Yazelix Nova Keybindings

Nova extends the Helix and Vim h/j/k/l model across the workspace.

Movement grid

Layer	h	j	k	l
Alt	Focus left or previous tab	Focus down	Focus up	Focus right or next tab
Ctrl Alt	Move pane to the left column	Move pane down circularly	Move pane up circularly	Move pane to the right column
Alt Shift	Sidebar	Git popup	Config popup	Agent popup

Alt ] or Alt [ switches the tab between the stacked and split arrangements. The split puts one work pane in its own column beside the remaining stack, so it needs two work panes. Alt m opens another. The sidebar stays open or collapsed as you left it, and the command menu’s layout entry does the same switch.

Ctrl Alt h and Ctrl Alt l move the focused work pane between the columns of the split arrangement. The pane keeps focus and the other panes keep their order. They do nothing in the outermost column, in the stacked arrangement, or while a popup is open. Ctrl Alt Shift H and Ctrl Alt Shift L move the active tab. They rely on the Kitty keyboard protocol to keep Shift distinct.

Workspace keys

Key	Action
Alt Shift M	Toggle the command menu
Alt Shift A	Show a random visual with Anima
Alt Shift H	Toggle the configured sidebar (Radar by default)
Alt Shift B	Hide or restore the bottom key hints
Alt ] / Alt [	Switch between the stacked and split arrangements
Ctrl Alt n / Ctrl Alt p	Go to the next / previous tab that needs attention in Radar
Ctrl Tab / Ctrl Shift Tab	Go to the next / previous Zellij session in Radar
Alt Shift Y	Toggle the full managed Yazi popup
Ctrl y	Toggle focus between Forest and managed Helix
Alt Shift T	Open a new workspace tab
Alt Shift W	Close the active workspace tab
Ctrl Alt t	Toggle Zellij tab mode
Ctrl Alt s	Enter or leave Zellij Scroll/Search mode
Alt Shift F	Toggle the focused pane fullscreen
Alt 1-9	Go to tab 1-9
Alt m	Open a new pane at the tab’s workspace root
Ctrl p, then n / d / r	Open a new pane stacked, below, or to the right, at the workspace root
Ctrl p, then s	Stack a new pane in the focused pane’s directory
Alt j / Alt k	Focus the next / previous work pane, wrapping within the stack
Ctrl q	Quit the Nova session
Ctrl Alt g	Lock Zellij so every key reaches the focused app, and press again to unlock
Ctrl Alt o	Open Zellij session mode, then press w for the session manager
Alt r	Reveal from the editor or return from Yazi
Alt Enter in popup Yazi	Set the tab folder without opening an editor
Ctrl O in startup search	Open the selected folder in the editor and finish creating the tab

Press a popup key again to hide or close that surface and return to the tiled workspace.

Every new tab starts with a focused quick zoxide search. Search Enter moves Yazi to the selected folder. It leaves the tab folder and editor unchanged. Ctrl O opens the selected folder in the editor and completes startup. Tab or Esc switches to full Yazi. While browsing, Tab or Z opens the same search, and Shift Tab previews the hovered file with Spot.

In the persistent Yazi popup, search Alt Enter sets the selected result as the tab folder without moving Yazi or opening an editor. While browsing, it uses the hovered folder, or the current folder when hovering a file or nothing. Startup Yazi does not offer this separate tab-folder action.

On macOS, set option-as-alt = "Left" or "Both" in ~/.config/yazelix/rio/config.toml to use Option for Alt shortcuts in Nova Rio.

Scrolling and search

Mouse and trackpad scrolling review terminal history without automatically entering Zellij Scroll mode. Press Ctrl Alt s to enter Scroll mode explicitly. From there, press s, type a query, and press Enter to search. Press Ctrl Alt s again to return to ordinary input.

The default applies to new sessions. To restore automatic mode entry, use the Zellij native-file override.

Clicking a tab switches to it when you release the mouse button.

Customize keys

Open yzx config to edit the managed config, agent, Git, menu, screen, sidebar, sidebar-focus, and bottom-hints chords. The corresponding keybindings.* fields live in ~/.config/yazelix/config.toml and accept a key chord or false. Changes apply to new sessions.

The fixed Alt Shift Y, application-local Alt r, and managed Yazi bindings remain in their native packaged owners. Nova rejects collisions among managed semantic keys.

Ratconfig’s Keys tab is the complete packaged reference. The runtime sources are defaults/zellij/config.kdl, the managed Helix config, and the managed Yazi keymap.