todoke

┌──────┐       ┌────────┐       ╭──▶ nvim
│ file │ ──▶   │ todoke │ ──▶   ├──▶ code
└──────┘       └────────┘       ╰──▶ script / …

todoke takes one or more file paths and decides what to do with each of them — by regex-matching the path against a TOML ruleset. A rule can target a long-running neovim (reused via msgpack-RPC), any generic CLI editor, or a raw shell script. Perfect as your OS default program for text files, as $EDITOR, or as a standalone file handler.

It is the successor to edtr / hitori.vim, generalized from "editor router" into a full rule-driven dispatcher.

Features

• Rule-based routing: regex patterns in TOML decide what handles each file. Different paths → different handlers (VSCode for one project, nvim for another, a shell script for a third).
• Single-instance neovim via named pipes / unix sockets: todoke connects to a running nvim and sends :edit over msgpack-RPC. Works on Windows via \\.\pipe\... — no Deno, no plugin framework, no cold start.
• Sync or async per rule: sync = true blocks until the handler exits (perfect for git commit), sync = false fires and forgets (perfect for double-clicking files in the OS file explorer).
• Tera templating throughout the config: {{ file_path }}, {{ env.HOME }}, {% if is_windows() %}…{% endif %}, structural conditionals that include whole editor / rule blocks, every Tera filter.
• Generic CLI support: any command-line tool works (code, vim, helix, subl, emacsclient, bat, pandoc, …) without custom code.
• edtr compatibility: same embedded default config, same config schema. Existing edtr users migrate by renaming the config directory (see below).
• Fast: static Rust binary, cold start in milliseconds. On Windows this is often 10–100× faster than denops-based alternatives.

Install

cargo install todoke

Binary lives at ~/.cargo/bin/todoke. Make sure that's on your PATH.

Quick start

todoke works out of the box with a bundled default config — it routes everything to a single shared neovim instance, except $EDITOR-callback files (COMMIT_EDITMSG etc.) which always get a fresh sync = true instance so git commit works.

To customize, drop a file at:

• Linux / macOS / Windows: ~/.config/todoke/todoke.toml

Minimal example:

# ~/.config/todoke/todoke.toml

# kind = "neovim" opts into msgpack-RPC reuse; "exec" (default) just spawns.
[todoke.nvim]
kind = "neovim"
command = "nvim"
listen = '{% if is_windows() %}\\.\pipe\nvim-todoke-{{ group }}{% else %}/tmp/nvim-todoke-{{ group }}.sock{% endif %}'

[todoke.code]
command = "code"
[todoke.code.args]
remote = ["--reuse-window"]
new    = ["--new-window"]

[todoke.firefox]
command = "firefox"

# A second firefox target specifically for issue: inputs — the URL is
# constructed from the capture group, so append_inputs = false tells the
# exec backend not to tack the raw "issue:42" onto the command line as a
# second positional.
[todoke.gh-issue]
command = "firefox"
append_inputs = false
args.default = ["https://github.com/yukimemi/todoke/issues/{{ cap.1 }}"]

# Git-ref target: opens the GitHub tree browser at a branch / tag / sha.
[todoke.gh-ref]
command = "firefox"
append_inputs = false
args.default = ["https://github.com/yukimemi/todoke/tree/{{ input }}"]

# git commit, rebase, etc. — always a blocking fresh nvim.
[[rules]]
name = "editor-callback"
match = '(?i)/(COMMIT_EDITMSG|MERGE_MSG|git-rebase-todo)$'
to = "nvim"
mode = "new"
sync = true

# GitHub URLs → firefox (URL is auto-appended by the exec backend)
[[rules]]
name = "gh"
match = '^https?://(www\.)?github\.com/'
to = "firefox"

# Route files under ~/src/company/ to VSCode.
[[rules]]
name = "work"
match = '/src/company/'
to = "code"
mode = "remote"

# Raw strings — custom-scheme bare ids like `issue:42` auto-detect as Raw
# so this rule fires without `--as`. Capture groups are available to the
# handler as `{{ cap.1 }}` / `{{ cap.name }}`.
[[rules]]
name = "gh-issue"
match = '^issue:(\d+)$'
to = "gh-issue"

# Git refs — branch names, tags, short SHAs, etc. `input_type = "raw"`
# pins this rule to `--as raw` so that bare words like `HEAD` / `main`,
# which auto-detect as File, don't accidentally trigger the GitHub URL
# handler when you meant to open a local file by that name.
[[rules]]
name = "gh-ref"
match = '^(HEAD|main|master|develop|v?\d+\.\d+\.\d+|[0-9a-f]{7,40})$'
to = "gh-ref"
input_type = "raw"

# URL fallback: any other URL → browser. Without this, non-GitHub URLs
# would fall through to the file default (nvim) and get dropped by the
# neovim backend (which only accepts files).
[[rules]]
name = "url-default"
match = '^https?://'
input_type = "url"
to = "firefox"

# Default: everything else (file inputs, mostly) goes to the shared nvim.
[[rules]]
name = "default"
match = '.*'
to = "nvim"
group = "default"
mode = "remote"

Then:

# Open any file in the right handler
todoke notes.md

# URLs work too — same rule engine routes them to a browser, a browser
# profile, or any CLI that accepts URLs.
todoke https://github.com/yukimemi/todoke  # → gh rule → firefox
todoke https://example.com                  # → url-default rule → firefox

# Raw strings match rules too. `<scheme>:<body>` bare ids auto-detect as
# Raw so gh-issue fires without `--as`. Captures are available as
# `{{ cap.N }}`.
todoke issue:42      # → firefox opens issues/42

# Bare words like `HEAD` or `Makefile` auto-detect as File (so
# `$EDITOR=todoke Makefile` Just Works — see the $EDITOR section below).
# When you want `HEAD` routed as a git ref instead, pass `--as raw` and
# wire the matching rule with `input_type = "raw"`:
todoke --as raw HEAD # → firefox opens the repo tree at HEAD

# See which rule would match, without actually dispatching
todoke check notes.md https://example.com issue:42

# Same dispatch logic, don't execute
todoke --dry-run notes.md

# Lint the config for common footguns
todoke doctor

Recipe: one target, many variants

Neovim has several front-ends — nvim itself, neovide, nvim-qt, … — and you'll probably want to swap between them without rewriting rules. Because the whole config is pre-rendered through Tera, a list in [vars] plus a single conditional covers every combination:

[vars]
# Swap this line to switch front-ends.
gui = "neovide"
# Wrappers that forward CLI args to an embedded nvim only after `--`.
# Raw `nvim` is not in this list because it would treat args after `--`
# as filenames.
wrapper_guis = ["neovide", "nvim-qt"]

[todoke.gui]
kind = "neovim"
command = "{{ vars.gui }}"
listen = '{% if is_windows() %}\\.\pipe\nvim-todoke-{{ group }}{% else %}/tmp/nvim-todoke-{{ group }}.sock{% endif %}'

{% if vars.gui in vars.wrapper_guis %}
[todoke.gui.args]
remote = ["--"]
{% endif %}

[[rules]]
match = '.*'
to = "gui"
mode = "remote"

• vars.gui = "nvim" → nvim FILE --listen PIPE
• vars.gui = "neovide" → neovide FILE -- --listen PIPE
• vars.gui = "nvim-qt" → nvim-qt FILE -- --listen PIPE

One target definition, three valid command lines. Adding a new wrapper in the future is one entry in wrapper_guis.

Recipe: categorized match patterns

match accepts either a single regex string or an array. The array form is OR-matched (hit any → rule fires) and is the right shape when a rule's intent spans several unrelated sources — $EDITOR-callback files are a classic example because every tool sprinkles its own filename convention:

[[rules]]
name = "editor-callback"
match = [
  # git
  '(?i)/(COMMIT_EDITMSG|MERGE_MSG|TAG_EDITMSG|EDIT_DESCRIPTION|git-rebase-todo|NOTES_EDITMSG|\.gitmessage)$',
  # svn / hg
  '(?i)/svn-commit\.tmp$',
  # Claude Code prompt temp files
  '(?i)/claude-prompt-.*$',
]
to = "nvim-term"
mode = "new"
sync = true

Each bucket is its own readable regex; extending for a new tool is appending one line with a # new-tool comment instead of threading another alternation into a long single-string pattern.

Recipe: editor-flag passthrough (+42 file.txt)

Some $EDITOR callers (vim-aware Git frontends, sudo -e, etc.) pass nvim-style flags ahead of the file — e.g. +42 file.txt to jump to line 42. todoke's auto-detection would otherwise absolutize +42 into a file path. Two ways to handle it:

Option A — passthrough (simple; good for individual flag classes):

[[rules]]
name = "nvim-flag"
match = '^[-+]'          # matches against the RAW argv, pre auto-detect
to = "nvim-term"
sync = true
passthrough = true       # forward as-is to nvim's start-up argv

[[rules]]
name = "nvim-file"
match = '.*'
to = "nvim-term"
sync = true

todoke +42 foo.txt bar.txt now spawns nvim +42 foo.txt bar.txt (multi-file still works, +42 rides along as a flag). For spaced values like -c :set ft=md where the flag and its value are separate argv items, use consumes to pull the next argv along:

[[rules]]
name = "nvim-c"
match = '^-c$'
to = "nvim-term"
sync = true
passthrough = true
consumes = 1       # `-c` + next argv both forwarded as passthrough

Passthrough inputs are merged into the normal rule's batch that shares the same (target, group) — so a passthrough rule's mode / sync are only used when no normal rule routes to the same target+group. On a merge the normal rule's values win and a runtime warn is emitted if they differ (doctor can't catch it because group / to are Tera templates that only resolve at dispatch).

Option B — joined (flexible; one rule captures the whole argv):

[[rules]]
name = "nvim-with-line"
match = '^(?P<pre>\+\d+ )?(?P<input>\S+)$'
to = "nvim-term"
sync = true
joined = true

[todoke.nvim-term.args]
default = ["{{ cap.pre | default(value='') | trim }}"]
# append_inputs = true is still default so {{ cap.input }} is opened
# by the handler after args; the captured flag rides in the args list.

joined matches once against the space-joined argv. The named capture input is re-classified (so a nonexistent foo.txt still becomes a File and :edit-able), and cap.pre ends up in the args. Use joined when you want a single regex describing the full invocation shape; use passthrough when each flag has its own rule.

As $EDITOR

export EDITOR=todoke
git commit      # → todoke routes COMMIT_EDITMSG to nvim mode=new sync=true

The bundled default config is compatible with every $EDITOR=… caller I know of (git, crontab, visudo, fc, mutt, …).

Any arg that isn't a URL (foo://…) or a custom-scheme bare id (issue:42) auto-detects as a file — including extension-less names like Makefile, Dockerfile, Rakefile and not-yet-existing paths like newfile.txt or /tmp/new.md. So todoke Makefile and todoke newfile.txt behave just like vim Makefile / vim newfile.txt — rules match against the absolute path and the editor creates the file on write.

As OS default program (Windows)

Right-click a .txt → Open with → Choose another app → Browse → point at todoke.exe. todoke honors the rules and opens the file in the correct handler, spawning a new console if the target is a TUI.

Configuration reference

[vars]

User-defined variables available as {{ vars.NAME }} in every other template:

[vars]
proj_root = "/home/me/src"

[todoke.<name>]

A delivery target (the value behind a rule's to = "<name>").

field	type	required	meaning
kind	"exec" / "neovim"	no (default "exec")	"exec" spawns the command; "neovim" reuses a running nvim via msgpack-RPC
command	string	yes	the handler binary (PATH-resolved)
listen	string	neovim	socket / named pipe path for RPC
args	table of <mode> → array<string>	no	args injected based on rule.mode; args.default is the fallback when no key matches
append_inputs	bool	true	exec kind only: whether each input's display string is appended as a trailing positional arg after args. Set to false when args already reference the input via {{ input }} / {{ cap.N }} and you don't want the raw value passed twice.
env	table	no	env vars passed to the spawned handler

[[rules]]

field	type	default	meaning
name	string	rule[N]	human-readable label (shown in check)
match	regex string or [regex]	required	pattern(s) matched against a string derived from the input: file = canonicalized absolute path with / separators (\\?\ verbatim prefix stripped), url = the URL string as-is, raw = the argument string as-is. Anchors like ^foo$ only fire for the URL/raw cases unless you design the regex for absolute paths.
exclude	regex string or [regex]	none	when any exclude hits, the rule is skipped even if match hits — todoke falls through to the next rule
to	string (Tera-templated)	required	key into [todoke.*]
group	string	"default"	instance identity (one nvim per group)
mode	string	"remote"	free-form; "remote" / "new" are reserved for neovim behavior, otherwise used only to pick args.<mode>
sync	bool	false	true = block until handler exits
input_type	"file" | "url" | "raw" or array	all kinds	restrict which input kinds this rule applies to. Example: input_type = "raw" makes the rule fire only for --as raw / auto-detected Raw inputs — useful for git-ref style patterns (^HEAD$, ^main$) that must not shadow a local file of the same name.
joined	bool	false	match against the full argv-join (all positional args concatenated with spaces, pre auto-detect) instead of each input individually. On a hit, the named capture input is re-classified via Input::from_arg and becomes the batch's sole input; other captures ride along in {{ cap.<name> }} for the target's args templates. Designed for $EDITOR=todoke +42 file.txt style calls. Mutually exclusive with passthrough.
passthrough	bool	false	match against the raw argv (pre auto-detect) per input. On a hit, the raw string is forwarded to the target's start-up argv instead of being opened/edited. Use for editor flags like +42 / -c :set ft=.... Mutually exclusive with joined.
consumes	non-negative int	0	only valid with passthrough = true. When the rule matches, also forward the next N argv items as part of the same passthrough sequence. Designed for spaced-value flags like -c :set ft=md where the value is its own argv — a consumes = 1 on match = '^-c$' keeps the flag and its value together.

Template context

Available in rule.group, rule.to, todoke.*.command, todoke.*.listen, todoke.*.args.*:

variable	example	populated for
input	/tmp/foo.md or https://…	always
input_type	"file" / "url" / "raw"	always
file_path	C:/Users/you/notes/todo.md	file inputs
file_dir	C:/Users/you/notes	file inputs
file_name	todo.md	file inputs
file_stem	todo	file inputs
file_ext	md (no leading dot)	file inputs
url_scheme	https	URL inputs
url_host	github.com	URL inputs
url_port	443 or empty	URL inputs
url_path	/yukimemi/todoke	URL inputs
url_query	tab=rs or empty	URL inputs
url_fragment	top or empty	URL inputs
command_*	same five fields for the target command	always
cwd	current working directory	always
group	resolved group	phase 3
rule	resolved rule name	phase 3
cap.0	full match of the match regex	when a rule matched
cap.1 / cap.2 / …	numbered capture groups	when defined
cap.<name>	named capture groups (?P<name>…)	when defined
vars.<key>	your [vars] entries	always
env.<KEY>	process env at todoke invocation	always

kind = "neovim" targets accept file inputs only — URLs and raw strings routed to a neovim target are logged and skipped. Route those to a kind = "exec" target (e.g. a browser for URLs, any CLI that consumes the raw string for "raw").

And these todoke-specific Tera functions:

• is_windows(), is_linux(), is_mac() — booleans for OS branching.

Plus everything Tera ships — replace, split, join, length, now(), structural {% if %} / {% elif %} / {% else %} blocks around editor and rule sections, and all other stock Tera features.

CLI reference

todoke [FILES]...            # dispatch files per rules (default action)
todoke check <FILES>...      # dry-run: show matched rule per file
todoke doctor                # lint the config for common footguns
todoke completion <shell>    # emit shell completion script
todoke --help
todoke --version

# v0.2+:
todoke list                    # list alive handler instances
todoke kill <group> | --all    # terminate instances
todoke config path | edit | validate | show

Flags:

• -c, --config <PATH> — override config path
• -E, --editor <NAME> — bypass rule, force handler
• -G, --group <NAME> — bypass rule, force group
• --dry-run — print the resolved plan without executing
• -v, --verbose — -v = info, -vv = debug, -vvv = trace

Logging is also controllable via RUST_LOG.

Roadmap

• v0.1 (this release): core dispatch, neovim + generic backends, check, doctor, completion, default config, $EDITOR compatibility, colored output.
• v0.2: list / kill / config edit|validate|show, open / send, neovim remote + sync via nvim_buf_attach.
• v0.3: script editor kind — run arbitrary shell commands as a handler, turning todoke into a general "open with rules" tool for any file type (previewer, formatter, pipeline, …).

Heritage

todoke extends edtr, which was itself a Rust rewrite of hitori.vim. The lineage:

• hitori.vim (denops): single-instance vim plugin, vim/neovim-only, slow on Windows.
• edtr: Rust rewrite, editor-agnostic, fast on all platforms.
• todoke: edtr plus broader scope — any command-line handler (not just editors), any file type. The name 「届け」 means deliver in Japanese.

License

MIT — © 2026 yukimemi.