zathurarc - Man Page

In addition to the built-in :set command zathura offers more options to be changed and makes those changes permanent. To overwrite an option you just have to add a line structured like the following

set <option> <new value>

The option field has to be replaced with the name of the option that should be changed and the new value field has to be replaced with the new value the option should get. The type of the value can be one of the following:

• INT - An integer number
• FLOAT - A floating point number
• STRING - A character string
• BOOL - A boolean value ("true" for true, "false" for false)

In addition we advice you to check the options to get a more detailed view of the options that can be changed and which values they should be set to.

The following example should give some deeper insight of how the set command can be used

set option1 5
set option2 2.0
set option3 hello
set option4 hello\ world
set option5 "hello world"

Especially for options with strings as values, note that escaping of special characters and white spaces is necessary. In the above example, option4 and option5 are both set to hello world, but set option6 hello world would set option6 only to hello.

For colors, zathura supports HTML color codes and CSS3-style rgb(r,g,b) and rgba(r,g,b,a) values. If you want to use color codes for some options, make sure to quote them accordingly or to escape the hash symbol.

set default-fg "#CCBBCC"
set default-fg \#CCBBCC

For rgba, note that it parses the color components as integers between 0 and 255 and the alpha component as float between 0 and 1.

This commands allows one to include other configuration files. If a relative path is given, the path will be resolved relative to the configuration file that is currently processed.

include another-config

It is possible to map or remap new key bindings to shortcut functions which allows a high level of customization. The :map command can also be used in the zathurarc file to make those changes permanent:

map [mode] <binding> <shortcut function> <argument>

Mode

The map command expects several arguments where only the binding as well as the shortcut-function argument is required. Since zathura uses several modes it is possible to map bindings only for a specific mode by passing the mode argument which can take one of the following values:

• normal (default)
• fullscreen
• presentation
• index

The brackets around the value are mandatory.

Single key binding

The (possible) second argument defines the used key binding that should be mapped to the shortcut function and is structured like the following. On the one hand it is possible to just assign single letters, numbers or signs to it:

map a shortcut_function optional_argument
map b shortcut_function optional_argument
map c shortcut_function optional_argument
map 1 shortcut_function optional_argument
map 2 shortcut_function optional_argument
map 3 shortcut_function optional_argument
map ! shortcut_function optional_argument
map ? shortcut_function optional_argument

Using modifiers

It is also possible to use modifiers like the Control or Alt button on the keyboard. It is possible to use the following modifiers:

• A - Alt
• C - Control
• S - Shift

If any of the modifiers should be used for a binding, it is required to define the binding with the following structure:

map <A-a> shortcut_function
map <C-a> shortcut_function

Special keys

zathura allows it also to assign keys like the space bar or the tab button which also have to be written in between angle brackets. The following special keys are currently available:

Identifier Description

BackSpace  Back space
CapsLock   Caps lock
Esc        Escape
Down       Arrow down
Up         Arrow up
Left       Arrow left
Right      Arrow right
F1         F1
F2         F2
F3         F3
F4         F4
F5         F5
F6         F6
F7         F7
F8         F8
F9         F9
F10        F10
F11        F11
F12        F12
PageDown   Page Down
PageUp     Page Up
Return     Return
Space      Space
Super      Windows key
Tab        Tab
Print      Print key

Of course it is possible to combine those special keys with a modifier. The usage of those keys should be explained by the following examples:

map <Space> shortcut_function
map <C-Space> shortcut_function

Mouse buttons

It is also possible to map mouse buttons to shortcuts by using the following special keys:

Identifier Description

Button1    Mouse button 1
Button2    Mouse button 2
Button3    Mouse button 3
Button4    Mouse button 4
Button5    Mouse button 5

They can also be combined with modifiers:

map <Button1> shortcut_function
map <C-Button1> shortcut_function

Buffer commands

If a mapping does not match one of the previous definition but is still a valid mapping it will be mapped as a buffer command:

map abc quit
map test quit

Shortcut functions

The following shortcut functions can be mapped:

• abort

  Switch back to normal mode.

• adjust_window

  Adjust page width. Possible arguments are best-fit and width.

• change_mode

  Change current mode. Pass the desired mode as argument.

• cycle_first_page

  In multiple page layout, cycle the column in which the first page is displayed.

• display_link:

  Display link target.

• exec:

  Execute an external command. $FILE expands to the current document path, $PAGE to the current page number, and $DBUS to the bus name of the D-Bus interface.

• focus_inputbar

  Focus inputbar.

• follow

  Follow a link.

• goto

  Go to a certain page.

• jumplist

  Move forwards/backwards in the jumplist. Pass forward as argument to move to the next entry and backward to move to the previous one.

• navigate

  Navigate to the next/previous page.

• navigate_index

  Navigate through the index.

• print

  Show the print dialog.

• quit

  Quit zathura.

• recolor

  Recolor pages.

• reload

  Reload the document.

• rotate

  Rotate the page. Pass rotate-ccw as argument for counterclockwise rotation and rotate-cw for clockwise rotation.

• scroll

  Scroll.

• search

  Search next/previous item. Pass forward as argument to search for the next hit and backward to search for the previous hit.

• set

  Set an option.

• snap_to_page

  Snaps to the current page. Equivalent to goto <current_page>

• toggle_fullscreen

  Toggle fullscreen.

• toggle_index

  Show or hide index.

• toggle_inputbar

  Show or hide inputbar.

• toggle_page_mode

  Toggle between one and multiple pages per row.

• toggle_statusbar

  Show or hide statusbar.

• zoom

  Zoom in or out.

• mark_add

  Set a quickmark.

• mark_evaluate

  Go to a quickmark.

• feedkeys

  Simulate key presses. Note that all keys will be interpreted as if pressing a key on the keyboard. To input uppercase letters, follow the same convention as for key bindings, i.e. for X, use <S-X>.

Pass arguments

Some shortcut function require or have optional arguments which influence the behaviour of them. Those can be passed as the last argument:

map <C-i> zoom in
map <C-o> zoom out

Possible arguments are:

• best-fit
• bottom
• backward
• collapse
• collapse-all
• default
• down
• expand
• expand-all
• forward
• full-down
• full-up
• half-down
• half-up
• in
• left
• next
• out
• page-bottom
• page-top
• previous
• right
• rotate-ccw
• rotate-cw
• select
• specific
• toggle
• top
• up
• width

In addition to mapping or remaping custom key bindings it is possible to remove existing ones by using the :unmap command. The command is used in the following way (the explanation of the parameters is described in the map section of this document

unmap [mode] <binding>

n-completion-items

Defines the maximum number of displayed completion entries.

• Value type: Integer
• Default value: 15

completion-bg

Defines the background color that is used for command line completion entries

• Value type: String
• Default value: #232323

completion-fg

Defines the foreground color that is used for command line completion entries

• Value type: String
• Default value: #DDDDDD

completion-group-bg

Defines the background color that is used for command line completion group elements

• Value type: String
• Default value: #000000

completion-group-fg

Defines the foreground color that is used for command line completion group elements

• Value type: String
• Default value: #DEDEDE

completion-highlight-bg

Defines the background color that is used for the current command line completion element

• Value type: String
• Default value: #9FBC00

completion-highlight-fg

Defines the foreground color that is used for the current command line completion element

• Value type: String
• Default value: #232323

default-bg

Defines the default background color

• Value type: String
• Default value: #000000

default-fg

Defines the default foreground color

• Value type: String
• Default value: #DDDDDD

exec-command

Defines a command the should be prepended to any command run with exec.

• Value type: String
• Default value:

font

Defines the font that will be used

• Value type: String
• Default value: monospace normal 9

guioptions

Shows or hides GUI elements. If it contains 'c', the command line is displayed. If it contains 's', the statusbar is displayed. If it contains 'h', the horizontal scrollbar is displayed. If it contains 'v', the vertical scrollbar is displayed.

• Value type: String
• Default value: s

inputbar-bg

Defines the background color for the inputbar

• Value type: String
• Default value: #131313

inputbar-fg

Defines the foreground color for the inputbar

• Value type: String
• Default value: #9FBC00

notification-bg

Defines the background color for a notification

• Value type: String
• Default value: #FFFFFF

notification-fg

Defines the foreground color for a notification

• Value type: String
• Default value: #000000

notification-error-bg

Defines the background color for an error notification

• Value type: String
• Default value: #FF1212

notification-error-fg

Defines the foreground color for an error notification

• Value type: String
• Default value: #FFFFFF

notification-warning-bg

Defines the background color for a warning notification

• Value type: String
• Default value: #FFF712

notification-warning-fg

Defines the foreground color for a warning notification

• Value type: String
• Default value: #FFFFFF

statusbar-bg

Defines the background color of the statusbar

• Value type: String
• Default value: #000000

statusbar-fg

Defines the foreground color of the statusbar

• Value type: String
• Default value: #FFFFFF

statusbar-h-padding

Defines the horizontal padding of the statusbar and notificationbar

• Value type: Integer
• Default value: 8

statusbar-v-padding

Defines the vertical padding of the statusbar and notificationbar

• Value type: Integer
• Default value: 2

window-icon

Defines the path for a icon to be used as window icon.

• Value type: String
• Default value:

window-height

Defines the window height on startup

• Value type: Integer
• Default value: 600

window-width

Defines the window width on startup

• Value type: Integer
• Default value: 800

abort-clear-search

Defines if the search results should be cleared on abort.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: true

adjust-open

Defines which auto adjustment mode should be used if a document is loaded. Possible options are "best-fit" and "width".

• Value type: String
• Default value: best-fit

advance-pages-per-row

Defines if the number of pages per row should be honored when advancing a page.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: false

continuous-hist-save

Tells zathura whether to save document history at each page change or only when closing a document.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: false

database

Defines the database backend to use for bookmarks and input history. Possible values are "plain", "sqlite" and "null". If "null" is used, bookmarks and input history will not be stored.

Note that the "plain" backend is deprecated. If selected, the "sqlite" backend will import old history from the "plain" database and operation will continue with the "sqlite" backend. After the first import, the setting can safely be changed to "sqlite". The default will change after a release of Debian trixie.

• Value type: String
• Default value: plain

dbus-raise-window

Defines whether zathura's window should be raised when receiving certain commands via D-Bus.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: true

dbus-service

En/Disables the D-Bus service. If the services is disabled, SyncTeX forward synchronization is not available.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: true

double-click-follow

Defines whether double or single click on a link should trigger follow.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: true

filemonitor

Defines the file monitor backend used to check for changes in files. Possible values are "glib", "signal" (if signal handling is supported), and "noop". The "noop" file monitor does not trigger reloads.

• Value type: String
• Default value: glib

first-page-column

Defines the column in which the first page will be displayed. This setting is stored separately for every value of pages-per-row according to the following pattern <1 page per row>:[<2 pages per row>[: ...]]. The last value in the list will be used for all other number of pages per row if not set explicitly.

Per default, the first column is set to 2 for double-page layout, i.e. the value is set to 1:2. A value of 1:1:3 would put the first page in dual-page layout in the first column, and for layouts with more columns the first page would be put in the 3rd column.

• Value type: String
• Default value: 1:2

highlight-active-color

Defines the color that is used to show the current selected highlighted element (e.g: current search result)

• Value type: String
• Default value: rgba(0,188,0,0.5)

highlight-color

Defines the color that is used for highlighting parts of the document (e.g.: show search results)

• Value type: String
• Default value: rgba(159,251,0,0.5)

highlight-fg

Defines the color that is used for text when highlighting parts of the document (e.g.: number for links).

• Value type: String
• Default value: rgba(0,0,0,0.5)

highlighter-modifier

Defines the modifier that needs to be pressed together with the left mouse button to draw the highlighter. Possible values are "shift", "ctrl" and "alt".

• Value type: String
• Default value: shift

incremental-search

En/Disables incremental search (search while typing).

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: true

index-active-bg

Define the background color of the selected element in index mode.

• Value type: String
• Default value: #9FBC00

index-active-fg

Defines the foreground color of the selected element in index mode.

• Value type: String
• Default value: #232323

index-bg

Define the background color of the index mode.

• Value type: String
• Default value: #232323

index-fg

Defines the foreground color of the index mode.

• Value type: String
• Default value: #DDDDDD

link-hadjust

En/Disables aligning to the left internal link targets, for example from the index.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: true

link-zoom

En/Disables the ability of changing zoom when following links.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: true

page-cache-size

Defines the maximum number of pages that could be kept in the page cache. When the cache is full and a new page that isn't cached becomes visible, the least recently viewed page in the cache will be evicted to make room for the new one. Large values for this variable are NOT recommended, because this will lead to consuming a significant portion of the system memory.

• Value type: Integer
• Default value: 15

page-padding

The page padding defines the gap in pixels between each rendered page.

• Value type: Integer
• Default value: 1

page-right-to-left

Defines whether pages in multi-column view should start from the right side.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: false

page-thumbnail-size

Defines the maximum size in pixels of the thumbnail that could be kept in the thumbnail cache per page. The thumbnail is scaled for a quick preview during zooming before the page is rendered. When the page is rendered, the result is saved as the thumbnail only if the size is no more than this value. A larger value increases quality but introduces longer delay in zooming and uses more system memory.

• Value type: Integer
• Default value: 4194304 (4M)

pages-per-row

Defines the number of pages that are rendered next to each other in a row.

• Value type: Integer
• Default value: 1

recolor

En/Disables recoloring

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: false

recolor-darkcolor

Defines the color value that is used to represent dark colors in recoloring mode

• Value type: String
• Default value: #FFFFFF

recolor-keephue

En/Disables keeping original hue when recoloring

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: false

recolor-lightcolor

Defines the color value that is used to represent light colors in recoloring mode

• Value type: String
• Default value: #000000

recolor-reverse-video

Defines if original image colors should be kept while recoloring.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: false

render-loading

Defines if the "Loading..." text should be displayed if a page is rendered.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: true

render-loading-bg

Defines the background color that is used for the "Loading..." text.

• Value type: String
• Default value: #FFFFFF

render-loading-fg

Defines the foreground color that is used for the "Loading..." text.

• Value type: String
• Default value: #000000

sandbox

Defines the sandbox mode to use for the seccomp syscall filter. Possible values are "none", "normal" and "strict". If "none" is used, the sandbox will be disabled. The use of "normal" will provide minimal protection and allow normal use of zathura with support for all features. The "strict" mode is a read only sandbox that is intended for viewing documents only.

• Value type: String
• Default value: none

Some features are disabled when using strict sandbox mode:

• saving/writing files
• use of input methods like ibus
• printing
• bookmarks and history

The strict sandbox mode is still experimental with some libc implementations. Currently supported and tested libc implementations: glibc

No feature regressions are expected when using normal sandbox mode.

When running under WSL, the default is "none" since seccomp is not supported in that environment.

scroll-full-overlap

Defines the proportion of the current viewing area that should be visible after scrolling a full page.

• Value type: Float
• Default value: 0

scroll-hstep

Defines the horizontal step size of scrolling by calling the scroll command once

• Value type: Float
• Default value: -1

scroll-step

Defines the step size of scrolling by calling the scroll command once

• Value type: Float
• Default value: 40

scroll-page-aware

Defines if scrolling by half or full pages stops at page boundaries.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: false

scroll-wrap

Defines if the last/first page should be wrapped

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: false

search-hadjust

En/Disables horizontally centered search results.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: true

selection-clipboard

Defines the X clipboard into which mouse-selected data will be written.  When it is "clipboard", selected data will be written to the CLIPBOARD clipboard, and can be pasted using the Ctrl+v key combination.  When it is "primary", selected data will be written to the PRIMARY clipboard, and can be pasted using the middle mouse button, or the Shift-Insert key combination.

• Value type: String
• Default value: primary

selection-notification

Defines if a notification should be displayed after selecting text.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: true

signature-error-color

Defines the background color when displaying additional information for signatures with errors.

• Value type: String
• Default value: rgba(92%,11%,14%,0.9)

signature-success-color

Defines the background color when displaying additional information for valid signatures.

• Value type: String
• Default value: rgba(18%,80%,33%,0.9)

signature-warning-color

Defines the background color when displaying additional information for signatures with warnings.

• Value type: String
• Default value: rgba(100%,84%,0%,0.9)

show-directories

Defines if the directories should be displayed in completion.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: true

show-hidden

Defines if hidden files and directories should be displayed in completion.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: false

show-recent

Defines the number of recent files that should be displayed in completion. If the value is negative, no upper bounds are applied. If the value is 0, no recent files are shown.

• Value type: Integer
• Default value: 10

show-signature-information

Defines whether additional information on signatures embedded in documents should be displayed.

• value type: Boolean
• Default value false

statusbar-basename

Use basename of the file in the statusbar.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: false

statusbar-home-tilde

Display a short version of the file path, which replaces $HOME with ~, in the statusbar.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: false

statusbar-page-percent

Display (current page / total pages) as a percent in the statusbar.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: false

synctex

En/Disables SyncTeX backward synchronization support.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: true

synctex-edit-modifier

Defines the modifier that needs to be pressed together with the left mouse button to trigger the SyncTeX backward synchronization. Possible values are "shift", "ctrl" and "alt".

• Value type: String
• Default value: ctrl

synctex-editor-command

Defines the command executed for SyncTeX backward synchronization.

• Value type: String
• Default value:

vertical-center

Center the screen at the vertical midpoint of the page by default.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: false

window-icon-document

Defines whether the window document should be updated based on the first page of a dcument.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: false

window-title-basename

Use basename of the file in the window title.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: false

window-title-home-tilde

Display a short version of the file path, which replaces $HOME with ~, in the window title.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: false

window-title-page

Display the page number in the window title.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: false

zoom-center

En/Disables horizontally centered zooming.

• Value type: Boolean
• Default value: false

zoom-max

Defines the maximum percentage that the zoom level can be.

• Value type: Integer
• Default value: 1000

zoom-min

Defines the minimum percentage that the zoom level can be.

• Value type: Integer
• Default value: 10

zoom-step

Defines the amount of percent that is zoomed in or out on each command.

• Value type: Integer
• Default value: 10