xnano - A Fast Rust Text Editor

About xnano

xnano is designed to bring the simplicity of GNU nano into the modern era. Built with Rust, it adds highly requested features like syntax highlighting, multi-theme support, soft line-wrap, and line numbers, while maintaining the familiar interface and speed you expect.

Screenshots

Syntax Highlighting & Built-in Themes

Clean interface with persistent soft-wrap, theme

Features

Syntax Highlighting: Built-in support for multiple languages.
Themes: Over two-dozen common themes included. Cycle easily with Meta+T.
Persistence: Theme, line numbers, and soft wrap settings are stored automatically in ~/.xnano/xnanorc.
Cross-Platform: Fully tested and supported on macOS and Linux (Debian).

Pre-Compiled Binaries

Download the latest release for your operating system directly from GitHub:

macOS

Apple Silicon

Download for macOS

Linux

Debian / Ubuntu

Download for Linux

Install via Cargo

If you already have Rust installed, you can easily pull xnano directly from crates.io:

cargo install xnano

Or build it from the repository:

git clone https://github.com/mabognar/xnano
cd xnano
cargo install --path .

Help & Keyboard Shortcuts

xnano uses standard nano keyboard shortcuts. The caret (^) represents the Ctrl key, and M represents the Meta (or Alt/Option) key.

File & System

^G Get Help
^X Exit
^O Write Out
^R Read File

Movement

^P Move up one line
^N Move down one line
^B Move left one character
^F Move right one character
^A Move to start of line
^E Move to end of line
^Y Move up one page
^V Move down one page

Editing

^K Cut Line
^U Paste Line
^D Delete character under cursor
Backspace Delete character before cursor
^J Justify current paragraph
^I Insert tab
^^ Mark text (i.e. Ctrl + Shift + 6)

Search & Replace

^W Where Is (Search)
^\ Replace

Tools & Settings

^C Cursor Position
^T Spell Check
^L Go to line number
M-T Cycle Theme
M-W Toggle Soft Wrap
M-L Toggle Line Numbers