yazi/Q/In yazi, if nvim is my $EDITOR, is there a key which can open it up in my editor in read-only mode?

• In yazi, if nvim is my $EDITOR, is there a key which can open it up in my editor in read-only mode?

  • AI Answer

    • AI/Response
      • Short answer: No built-in default key exists for this. Add a custom shell binding that calls nvim -R with the %h placeholder (hovered file path).
      • Why there's no default key: Yazi's default opener for text files runs ${EDITOR:-vi} %s (writable). The default keymap binds o / <Enter> to open (which triggers that opener), and O / <S-Enter> to open --interactive. Neither has a read-only variant out of the box.
      • Checking the default [mgr] keymap: e is not mapped; r is mapped to rename. So e alone is a clean, free key in [mgr].
      • Add a key binding in ~/.config/yazi/keymap.toml:
      • toml

        [[mgr.prepend_keymap]]
        on   = "e"
        run  = "shell 'nvim -R %h' --block"
        desc = "Open hovered file in nvim read-only"

      • %h expands to the hovered file's path (shell-quoted automatically). --block suspends yazi until nvim exits.
      • Chord alternative: on = [ "e", "r" ] is a single chord binding (press e then r in sequence, like [ "g", "g" ]). It does not conflict with standalone r → rename since yazi only enters chord mode after the first key.
      • Alternative — use view: nvim ships a view alias that is identical to nvim -R:
      • toml

        [[mgr.prepend_keymap]]
        on   = [ "e", "r" ]
        run  = "shell 'view %h' --block"
        desc = "Open hovered file in view (nvim read-only)"

      • Docs: keymap — shell, yazi-default.toml opener.edit