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| title | layout |
|---|---|
| Getting Started | docs |
In this section we will cover the basics of espanso to get you started immediately. Make sure to install espanso before diving into the next sections.
Starting espanso
If you followed the Windows or MacOS installation correctly, espanso will be automatically started when you power up your computer. There are times, however, when you may need to start espanso explicitly, such as when you're using Linux.
It's very easy to check if espanso is currently running: if you're using MacOS or Windows, you should see the icon in the status bar. If you don't see it, or if you're using Linux, another way to check it is to open a terminal and type:
espanso status
If you see "espanso is not running", then you'll need to start espanso manually with the following command:
espanso start
At this point you are ready to use espanso. Open any typing application and type :espanso, you should
see Hi there! appear.
If you don't see it, make sure espanso is currently running. You could also try to repeat the installation procedure.
Understanding Matches
espanso works by detecting your keypresses and replacing them when they match a specific keyword, called trigger.
The rule that associate the trigger with the replaced text is called Match and is a core concept of espanso. Matches are very flexible and powerful to solve many tasks. You can learn all about Matches in their documentation page.
espanso ships with very few built-in Matches to give you the maximum flexibility, but you can expand it's capabilities in two ways: creating your own custom matches or installing packages. Both of these possibilities are introduced below.