screen

Another option is Moom.

Keys About Keys

Atom is built around the concept of a command which can be mapped to keys. Want to tune your keyboard shortcuts or figure out what a key does, these commands are for you.

Shortcut	Description
cmd-.	Show/Hide a panel at the bottom of the Atom window which displays the key hit and the commands mapped to that key.
cmd-shift-P	Fuzzy search through all of the commands in Nuclide and Atom.
cmd-,	Show Atom Settings
cmd-alt-,	Show Nuclide Settings

To remap a key you will need to edit your ~/.atom/keymap.cson file. You can open your keymap file with:

• cmd-, to show Atom Settings
• select Keybindings
• select the highlighted your keymap file in the help text