Sublime Text Community Documentation

Sublime Text 4 includes high-quality built-in TypeScript syntax support. This is the preferred method for ST4 users as it provides:

• Syntax highlighting
• Standard completions
• "Go to Definition" functionality

Because it is built-in, it is generally superior to third-party syntax definitions for ST4 users.

The Sublime Text Community Documentation provides supplemental resources for the Sublime Text editor. You can navigate the documentation through three primary sections:

• The Guide: Covers basic information, usage, and customization of Sublime Text.
• The Reference: Provides technical details on structuring custom key bindings and disabling menu items for plugins.
• The Glossary: Defines terms used throughout the documentation to help clarify technical concepts.

Commands in Sublime Text are typically bound to one of three objects: the application object, a window object, or a view object.

When calling commands on a window object, the window will automatically dispatch the command based on the current input focus. This means you can issue a command intended for a specific view through the window object, and Sublime Text will resolve the correct view instance for you.

Legacy syntax definitions in Sublime Text use the .tmLanguage format (inherited from TextMate). These are technically Plist files, though YAML is often used for readability in documentation.

Note: For new projects, it is highly recommended to use the newer .sublime-syntax format introduced in Sublime Text 3.0 (Build 3084) instead of this legacy format.

Sublime Text also supports .hidden-tmLanguage files, which are used by plugins (like "Find in Files") and cannot be manually selected by users or included via import statements.

The channel.json file is a compiled manifest used by the Package Control client in Sublime Text to discover and install packages and libraries. It is generated by a crawler that visits registered repositories and resolves metadata for all available packages and libraries.

A standard channel.json file includes the following top-level properties:

• $schema: Used by LSP and LSP-json for linting and completions.
• schema_version: The version of the file format (current latest is 4.0.0).
• repositories: An array of locations to fetch package metadata.
• packages_cache: A performance-optimized cache of package data.
• libraries_cache: A performance-optimized cache of library data.

{
    "$schema": "sublime://packagecontrol.io/schemas/channel",
    "schema_version": "4.0.0",
    "repositories": [],
    "packages_cache": {},
    "libraries_cache": {}
}

Sublime Text supports regular expressions (regex) to find complex patterns in text. To use them, you must explicitly toggle the regular expression mode in the search or replace panel (using <Key k="alt+r" />).

Sublime Text uses the Perl Compatible Regular Expressions (PCRE) engine from the Boost library.

Note on Format Strings: Sublime Text additionally interprets \{n} as ${n}.

(?:Sw|P)i(?:tch|s{2})\s(?:it\s)?of{2}!

Projects are used to group sets of files and folders to keep your work organized. They enable project-specific settings, build systems, and allow for quick switching between different work contexts.

Key concepts:

• Anonymous Projects: When no project is opened, you are working in an 'anonymous project'. This has limited functionality and is the default state for new windows.
• Project Files: Project metadata is stored in .sublime-project JSON files. It is generally safe to commit these to source control.
• Navigation: Adding folders to a project is required for features like Goto Anything and project-wide Goto Definition to function correctly.

To handle nested structures (like a complex field that can contain other fields), use the include key within a patterns array inside a begin-end rule.

By setting include: $self, you tell Sublime Text to recursively apply the entire current syntax definition to the text captured between the begin and end markers. This allows for infinite nesting of the defined rules, provided the regexes are not overly greedy.

# Inside a begin-end rule's patterns array:
- include: $self

Input Handlers are a mechanism to query a user for one or multiple input parameters via the Command Palette. They provide a unified user experience, replacing the older Window.show_input_panel and Window.show_quick_panel methods.

There are two primary kinds of input handlers:

1. Text input handlers: Accept arbitrary text input and forward the entered text to the command.
2. List input handlers: Provide a list of options for the user to choose from. These can handle any JSON-serializable value, accompanied by a caption for the list entry.

Note: To use an input handler for a command, the command must have an entry in the Command Palette (via a .sublime-commands file).