Triggers and Matches

Triggers are the keywords you type that get expanded. Matches define what they expand to.

How Expansion Works

Match File Format

Match files are YAML files placed in ~/.config/texpand/matches/. They define your triggers and their replacements.

matches:
  - trigger: ":hello"
    replace: "Hello World!"

Simple Text Replacement

The most basic match replaces a trigger with static text:

- trigger: ":thanks"
  replace: "Thank you for your help!"

Multiple Triggers

A match can have multiple triggers that all expand to the same thing:

- triggers: [":hello", ":hi", ":hey"]
  replace: "Greetings!"

Multi-line Replacement

Use YAML's | operator for multi-line expansions:

- trigger: ":sig"
  replace: |
    Best regards,
    John Doe
    Engineering Team

Match Options

Option	Type	Default	Description
trigger	string	—	Single trigger keyword
triggers	array	—	Multiple triggers for same match
replace	string	—	Text to replace trigger with
form	string	—	Form layout with [[field]] placeholders
form_fields	object	—	Field configuration for forms
vars	array	—	Variable definitions
force_mode	string	—	Injection mode override
propagate_case	bool	false	Match case of typed trigger
word	bool	false	Word boundary required

Word Boundary Detection

With word: true, the trigger only matches at word boundaries:

- trigger: "ls"
  replace: "list"
  word: true

• ls /tmp → matches
• callsls → does NOT match

Prefix Convention

Triggers typically start with a special character to avoid accidental expansion:

- trigger: ":hello"    # colon prefix (recommended)
- trigger: "git!rel"   # exclamation separator
- trigger: ";div"      # semicolon prefix for code

tip

Using a consistent prefix like : prevents triggers from matching inside normal words.

What's Next

Learn about Match Files and Configuration for organizing your triggers.