How to boost your productivity with Espanso, a free text expander

Espanso

Espanso is an open source, cross-platform text Expander.

Installation on Windows/macOS.

• Let’s install it on Windows. Download and run the installer. You may experience a warning from Windows Smartscreen. Windows protected your PC. Click on More info and then on Run anyway.
• Let’s install it on macOS: The easiest way to install Espanso is by downloading the appropriate app bundle: Intel or Apple Silicon M1 or using Homebrew:

brew tap espanso/espanso # Espanso is hosted outside the core homebrew repository.
brew install espanso

Ubuntu:

# Download the "deb" package by running the following command:
wget https://github.com/federico-terzi/espanso/releases/download/v2.1.6-beta/espanso-debian-x11-amd64.deb 
# Install the package:
sudo apt install ./espanso-debian-x11-amd64.deb
# Register Espanso as a systemd service: 
espanso service register
# Start Espanso
espanso start

• You are ready to use espanso. Open any application and type:

	:espanso

Arch & other distributions

If you’re using any other Linux distributions, you can use Espanso’s AppImage to get the program up and running on your computer. To install the Espanso’s AppImage, just open a terminal and follow these steps:

1. Create the $HOME/opt destination folder: mkdir -p ~/opt Install fuse2: sudo pacman -Syu fuse2
2. Download the AppImage inside this folder: wget -O ~/opt/Espanso.AppImage ‘https://github.com/federico-terzi/espanso/releases/download/v2.1.6-beta/Espanso-X11.AppImage'
3. Make the AppImage executable: chmod u+x ~/opt/Espanso.AppImage
4. Create the “espanso” command alias: sudo ~/opt/Espanso.AppImage env-path register
5. Register espanso as a systemd service (systemd is a “system and service manager”): espanso service register
6. Start espanso: espanso start

You are ready to use espanso. Open any application and type:

	:espanso

Configuration

Espanso uses a file-based configuration approach, type: espanso path to find the path of your configuration folder. Typically: Windows (C:\Users\userName\AppData\Roaming\espanso), macOS (/Users/userName/Library/Preferences/espanso) or Linux (/home/userName/.config/espanso).

There are two folder: config and match. The files contained in the match directory define WHAT Espanso should do (base.yml), i.e., all your snippets and actions. The files contained in the config directory (default.yml) define HOW Espanso should perform its expansions.

• Install some packages: espanso install all-emojis, and try :lol, :happy, :cry. Here is the full list of emojis, Full Markdown Emoji Cheat Sheet
• After every configuration change, espanso must be restarted: espanso restart. However, recent versions automatically restart when a change is detected.
• Configuration. gedit /home/user/.config/espanso/default.yml

  matches:
  # Personal Information
  - trigger: ":name"
  	replace: "Your Name"
  
  - trigger: ":address"
  	replace: "Your Address"
  
  - trigger: ":telephone"
  	replace: "Your Phone"
  
  - trigger: ":email"
  	replace: "Your Email"
  
  - trigger: ":website"
  	replace: "https://justtothepoint.com/, Free resources, bilingual e-books and videos to help your child and your entire family succeed, develop a healthy lifestyle, and have a lot of fun."
  
  - trigger: ":social"
  	replace: "Twitter: @justtothepoint.\nFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/nmaximo7.\nLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justtothepoint"
  
  - trigger: ":signature"
  	replace: |
  	'¯\\_(ツ)_/¯'
  	Your Name.
  	https://justtothepoint.com/, Free resources, bilingual e-books and videos to help your child and your entire family succeed, develop a healthy lifestyle, and have a lot of fun.
  
  # Date, Time, and Weather
  - trigger: ":date"
  	replace: "{{mydate}}"
  	vars:
  	- name: mydate
  		type: date
  		params:
  		format: "%d/%m/%y"
  
  - trigger: :time
  	replace: "{{time}}"
  	vars:
  	- name: time
  		type: date
  		params:
  		format: "%H:%M"
  
  - trigger: ":now"
  	replace: "It's {{mytime}}"
  	vars:
  	- name: mytime
  		type: date
  		params:
  		format: "%H.%M"
  
  - trigger: ":weather"
  	replace: "{{output}}"
  	vars:
  	- name: output
  		type: shell
  		params:
  		cmd: "curl 'http://wttr.in/?format=3'"
  
  
  # Inserts common HTML and Markdown elements
  - trigger: :hr
  	replace: '<hr />'
  - trigger: :br
  	replace: '<br />'
  - trigger: :div
  	replace: '<div>$|$</div>'
  - trigger: :span
  	replace: '<span>$|$</span>'
  - trigger: :h1
  	replace: '<h1>$|$</h1>'
  - trigger: :h2
  	replace: '<h2>$|$</h2>'
  - trigger: :h3
  	replace: '<h3>$|$</h3>'
  - trigger: :para
  	replace: '<p>$|$</p>'
  - trigger: :sup
  	replace: '<sup>$|$</sup>'
  - trigger: :sub
  	replace: '<sub>$|$</sub>'
  - trigger: :fraction
  	replace: '<sup>$|$</sup>&frasl;<sub></sub>'
  - trigger: "link"
  	replace: "[$|$]()"
  	vars:
  	- name: "clipboard"
  		type: "clipboard"
  - trigger: ":md-link"
  	replace: "[$|$]({{clipboard}})"
  	vars:
  	- name: "clipboard"
  		type: "clipboard"
  - trigger: ":html-link"
  	replace: "<a href=\"{{clipboard}}\" />$|$</a>"
  	vars:
  	- name: "clipboard"
  		type: "clipboard"
  
  # Inserts a markdown code block
  - trigger: :code
  	replace: "```\n$|$\n```"
  
  # More shell commands
  - trigger: ":ip"
  	replace: "{{output}}"
  	vars:
  	- name: output
  		type: shell
  		params:
  			cmd: "curl 'https://api.ipify.org'"
  
  - trigger: ":edit"
  	replace: "{{output}}"
  	vars:
  	- name: output
  		type: shell
  		params:
  		cmd: "gedit ~/.config/espanso/match/base.yml"
  
  - trigger: ":quote"
  	replace: "{{output}}"
  	vars:
  	- name: output
  		type: shell
  		params:
  		cmd: "fortune"
  
  # Quick search
  - trigger: ":duckduckgo"
  	replace: "https://duckduckgo.com/?q="
  - trigger: ":wiki"
  	replace: "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/?search="
  - trigger: ":youtube"
  	replace: "https://youtube.com/results?q=v"
  - trigger: ":google"
  	replace: "https://google.com/search?q="
  

• Synchronization.

1. Move espanso configuration folder to the Dropbox folder (mv ~/.config/espanso/ ~/Dropbox/).

2. Create a symbolic link: ln -s ~/Dropbox/espanso ~/.config/espanso/

3. Synchronization MacOS: rm -rf $HOME/Library/Preferences/espanso/, ln -s “$HOME/Dropbox/espanso” “/$HOME/Library/Preferences/espanso”, espanso restart. We are assuming that $ESPANSO = /$HOME/Library/Preferences/espanso.

• Bibliography:

1. Alicia’s Notes, Using Espanso to boost Efficiency
2. Espanso