ChatZLE

ChatZLE

Bring zsh/ZLE-style command-line editing to Minecraft chat.

Client-side only. ChatZLE improves editing for Minecraft chat and /commands. It does not start zsh, open a terminal, or execute commands on your computer.

ChatZLE adds persistent command history, inline autosuggestions, fuzzy reverse search, and familiar zsh/ZLE-inspired editing shortcuts to Minecraft.

Features

• Inline history autosuggestions ranked by prefix, frequency, and recency
• Persistent command history, deduplicated and separated by server by default
• Fuzzy reverse search with Ctrl-R
• Prefix-aware history navigation with Up and Down
• ZLE-inspired editing for character and word movement
• Kill ring, yank, and yank-pop
• Last-argument insertion with Alt-.
• Command abbreviations, such as /gms → /gamemode survival
• Sensitive-command filtering for common login, password, token, and authentication commands
• Full compatibility with vanilla Brigadier syntax highlighting and command suggestions
• No server-side installation required

Vanilla Completion Compatibility

ChatZLE history suggestions can remain visible while the vanilla Brigadier completion popup is open.

• Tab, Up, and Down continue to control vanilla completions
• Right or End accepts the complete ChatZLE history suggestion
• Alt-Right accepts only the next word from the ChatZLE suggestion

This keeps full-line history completion available even while vanilla is suggesting the current command argument.

Main Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Right / End	Accept the complete inline suggestion
Alt-Right	Accept the next suggested word
Up / Down	Navigate history matching the current prefix
Ctrl-R	Open fuzzy reverse history search / select the next result
Ctrl-S	Select the previous reverse-search result
Enter / Right	Accept the selected search result
Esc / Ctrl-G	Cancel reverse search
Ctrl-A / Ctrl-E	Move to the beginning/end of the line
Ctrl-B / Ctrl-F	Move backward/forward one character
Alt-B / Alt-F	Move backward/forward one word
Ctrl-W	Kill the previous word
Ctrl-U / Ctrl-K	Kill to the beginning/end of the line
Alt-D	Kill the next word
Ctrl-Y / Alt-Y	Yank / yank-pop
Ctrl-T / Alt-T	Transpose characters / words
Alt-.	Insert the last argument from history

On macOS, ZLE actions use the physical Control key. Standard Minecraft Command-key shortcuts continue to work normally.

Client Commands

• /chatzle — show the current status
• /chatzle help — show a compact shortcut reference
• /chatzle toggle|enable|disable — control ChatZLE without restarting
• /chatzle reload — reload configuration and history
• /chatzle history stats|clear — inspect or clear saved history
• /chatzle abbr list|add|remove — manage command abbreviations

Example:

/chatzle abbr add gms /gamemode survival

Typing /gms afterwards expands it to /gamemode survival .

Requirements

Component	Version
Minecraft	1.21.11
Fabric Loader	0.18.4 or newer
Fabric API	A build for Minecraft 1.21.11
Fabric Language Kotlin	1.13.9+kotlin.2.3.10 or newer
Java	21

Install ChatZLE in the client's mods directory. Do not install it on the server.

Privacy

Configuration and history are stored locally in:

config/chatzle/config.json
config/chatzle/history.json

ChatZLE does not transmit your command history.

Common credential-like commands are excluded from persistent history by default. This is a best-effort safeguard and cannot guarantee that every sensitive command will be detected.

Links

• Source Code
• Issue Tracker
• MIT License
• Author Website