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This page walks you through the essential workflow in Vorto: opening a file, moving around in Normal mode, switching to Insert mode to type, and saving your changes. Editing works the moment you open a file; turning on syntax highlighting and language servers is an optional, one-time-per-language step we cover at the end.

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Open a file or directory

Pass a file path to open it directly, or pass a directory to launch the fuzzy file picker:
When you open a directory, Vorto sets it as the workspace root and immediately opens the fuzzy file picker so you can navigate to the file you want. You can edit, navigate, and save without any further setup — syntax highlighting and language servers are an optional, one-time-per-language step covered below. Vorto starts in Normal mode. Use the following keys to move around without touching the mouse:
Normal mode is the hub you return to between every action. Get comfortable pressing Esc to come back here whenever you are unsure of your current mode.

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Edit text

1

Enter Insert mode

Press i to enter Insert mode. You can now type freely. The cursor changes shape to indicate the active mode.
2

Type your changes

Edit the file as you would in any text editor. Use Backspace to delete characters.
3

Return to Normal mode

Press Esc to return to Normal mode when you are done typing.

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Read the git gutter

Vorto shows VCS change indicators in the gutter (the narrow column to the left of the buffer): The gutter updates as you edit, giving you a live diff against the last commit.

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Save and quit

From Normal mode, type : to enter Command mode. Then:
Vorto will not let you quit with unsaved changes. Run :w before :q, or use :q! to discard changes and force quit.

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Use the fuzzy finder

Inside the editor, the fuzzy finder lets you quickly open files, switch buffers, and jump to symbols. Open it from Normal mode with the file picker prompt (the same one that appears when you run vorto .).
The fuzzy finder searches files relative to the workspace root — the directory you passed when launching Vorto, or your working directory if you opened a file directly.

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Enable syntax highlighting

If you installed Vorto with mise, Homebrew, or a prebuilt binary, syntax highlighting is already on — those binaries ship with grammars for every built-in language embedded, extracted on first launch. You can skip ahead to the next step. If you built Vorto with cargo install or from source, no grammars are bundled. Everything above works on a plain, uncolored buffer until you install a language’s tree-sitter grammar once:
You can install multiple grammars at once, or install everything available:
To see which grammars are available and which are already installed, run:
This is a one-time step per language; once built, the grammar is cached and loaded on every subsequent start.
A C compiler (gcc or clang) must be on your PATH when building grammars this way. The build happens once; subsequent editor starts load the cached library. (Prebuilt binaries skip this — their grammars are already compiled.)
For diagnostics, completions, and goto definition, install a language server for your language and Vorto attaches it automatically — see LSP setup. Like grammars, this is a one-time per-language setup, and editing works fine without it.

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Next steps

Editing modes

Learn Visual mode, operator commands, and the full range of Normal-mode motions.

Language grammars

Browse built-in grammar recipes and manage installed grammars.

LSP setup

Install a language server and enable diagnostics, completions, and goto definition.

Configuration

Customize your keybindings, theme, and per-language settings in TOML.