Show hidden files and get panels back in Skink

Press Alt+H to show or hide dotfiles in the file tree. It works from the editor too, even while the tree is hidden.

:dotfiles (or :hidden) does the same, and so does . while the tree has focus.

Why a panel disappeared

If a panel vanished, the most likely causes are:

• The sidebar was toggled with Ctrl+B.
• Zoom mode is on (Alt+Z or :zoom).
• The window is narrower than 50 columns.

Hidden files (dotfiles)

Way	Where it works
Alt+H	Anywhere. Applies when the tree opens, if it is hidden
:hidden, :tree hidden, or :dotfiles	Command line
.	In the focused file tree

On macOS, if Option+H types a character instead, use :hidden. See macOS Option key.

Git-ignored files

Files and folders matched by .gitignore are shown, but dimmed, and Skink never expands an ignored folder by itself. Click it or press Enter to open it.

Quick open and project search skip ignored files.

The file tree and sidebar

Key	Does
F8 or :files	Show the tree, move focus to it, or go back to the editor
Ctrl+B or :sidebar	Hide or show the whole sidebar
h (in the tree)	Hide the tree
q or Esc (in the tree)	Back to the editor
:tree	Show or focus the tree. :tree hide hides it

How to tell the tree has the keys

When the tree has the keys:

• it shows “Files (focused)”, an accent border and an accent selection;
• the status line says TREE;
• the editor hides its cursor.

Typing letters in the tree runs tree commands (like a for a new file). If your typing seems to go nowhere, press Esc.

Narrow windows

In a window narrower than 50 columns, the tree hides itself to leave room for the text. Make the window wider and it comes back.

Tree width

< / > in the tree make it narrower or wider, or drag its right border.

Zoom mode hides everything

Alt+Z or :zoom shows only the text: no tab bar, no tree, no status line. If that happened by accident, press the same key again.

The status line still appears briefly while a prompt or message is up, even in zoom mode.

Docks

The shell along the bottom (Alt+T, :termdock) and the agent panel on the right (Alt+Shift+T, :agentdock) toggle with the same key.

Hiding a dock does not stop the shell or the agent; they keep running in their tabs. See Splits and docks.

Inline blame

The faded text at the end of the cursor line is git blame: author, date and the commit summary.

Alt+Shift+B (:inlineblame) toggles it for this session. To turn it off for good:

{ "inlineblame": false }

The git marks next to the line numbers turn off with "gitgutter": false. See Git.

The status line

The bottom line tells you what has the keys and what is going on:

• TREE when the file tree has focus.
• ×N when you have N cursors.
• ● REC while a macro is recording (Ctrl+U stops it).
• EveryAI when Skink runs inside EveryAI.
• Breadcrumbs such as impl Foo > fn bar, from the language server.
• The AI agent’s progress while it works.

Short notes from background work (search done, session restored) show in the top-right corner and go away by themselves.