The rio manual
How to use rio: what each part of the window does, how to do the everyday jobs, and where your settings are kept. No Tcl required.
Inside rio, press F1 or choose Help ▸ Contents… to read these pages.
Contents
Start here
- Getting started — starting rio, the parts of the window, your first edit and save.
- The editor — tabs, undo, the split view, wrap, line numbers, syntax highlighting, column editing, compare, unsaved changes.
- Files & projects — the file tree, opening a folder, creating and renaming files, sessions.
Doing the work
- Find & replace — the find bar, and the Search panel for a whole project.
- Git — status, diffs, staging, committing, discarding.
- The agent — providers and keys, and what the agent needs your approval for.
Making it yours
- Preferences — every setting, and the file it is kept in.
- Keyboard shortcuts — the defaults, and two ways to change them.
- Panels & layout — moving panes, themes, fonts, zoom.
- Editing modes — Windows, vi or emacs keys in the text area.
- Extensions — repositories, and installing themes, highlighters, editing modes and agent providers.
Beyond one machine
- Working remotely — editing files on another machine.
- Troubleshooting — what to check when rio misbehaves.
Reading the manual inside rio
Help ▸ Contents… (F1) opens these pages in rio, formatted, from disk. No
network connection is needed.
| In the help window | What it does |
|---|---|
| The contents list on the left | Click a topic to open it. |
| A link in the text | Click it to jump to that topic, or to that heading. |
Alt+← / Alt+→ | Back and forward through the topics you have read. |
| The Find box, top left | Type a word. The list becomes the sections that mention it; pick one to go there with the word highlighted. |
| Right-click the page | Copy. The pages are read-only, but you can select and copy from them. |
Esc | Clears the Find box; pressing it again closes the window. |
Other documents
| Document | Answers |
|---|---|
| INSTALL.md | How do I install, deploy and run rio? |
| CAVEATS.md | Known rough edges and platform differences |
| README.md | What is rio, and what works today? |
| WINDOWS.md | Running rio on Windows 11 |
| adr/ | The decisions — why rio works the way it does |
| CONTRIBUTING.md | Hacking on rio itself |
| LICENSE | May I use, change and pass rio on? |
Unfinished topics
Some topics are placeholders. Each one says so, lists what it will cover, and points at the document that has the facts today.