micro — A Modern Terminal Text Editor That Just Works

What it is

micro is a terminal-based text editor written in Go that brings desktop-style keyboard shortcuts to the command line. Instead of memorizing Vim keybindings or Emacs chords, you use Ctrl+S to save, Ctrl+C/V for clipboard, and Ctrl+Q to quit. It ships as a single binary with no dependencies.

The editor targets developers who spend most of their time in IDEs or GUI editors but occasionally need to edit files on remote servers or inside containers. If you know how to use Notepad, you know how to use micro.

How it saves time or tokens

micro eliminates the context-switch penalty of learning a modal editor. When you SSH into a server and need to edit a config file, you open it with micro config.yaml and start typing immediately. No mode confusion, no accidental deletions from hitting the wrong key in the wrong mode.

For AI-assisted workflows, micro's simplicity means less time explaining editor commands to colleagues or automation scripts. The JSON-based keybinding config is also easy for AI agents to generate or modify.

How to use

1. Install micro on your platform:

# macOS
brew install micro

# Linux
curl https://getmic.ro | bash

# Or via package manager
sudo apt install micro

1. Open any file with micro filename.txt and start editing with familiar shortcuts.

1. Customize keybindings by editing ~/.config/micro/bindings.json.

Example

# Install and open a file
brew install micro
micro ~/.zshrc

# Inside micro:
# Ctrl+S  - save
# Ctrl+Q  - quit
# Ctrl+F  - find
# Ctrl+Z  - undo
# Ctrl+D  - duplicate line or select next match
# Ctrl+E  - open command bar
# Ctrl+G  - go to line

Split panes work too:

# In micro command bar (Ctrl+E):
> hsplit filename.go
> vsplit another.go
> tab filename.rs

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Common pitfalls

• micro's clipboard integration depends on xclip or xsel on Linux. Install one of them or clipboard copy/paste will silently fail.
• The plugin system uses Lua, not Go. Do not try to write plugins in Go -- use the Lua API documented in the micro wiki.
• On some SSH connections, mouse support can conflict with terminal multiplexers like tmux. Disable mouse in micro with set mouse false if scrolling behaves oddly inside tmux.