# qutebrowser

qutebrowser is a lightweight keyboard-driven, vim-like browser based on PyQt5 and QtWebKit.

Warning: qutebrowser is based on a WebKit port that is considered insecure and outdated. qutebrowser is in the process of switching to the more secure qt5-webengine (Blink). More info here. Also see #Use experimental webengine backend.

## Installation

Install either the qutebrowser or the qutebrowser-gitAUR package.

## Basic usage

Use `:` to access the command prompt. You can use `Tab` to auto-complete.

On first usage of qutebrowser, a Quickstart page appears. It is later accessible via `:help`. See the cheatsheet for keyboard shortcuts.

### User Configuration

You will find the configuration files of qutebrowser under `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/qutebrowser/`. The main configuration happens in the file `qutebrowser.conf`, which is organized in sections like an ini-file. For example, under `[searchengines]` you can configure your search engines as described by the comment. To add a shortcut for searching the the arch wiki, add these two lines:

    archwiki = https://wiki.archlinux.org/?search={}
    aw = ${archwiki}

Now, in qutebrowser you can search the arch wiki for an article about qutebrowser via `:open aw qutebrowser` which will bring you to this page. As per the standard configuration the key mapping `o` will subsitute `:open`, so typing `o aw your_search_term` will henceforth allow you to quickly search the arch wiki. Notice that the arguments required to perform a search vary across search engines, for example, to set up Google use:

    google = https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q={}
    g = ${google}

### Keybindings

Keybindings reside in `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/qutebrowser/keys.conf)`.

You can edit the keybindings directly from the browser with the command `:bind key command` or you can edit them directly from the file. Notice that there are many, many keybinds already in place. If you notice a lag on one of your keybind it is because some other keybind is also starting with the same key.

### Video playback

See Browser plugins#Multimedia playback.

## Tips and tricks

### Use experimental webengine backend

To use the more secure webengine backend, use the `--backend` flag:

     $ qutebrowser --backend webengine

Note: The qutebrowser implementation of webengine is experimental and may be missing features.
Category:

- Web browser