File Editor
Dinotty ships with a built-in file browser (file tree on the left, editor/preview on the right). The right side is powered by Monaco and supports split panes, multi-cursor editing, and cross-file synchronization.
Split Panes
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Split horizontally (new pane on the right) | Cmd + \ (Ctrl + \ on Windows/Linux) |
| Split vertically (new pane below) | Cmd + Shift + \ |
| Close the active editor pane | Cmd + W (when the file browser is focused) |
| Switch to the next / previous pane | Cmd + Shift + ] / [ |
| Toggle maximize / restore the active pane | Cmd + Shift + Enter |
| Equalize all panes | Cmd + = |
| Open a file in a new split pane | Cmd/Ctrl + Click the file in the tree |
The split layout is persisted per tab in localStorage and restored on refresh.
Multi-line Editing (Multi-cursor)
The file editor provides two multi-cursor mechanisms: Monaco native multi-cursor (within a single file) and Cursor Group (cross-file / cross-pane broadcast).
Monaco Native Multi-cursor
Use Monaco's built-in shortcuts directly inside an editor pane. Input lands at every cursor position; undo / redo is the per-pane stack:
| Action | macOS | Windows/Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Add a cursor at a position | Option + Click | Alt + Click |
| Add cursor below / above | Cmd + Option + ↓ / ↑ | Ctrl + Alt + ↓ / ↑ |
| Select next occurrence of word | Cmd + D | Ctrl + D |
| Select all occurrences of word | Cmd + Shift + L | Ctrl + Shift + L |
| Column selection (drag) | Shift + Option + drag | Shift + Alt + drag |
Best for editing multiple spots inside a single file.
Cursor Group (cross-file / cross-pane broadcast)
For cases where the same change must land across multiple files or multiple positions — e.g. renaming an identifier referenced in many places.
Workflow:
- Select a word in the editor (or place the cursor on it).
- Press
Shift + Lto trigger the "Add Cursors in Files" command. - Dinotty runs ripgrep across the working directory, then shows a picker for you to select which matches to include.
- After confirming:
- Single file matches: the current pane keeps multiple selections, equivalent to multi-cursor.
- Multi-file matches: each file opens in its own split pane, with multi-cursor set inside each pane.
- Typing in any pane broadcasts the change to every pane in the same group.
Cmd + Z/Cmd + Shift + Zundoes / redoes the entire group together.
Cursor Group undo / redo only applies to the active group. If you've switched to another pane or group, click back into a pane of the original group before undoing.
Cursor Group vs Terminal Split Broadcast
| Dimension | Terminal split broadcast | File editor Cursor Group |
|---|---|---|
| Target | PTY input byte stream | Monaco editor text changes |
| How to trigger | Enable broadcast mode after splitting | Shift + L triggers search + picker |
| Sync granularity | Input characters | Text deltas (insert / delete ranges) |
| Undo behavior | PTY itself | Group-wide synchronous undo / redo |
Supported File Types
| Category | Examples | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Code / scripts | .rs .ts .py .go … | Syntax highlighting + editable |
| Documents | .md .txt .log | Markdown render / plain text |
| Images | .png .jpg .gif .webp .svg | Scaled display |
| Video | .mp4 .webm .mov | Built-in player |
| Audio | .mp3 .wav .flac | Playback controls |
| Office | .docx .xlsx .pptx | Rendered preview (read-only) |
| Binary / other | - | No content, hint only |
Saving
- A
●next to the title indicates unsaved changes. - Click the save button or press
Cmd + Sto write the file. - When the same file is open in multiple panes, each tracks its own dirty state; the last write wins on save.