master acme.1
now boolean is yes/no instead of 1/0
f90477b
ohmu  ·  2026-09-23
ACME(1) General Commands Manual ACME(1)

acme3k - a modern, useful(and usable) replacement of acme2k

acme [ -c config ] [ -m mtpt ] [ -l dumpfile ] [ -w winsize ] [ file ... ]

Acme reads its configuration from $HOME/.acmerc by default, or from the file given with the -c flag. Lines that do not consist of two whitespace-separated tokens are ignored. There is no dedicated comment character; ", #, or any other prefix works as long as the line does not parse as a key value pair.

A line of the form @include file causes acme to read file as if its contents appeared at that point. If file does not begin with a /, it is first tried relative to the current working directory, then relative to $HOME. Included files may themselves contain @include directives.

Keys are looked up in order: acme scans the configuration file from top to bottom, descending into @include files as it encounters them. The first matching key wins. This means a key defined before an @include takes precedence over the same key inside the included file, and a key defined after an @include takes precedence only if the included file does not define it.

This makes it natural to keep a base configuration in .acmerc and pull in colors and fonts from a theme file:

" base settings
@include .acmethemes/ghibli
shell /bin/rc
autoindent yes

The following keys are recognized:

Shell used for executing commands. Default: /usr/local/plan9/bin/rc.
Whitespace-separated list of color keys to which the pastel mix is applied. Any of the color keys listed below may appear (root, border, tagbg, tagfg, htagbg, htagfg, txtbg, txtfg, htxtbg, htxtfg, winbtn, winbtnbord, colbtn, tmpbtn, scrlbg, scrlfg, scrlbord, btn2hl, btn3hl; mix is not a color and is ignored if listed). For each listed color, acme blends it with the mix color before use; colors not listed are used as-is. Default: tagbg txtbg scrlfg.
Color mixed into pastel backgrounds, in RGBA hex. Default: FFFFFF.
Root background color. Default: FFFFFF.
Border color. Default: 000000.
Tag background. Default: AAFFFF.
Tag foreground. Default: 000000.
Highlighted tag background. Default: 9EEEEE.
Highlighted tag foreground. Default: 000000.
Text background. Default: FFFFAA.
Text foreground. Default: 000000.
Highlighted text background. Default: EEEE9E.
Highlighted text foreground. Default: 000000.
Window button color. Default: 8888CC.
Top border (drawn under the window button) color. Default: 8888CC.
Column button color. Default: 8888CC.
Temp button color. Default: 000099.
Scrollbar background. Default: 99994C.
Scrollbar foreground. Default: FFFFAA.
Scrollbar border. Default: 99994C.
Button 2 highlight. Default: AA0000.
Button 3 highlight. Default: 006600.
Foreground (dot) color of the xxiivv and p9-2e scrollstyle tile pattern. Default: 000000.
Background color of the xxiivv and p9-2e scrollstyle tile pattern. Default: FFFFFF.
Foreground (dot) color of the p9-2e colbtnstyle tile pattern. Default: FFFFFF.
Background color of the p9-2e colbtnstyle tile pattern. Default: 000000.
Main font path. Default: /lib/font/bit/lucsans/euro.8.font.
Monospace font path. Default: /lib/font/bit/lucm/unicode.9.font.
Where to dump the window layout. Default: /tmp/acme.dump.
Boolean (yes/no). Auto-indent new lines. Default: yes.
Boolean (yes/no). Swap scroll buttons 1 and 3. Default: no.
Boolean (yes/no). Click to focus (bartflag). Default: no.
Number of initial columns. Default: 2.
Boolean (yes/no). Open files given on the command line. Default: yes.
Style of the per-window tag button (the small square at the top left of each window's own tag). def is the plain framed button, square draws a filled square, ellipse draws a filled circle, p9-2e draws the Plan 9 2nd-edition hollow framed look. Default: def.
Style of the column tag button (the small square at the top left of a column's tag). def is the plain button, p9-2e draws the Plan 9 2nd-edition tiled look, colored by colbtntilefg and colbtntilebg. Default: def.
Scrollbar style. def is the plain scrollbar, xxiivv draws a tiled trough (see scrolltilefg and scrolltilebg), p9-2e draws the Plan 9 2nd-edition framed scrollbar with the same tile. Default: def.
Boolean (yes/no). Show dotfiles in directory windows. Default: yes.
Boolean (yes/no). Newcol creates a new column (no) or a column with a row (yes). Default: yes.

A minimal .acmerc :

shell /usr/bin/rc
mainfont /lib/font/bit/lucsans/euro.8.font
monofont /lib/font/bit/lucm/unicode.9.font

A configuration split into a base file and a theme:

" ~/.acmerc
@include .acmethemes/ghibli
shell /bin/rc
autoindent yes
" ~/.acmethemes/ghibli
mainfont /tmp/fonts/gallant12x22/16/font
monofont /tmp/fonts/gallant12x22/16/font
root     FFFFEA
tagbg    FFFFEA
tagfg    000000
ACME(1)