nova — Manual

Installation

nova runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux. No Chromium, no Electron — a lightweight native binary built with Tauri and Rust.

macOS

1

Download the DMG

Download nova_*_universal.dmg from the releases page. Universal binary — runs on both Apple Silicon and Intel.

2

Drag to Applications

Open the DMG and drag nova.app into /Applications.

3

Bypass Gatekeeper

macOS will block the app on first launch because it isn't notarized. Run this once in Terminal, then open nova normally:

xattr -cr /Applications/nova.app

Note: Settings are stored in ~/Library/Application Support/nova/.

Windows

1

Download the installer

Download nova_*_x64-setup.exe from the releases page. Requires Windows 10 or later (64-bit).

2

Run the installer

Double-click and follow the prompts. Nova installs to %LOCALAPPDATA%\nova by default.

3

SmartScreen warning

Windows may show a SmartScreen prompt because the binary isn't signed yet. Click More info → Run anyway.

Note: Settings are stored in %APPDATA%\nova\.

Linux

1

Download the AppImage

Download nova_*_amd64.AppImage from the releases page.

2

Make it executable

Run chmod +x nova_*.AppImage then launch it directly — no installation needed.

Note: Settings are stored in ~/.config/nova/. A .deb package is also available for Debian/Ubuntu.

First Launch

nova opens to an empty canvas. Nothing is configured automatically — you start from wherever you are.

Opening a file

Press ⌘O or click Open File. Language is detected from the extension and the correct parser loads automatically.

Opening a folder

Press ⌘⇧O to set a workspace root. This populates the File Explorer (⌘B) and sets the terminal's initial working directory.

New file

Press ⌘N for a blank untitled tab. Name it when you save with ⌘S.

Tip: Open multiple windows with ⌘⇧N. Each window has independent tabs, terminal sessions, and panel state.

Interface Overview

nova is a single window: title bar at the top, optional side panels, tab bar, editor area, and a status bar at the bottom.

Title bar

Icon buttons for File Explorer, Git, Terminal, and Settings. When a .md file is active, the Markdown preview toggle appears. The Help button is always on the right.

Tab bar

Each open file gets a tab with a language color dot. A dot on the tab means unsaved changes. Navigate with ⌘⌥← / ⌘⌥→.

Editor

Line gutter with relative or absolute numbers, indent guides, bracket matching, and active-line highlighting. Gutter width adapts to file size.

Status bar

Left to right: vim mode, language, theme, line ending, encoding, cursor position, indent width. Change them via Settings or the Command Palette.

Tabs & Files

Each tab holds one file with independent editor state, undo history, cursor, and vim mode toggle.

Core actions

Action	Shortcut
New blank tab	`⌘N`
Open file	`⌘O`
Open folder	`⌘⇧O`
Save	`⌘S`
Close tab	`⌘W`
Next / prev tab	`⌘⌥→` / `⌘⌥←`

Language detection

Detected from the file extension on open. New unsaved tabs default to plain text. Override via Command Palette (⌘⇧P).

Vim Mode

Full modal editing, implemented per-tab. One tab can be in vim mode while another isn't.

Enable

Toggle with ⌘⇧V, from Settings, or via the Command Palette. The status bar shows the current mode.

Modes

NORMALINSERTVISUAL

NORMAL shows a block cursor. INSERT returns to a blinking line. VISUAL highlights the selected region.

Motions

h j k l

Left / down / up / right

w b e

Word forward / backward / end

0 ^

Start of line / first non-blank

$

End of line

gg G

Top of file / bottom of file

{ }

Prev / next empty line

Operators

d

Delete — dd line, dw word, diw inner word

c

Change — delete and enter insert

y

Yank — yy whole line

p P

Paste after / before cursor

u

Undo

Ctrl+r

Redo

Insert mode entry

i a

Insert before / after cursor

I A

Insert at line start / end

o O

New line below / above

Esc

Return to NORMAL

Search

/

Forward search

n N

Next / prev match

Note: :w and :wq are supported as ex commands — save and save+close-tab.

Search

In-file search, workspace fuzzy finder, and command palette — three distinct tools for finding what you need.

In-file search

Press ⌘F. Type to highlight all matches. Enter / ⇧Enter jump between them. Escape closes.

Fuzzy file finder

Press ⌘P. Fuzzy-matches filenames and paths across the open workspace. Enter opens, Escape dismisses.

Command palette

Press ⌘⇧P. Every editor action searchable by name. Arrow keys to navigate, Enter to run.

Language Support

12 languages with syntax highlighting, folding, bracket matching, and autocompletion. Parsers load on demand — only the active file's language is in memory.

Supported

TypeScript

.ts · .tsx

JavaScript

.js · .jsx · .mjs

Rust

.rs

Python

.py

Go

.go

C / C++

.c · .cpp · .h

Java

.java

SQL

.sql

HTML

.html

CSS

.css

JSON

.json · .jsonc

Markdown

.md · .mdx

Override language

Open the Command Palette (⌘⇧P) and type the language name to switch the active tab's language manually.

File Explorer

Shows the workspace directory you opened with ⌘⇧O. Toggle with ⌘B.

Navigation

Click a folder to expand or collapse it. Click a file to open it in a new tab — or focus its existing tab if already open. The active file has an accent bar on its left edge.

Reload

The tree doesn't watch the filesystem for external changes. Press ⌘⇧O again to reload the directory.

Note: Opening a new folder replaces the existing tree. Tabs from the previous folder remain open.

Terminal

A full PTY-backed xterm.js terminal. Toggle with ⌘J.

Session persistence

The terminal is always mounted — hiding the panel does not kill the shell. Processes, history, and current directory survive panel toggles.

New session

Press ⌘T to spawn a new terminal session alongside the existing one.

Working directory

New sessions start in the workspace root if a folder is open, otherwise in ~.

What it shows

Staged — files ready to commit
Unstaged — modified files not yet staged
Untracked — new files git doesn't know about

Committing

Stage files, write a commit message in the input at the top of the panel, press Enter or click Commit.

Note: Git must be on your $PATH. The panel activates for any folder with a .git directory.

Markdown Preview

When a .md file is active, a preview toggle appears in the title bar. Click it to split the view into editor and live-rendered preview.

Rendered elements

Syntax	Rendered as
# Heading	h1–h6 with border
bold	Yellow-tinted bold
italic	Purple italic
`code`	Inline code span
```block```	Fenced code block
> quote	Accent-bordered blockquote
\| table \|	Striped table
![img](url)	Rounded image

Preview state is remembered per-tab. The toggle only appears when a .md file is active.

Spotify

nova has a built-in Spotify player panel. Control playback, browse your library, and see what's playing without switching apps.

Toggle

Press ⌘⇧M or use the Command Palette to open and close the Spotify panel.

What it does

Shows the currently playing track, artist, and album art
Play / pause, next, previous controls
Browse your playlists and library
Volume control

Requirements

Spotify must be running on your machine. The panel communicates with the Spotify client via its local API.

Tip: The panel docks alongside the other side panels and remembers its open/closed state between sessions.

Themes

Ten dark themes, all applied live via CodeMirror compartments — no view reload, no cursor jump, no undo history loss.

Changing theme

Open Settings (⌘,) and pick from the dropdown. Or search by name in the Command Palette.

All themes

Theme	Character
Atom Dark	Default. Mid-grey base, blue accent, One Dark palette.
Dracula	Dark purple with pink and green highlights.
Nord	Arctic blue-grey, low contrast, great for long sessions.
Tokyo Night	Deep blue-black with vibrant purple and cyan.
Monokai	High contrast, warm background, electric green and pink.
Gruvbox Dark	Earthy tones, amber yellows, terracotta reds.
Catppuccin Mocha	Soft pastels on a dark mauve base.
GitHub Dark	Near-black, matching GitHub's dark mode.
Rosé Pine	Muted warm rose tones.
Palenight	Deep indigo with soft purple and gold tokens.

Appearance

Font size, line numbers, word wrap, indentation, and bracket behavior — all adjustable without touching a config file.

Line numbers

Relative by default — the current line shows its absolute number, surrounding lines show their distance. Ideal for vim motions like 5j. Toggle in Settings.

Word wrap

Toggle with ⌘⇧W or in Settings.

Indentation

2 or 4 spaces, configurable in Settings. Indent guides are drawn per level.

Full dark mode

Deepens sidebar and UI chrome beyond what the current theme defines. Useful with light-ish themes.

Background Image

Render a custom image behind editor surfaces — opacity, blur, and tint are all independently controlled.

Setting a background

1

Open Settings

Press ⌘, and scroll to the Background section.

2

Choose an image

Click Choose image — PNG, JPG, or WEBP. Loads immediately.

3

Adjust sliders

Opacity (image brightness), blur (gaussian blur px), tint (dark overlay strength).

Tip: Tint 0.65 + blur 6px works well for most images.

Settings Reference

All settings persist automatically to ~/Library/Application Support/nova/settings.json.

All options

theme

Editor and UI color theme

default: Atom Dark

fontSize

Editor font size in px (8–32)

default: 13.5

vim

Modal vim editing

default: false

wordWrap

Wrap long lines at window edge

default: false

lineNumbers

absolute or relative

default: relative

indentWidth

Spaces per indent level

default: 2

autoCloseBrackets

Auto-insert closing bracket

default: true

indentGuides

Vertical indent guide lines

default: true

fullDark

Deepen UI chrome

default: false

background.opacity

Image brightness (0–1)

default: 0.15

background.blur

Gaussian blur px (0–20)

default: 4

background.tint

Dark overlay strength (0–1)

default: 0.6

Keyboard Shortcuts

Complete shortcut reference.

Files & Tabs

New file ⌘N

Open file ⌘O

Open folder ⌘⇧O

Save ⌘S

Close tab ⌘W

New window ⌘⇧N

Next tab ⌘⌥→

Prev tab ⌘⌥←

Navigation

Fuzzy finder ⌘P

Command palette ⌘⇧P

Find in file ⌘F

Panels

File explorer ⌘B

Terminal ⌘J

New terminal ⌘T

Git panel ⌘G

Spotify ⌘⇧M

Settings ⌘,

Shortcuts help ⌘H

Editor

Toggle vim ⌘⇧V

Word wrap ⌘⇧W

Font size up ⌘+

Font size down ⌘–