# micro — A Modern Terminal Text Editor That Just Works

> micro is a terminal-based text editor with familiar shortcuts (Ctrl+S, Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V). No Vim/Emacs learning curve, mouse support, plugin system, syntax highlighting for 100+ languages — the modern alternative to nano.

## Install

Save as a script file and run:

# micro — Modern Terminal Text Editor

## Quick Use
```bash
# Install (any platform)
curl https://getmic.ro | bash

# macOS
brew install micro

# Linux
sudo apt install micro    # or: sudo snap install micro --classic

# Start editing
micro README.md
```

## Introduction
micro is what nano should have been in 2026: a terminal editor with the familiar desktop shortcuts (Ctrl+S to save, Ctrl+C/V for clipboard), mouse support, and syntax highlighting built in. No "press Esc then :wq" confusion.

With over 28,000 GitHub stars, micro is the go-to editor for developers who live in a terminal occasionally but don't want to spend a month learning Vim. It's a single Go binary, works anywhere, and has a plugin ecosystem for LSP, linters, and file trees.

## What micro Does
micro gives you a modern editing experience: multi-cursor (Ctrl+D), split panes, find/replace with regex, macros, tabs, mouse-driven selection, and Lua-scripted plugins. Key bindings are customizable via a simple JSON file.

## Architecture Overview
```
[Go Binary]
      |
[Terminal TUI (tcell)]
      |
  +------+------+------+
  |      |      |      |
Editor  Tabs   Splits  Mouse
  |
[Syntax Highlighting]
  100+ languages via built-in rules
      |
[Plugin System (Lua)]
  micro-plugin-manager
  filemanager, go, linter, manipulator,
  autofmt, aspell, status, comment, ...
      |
[Config]
  ~/.config/micro/settings.json
  ~/.config/micro/bindings.json
```

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
```json
// ~/.config/micro/settings.json
{
  "autosu": false,
  "colorscheme": "monokai",
  "indentchar": " ",
  "tabsize": 4,
  "tabstospaces": true,
  "syntax": true,
  "mouse": true,
  "softwrap": true,
  "hlsearch": true
}
```

```json
// ~/.config/micro/bindings.json — Ctrl/Cmd shortcuts
{
  "Ctrl-b": "command:bookmark",
  "Ctrl-e": "command-edit:",
  "Alt-]": "NextTab",
  "Alt-[": "PreviousTab"
}
```

```
# Install plugins inside micro
Ctrl+e  then  plugin install filemanager
Ctrl+e  then  plugin install linter
Ctrl+e  then  plugin install go
```

## Key Features
- **Sane default shortcuts** — Ctrl+S save, Ctrl+C/V clipboard, Ctrl+Q quit
- **Multi-cursor** — Ctrl+D to select next occurrence (like VS Code)
- **Splits + Tabs** — multiple files side by side
- **Mouse support** — click to move, drag to select, scroll to scroll
- **Syntax highlighting** — 100+ languages out of the box
- **Plugin system (Lua)** — file manager, LSP, linter, formatter
- **Single binary** — no dependencies, runs anywhere Go compiles
- **Macros + regex find/replace** — enough for most editing tasks

## Comparison with Similar Tools
| Feature | micro | nano | Vim | Neovim | Helix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Learning curve | Very low | Very low | High | High | Medium |
| Mouse support | Native | No | Limited | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-cursor | Yes | No | Via plugins | Via plugins | Yes (selections) |
| Plugin language | Lua | None | Vimscript | Lua | No plugins |
| LSP | Via plugin | No | Via plugin (coc) | Yes (built-in) | Yes (built-in) |
| Best For | Quick edits, SSH sessions | Absolute minimum | Power users | Modern Vim | Modal + modern |

## FAQ
**Q: micro vs nano?**
A: micro is nano for the modern age — same "no learning curve" promise but with mouse, multi-cursor, syntax highlighting, and plugins. If you're defaulting to nano, try micro; you'll likely stay.

**Q: Should I learn Vim instead?**
A: If you spend hours/day editing in the terminal, yes eventually. If you're editing a config file on a server once a week, micro is a much lower tax on your attention.

**Q: Does it support LSP?**
A: Yes via plugins (`plugin install ale` for linting, or dedicated LSP plugins). Less polished than Neovim/Helix LSP, but workable.

**Q: Will my Ctrl+C interrupt the process or copy?**
A: In micro, Ctrl+C copies (like a desktop editor). Use `Ctrl+E` to open the command bar for commands, and `Ctrl+Q` to quit.

## Sources
- GitHub: https://github.com/zyedidia/micro
- Website: https://micro-editor.github.io
- License: MIT

---
Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/a6161a84-380a-11f1-9bc6-00163e2b0d79
Author: Script Depot