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Abbrio for Espanso

Abbrio help

Editing abbreviations

Create and edit triggers, expansions, case and matching options, previews, and YAML while understanding saves and external file changes.

Choose an abbreviation set in the sidebar, then select an item in the middle pane. The details pane edits the selected item; a search field in the toolbar can find items across sets.

Create and edit an item

Use the sidebar’s + menu to create an abbreviation. Add its trigger (the text Espanso recognizes), then write the expansion. An item without a trigger is not saved. Existing triggers and aliases appear as removable entries in the details pane; keep trigger text distinct when you want a unique expansion.

The Case menu controls case handling, and Expand controls when the trigger expands. The available labels include Case affects expansion, Case must match, Case does not matter, On match, and At word break with its variants. A set can also supply defaults for new items; see Sets.

The expansion editor can show a preview and inline chips for dynamic content. Use the type bar for Text, Markdown, HTML, or Picture content. Preview output is a guide: Markdown, HTML, and date previews can differ from what Espanso produces.

Abbrio details pane with trigger, case and expansion controls, editor, and preview

Review or edit YAML

Open the YAML tab to see how the item is represented in the configuration. Choose Edit as YAML when a setting is not available in the form. Abbrio checks the edited text before it saves it. Some YAML forms that cannot be safely edited field by field are deliberately kept read-only in the standard form and are best handled on the YAML tab.

The editor aims to preserve unrelated file text. When saving a change, Abbrio rewrites only changed keys where it can do so safely, checks the resulting configuration, and keeps a backup under .abbrio/backups/. The status area reports the result of the save and the configuration reload check.

Autosave and file conflicts

Edits are saved to the configuration as you work. Avoid editing the same file in Abbrio and an external editor at the same time. If Abbrio detects that a file changed on disk while you have a draft open, the details pane offers two explicit choices:

  • Keep Mine keeps your open draft as the version to save.
  • Load from Disk replaces the draft with the current file contents.

Choose deliberately: Keep Mine can overwrite changes made by another editor, while Load from Disk discards your unsaved draft. If you are unsure which copy is current, compare the file in an external editor before choosing.