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LESSKEY(1) General Commands Manual LESSKEY(1)

lesskey — customize key bindings for less

lesskey [-o output | --output=output] [input]

lesskey -V | --version

lesskey is used to change the default key bindings of less(1). The input file is a text file which describes the key bindings. If the input file is ‘-’, standard input is read. If no input file is specified, a standard filename is used as the name of the input file; by default $HOME/.lesskey. The output file is a binary file which is used by less(1). If no output file is specified, and the environment variable LESSKEY is set, the value of LESSKEY is used as the name of the output file. Otherwise, a standard filename is used as the name of the output file; by default $HOME/.less is used. If the output file already exists, lesskey will overwrite it.

A system-wide lesskey file may also be set up to provide key bindings. If a key is defined in both a local lesskey file and in the system-wide file, key bindings in the local file take precedence over those in the system-wide file. If the environment variable LESSKEY_SYSTEM is set, less(1) uses that as the name of the system-wide lesskey file. Otherwise, less(1) looks in a standard place for the system-wide lesskey file: On OpenBSD, the system-wide lesskey file is /etc/sysless.

The -V or --version option causes lesskey to print its version number and immediately exit. If -V or --version is present, other options and arguments are ignored.

The input file consists of one or more sections. Each section starts with a line that identifies the type of section. Possible sections are:

#command
Defines new command keys.
#line-edit
Defines new line-editing keys.
#env
Defines environment variables.

Blank lines and lines which start with a pound sign (#) are ignored, except for the special section header lines.

The command section begins with the line

#command

If the command section is the first section in the file, this line may be omitted.

The command section consists of lines of the form:

keys action [extra]

The three fields are separated by whitespace consisting of one or more spaces and/or tabs.

The keys string consists of at least one and at most 15 keys. By typing it in less(1), the action is invoked. The list of default key bindings given below also serves as a list of supported actions.

Each of the keys can be specified in these forms:

An action may be followed by an extra string. It is parsed, just as if it were typed into less(1), after performing the action. This feature can be used in certain cases to extend the functionality of a command. For example, see the ‘{’ and ‘:t’ keys in the list of default bindings below.

The extra string has a special meaning for the "quit" action: when less(1) quits, first character of the extra string is used as its exit status.

The following input file describes the set of default command keys used by less(1):

#command
\r	forw-line
\n	forw-line
e	forw-line
j	forw-line
\kd	forw-line
^E	forw-line
^N	forw-line
k	back-line
y	back-line
^Y	back-line
^K	back-line
^P	back-line
J	forw-line-force
K	back-line-force
Y	back-line-force
d	forw-scroll
^D	forw-scroll
u	back-scroll
^U	back-scroll
\40	forw-screen
f	forw-screen
^F	forw-screen
^V	forw-screen
\kD	forw-screen
b	back-screen
^B	back-screen
\ev	back-screen
\kU	back-screen
z	forw-window
w	back-window
\e\40	forw-screen-force
F	forw-forever
\eF	forw-until-hilite
R	repaint-flush
r	repaint
^R	repaint
^L	repaint
\eu	undo-hilite
g	goto-line
\kh	goto-line
<	goto-line
\e<	goto-line
p	percent
%	percent
\e[	left-scroll
\e]	right-scroll
\e(	left-scroll
\e)	right-scroll
{	forw-bracket {}
}	back-bracket {}
(	forw-bracket ()
)	back-bracket ()
[	forw-bracket []
]	back-bracket []
\e^F	forw-bracket
\e^B	back-bracket
G	goto-end
\e>	goto-end
>	goto-end
\ke	goto-end
=	status
^G	status
:f	status
/	forw-search
?	back-search
\e/	forw-search *
\e?	back-search *
n	repeat-search
\en	repeat-search-all
N	reverse-search
\eN	reverse-search-all
&	filter
m	set-mark
'	goto-mark
^X^X	goto-mark
E	examine
:e	examine
^X^V	examine
:n	next-file
:p	prev-file
t	next-tag
T	prev-tag
:x	index-file
:d	remove-file
-	toggle-option
:t	toggle-option t
s	toggle-option o
_	display-option
|	pipe
v	visual
+	firstcmd
H	help
h	help
V	version
0	digit
1	digit
2	digit
3	digit
4	digit
5	digit
6	digit
7	digit
8	digit
9	digit
q	quit
Q	quit
:q	quit
:Q	quit
ZZ	quit

Commands specified by lesskey take precedence over the default commands. A default command key may be disabled by including it in the input file with the action "invalid". Alternatively, a key may be defined to do nothing by using the action "noaction". "noaction" is similar to "invalid", but less will give an error beep for an "invalid" command, but not for a "noaction" command. In addition, ALL default commands may be disabled by adding this control line to the input file:

#stop

This will cause all default commands to be ignored. The #stop line should be the last line in that section of the file.

Be aware that #stop can be dangerous. Since all default commands are disabled, you must provide sufficient commands before the #stop line to enable all necessary actions. For example, failure to provide a "quit" command can lead to frustration.

The line-editing section begins with the line:

#line-edit

This section specifies new key bindings for the line editing commands, in a manner similar to the way key bindings for ordinary commands are specified in the #command section. The line-editing section consists of a list of keys and actions, one per line as in the example below.

The following input file describes the set of default line-editing keys used by less:

#line-edit
\t	forw-complete
\17	back-complete
\e\t	back-complete
^L	expand
^V	literal
^A	literal
\el	right
\kr	right
\eh	left
\kl	left
\eb	word-left
\e\kl	word-left
\ew	word-right
\e\kr	word-right
\ei	insert
\ex	delete
\kx	delete
\eX	word-delete
\ekx	word-delete
\e\b	word-backspace
\e0	home
\kh	home
\e$	end
\ke	end
\ek	up
\ku	up
\ej	down
^G	abort

The environment variable section begins with the line

#env

Following this line is a list of environment variable assignments. Each line consists of an environment variable name, an equals sign (‘=’) and the value to be assigned to the environment variable. Whitespace before and after the equals sign is ignored. Variables assigned in this way are visible only to less. If environment variables are defined in more than one place, variables defined in a local lesskey file take precedence over variables defined in the system environment, which take precedence over variables defined in the system-wide lesskey file. Although the lesskey file can be used to override variables set in the environment, the main purpose of assigning variables in the lesskey file is simply to have all less configuration information stored in one file.

The following input file sets the -i option whenever less is run:

#env
LESS = -i

Name of the default lesskey file.
Name of the default system-wide lesskey file.

$HOME/.less
Default lesskey file.
$HOME/.lesskey
Default lesskey input file.
/etc/sysless
Default system-wide lesskey file.

less(1)

Mark Nudelman

December 9, 2021 OpenBSD-current