Regular expressions

Regular-expression rules live in their own set type. Choose New Regular Expression Set from the sidebar’s + menu, then create a rule in that set. A regular-expression set contains rules whose triggers are patterns rather than ordinary abbreviations.

Edit and review a rule

Enter the pattern in the Pattern field and the expansion in the details pane. Abbrio warns about constructs Espanso refuses, reports when the pattern may exceed Espanso’s regex buffer size, and notes that rules can match inside words. Use the named-group buttons above the expansion to insert a group reference.

Treat Try It as an approximation

Try It shows the text it matched, named-group values, and the resulting expansion. It uses macOS’s regular-expression engine and is labelled a close approximation; it is not Espanso’s Rust regex engine and cannot prove that a rule will expand the same way in every context. Test important rules in a safe, controlled text field with Espanso before relying on them.

Look-ahead, look-behind, back-references, atomic groups, possessive quantifiers, malformed grouping, and some named-group syntax are among the constructs Espanso may refuse. A warning in Abbrio does not necessarily block saving, and a pattern that saves can still be skipped by Espanso. Check the engine log and status if a rule does not load.