Syntax Definitions

Sublime Text can use both .sublime-syntax and .tmLanguage files for syntax highlighting. This document describes .sublime-syntax files.

• Overview
• Header
• Contexts
  • Meta Patterns
  • Match Patterns
  • Include Patterns
  • Prototype Context
• Including Other Files
• Variables
• Inheritance 4075
• Selected Examples
• Testing
• Compatibility 4075

Overview

Sublime Syntax files are YAML files with a small header, followed by a list of contexts. Each context has a list of patterns that describe how to highlight text in that context, and how to change the current text.

Here's a small example of a syntax file designed to highlight C.

%YAML 1.2
---
name: C
file_extensions: [c, h]
scope: source.c

contexts:
  main:
    - match: \b(if|else|for|while)\b
      scope: keyword.control.c

At its core, a syntax definition assigns scopes (e.g., keyword.control.c) to areas of the text. These scopes are used by color schemes to highlight the text.

This syntax file contains one context, main, that matches the words [if, else, for, while], and assigns them the scope keyword.control.c. The context name main special: every syntax must define a main context, as it will be used at the start of the file.

The match key is a regex, supporting features from the Oniguruma regex engine. In the above example, \b is used to ensure only word boundaries are matched, to ensure that words such as elsewhere are not considered keywords.

Note that due to the YAML syntax, tab characters are not allowed within .sublime-syntax files.

Header

The allowed keys in the header area are:

name

This defines the name shown for the syntax in the menu. It's optional, and will be derived from the file name if not used.

file_extensions

A list of strings, defining file extensions this syntax should be used for. Extensions listed here will be shown in file dialog dropdowns on some operating systems.

If a file does not have a basename, e.g. .gitignore, the entirety of the filename including the leading . should be specified.

hidden_file_extensions 4075

A list of strings, also defining file extensions this syntax should be used for. These extensions are not listed in file dialogs.

first_line_match

When a file is opened without a recognized extension, the first line of the file contents will be tested against this regex, to see if the syntax should be applied.

scope

The default scope assigned to all text in the file

version 4075

An integer, either 1 or 2, that controls backwards compatibility. New syntaxes should target 2, as it fixes some inconsistencies in how scopes are applied.

extends 4075

A string of a base syntax this syntax should inherit from. The base syntax must be specified using its package path, e.g. Packages/JavaScript/JavaScript.sublime-syntax. See Inheritance for an overview of syntax inheritance.

hidden

Hidden syntax definitions won't be shown in the menu, but can still be assigned by plugins, or included by other syntax definitions.

Contexts

For most languages, you'll need more than one context. For example, in C, we don't want a for word in the middle of a string to be highlighted as a keyword. Here's an example of how to handle this:

%YAML 1.2
---
name: C
file_extensions: [c, h]
scope: source.c

contexts:
  main:
    - match: \b(if|else|for|while)\b
      scope: keyword.control.c
    - match: '"'
      push: string

  string:
    - meta_scope: string.quoted.double.c
    - match: \\.
      scope: constant.character.escape.c
    - match: '"'
      pop: true

A second pattern has been added to the main context that matches a double quote character (note that '"' is used for this, as a standalone quote would be a YAML syntax error), and pushes a new context, string, onto the context stack. This means the rest of the file will be processing using the string context, and not the main context, until the string context is popped off the stack.

The string context introduces a new key: meta_scope. This will assign the string.quoted.double.c scope to all text while the string context is on the stack.

While editing in Sublime Text, you can check what scopes have been applied to the text under the caret by pressing control+shift+p (Mac) or ctrl+alt+shift+p (Windows/Linux).

The string context has two patterns: the first matches a backslash character followed by any other, and the second matches a quote character. Note that the last pattern specifies an action when an unescaped quote is encountered, the string context will be popped off the context stack, returning to assigning scopes using the main context.

When a context has multiple patterns, the leftmost one will be found. When multiple patterns match at the same position, the first defined pattern will be selected.

Meta Patterns

meta_scope

This assigns the given scope to all text within this context, including the patterns that push the context onto the stack and pop it off.

meta_content_scope

As above, but does not apply to the text that triggers the context (e.g., in the above string example, the content scope would not get applied to the quote characters).

meta_include_prototype

Used to stop the current context from automatically including the prototype context.

clear_scopes

This setting allows removing scope names from the current stack. It can be an integer, or the value true to remove all scope names. It is applied before meta_scope and meta_content_scope. This is typically only used when one syntax is embedding another.

meta_prepend 4075

A boolean, controlling context name conflict resolution during inheritance. If this is specified, the rules in this context will be inserted before any existing rules from a context with the same name in an ancestor syntax definition.

meta_append 4075

A boolean, controlling context name conflict resolution during inheritance. If this is specified, the rules in this context will be inserted after to any existing rules from a context with the same name in an ancestor syntax definition.

Meta patterns must be listed first in the context, before any match or include patterns.

Match Patterns

A match pattern can include the following keys:

match

The regex used to match against the text. YAML allows many strings to be written without quotes, which can help make the regex clearer, but it's important to understand when you need to quote the regex. If your regex includes the characters #, :, -, {, [ or > then you likely need to quote it. Regexes are only ever run against a single line of text at a time.

scope

The scope assigned to the matched text.

captures

A mapping of numbers to scope, assigning scopes to captured portions of the match regex. See below for an example.

push

The contexts to push onto the stack. This may be either a single context name, a list of context names, or an inline, anonymous context.

pop

Pops contexts off the stack. The value true will pop a single context.

An integer greater than zero will pop the corresponding number of contexts. 4050

The pop key can be combined with push, set, embed and branch. When combined, the specified number of contexts will be popped off of the stack before the other action is performed. For push, embed and branch actions, the pop treats the match as if it were a lookahead, which means the match will not receive the meta_scope of the contexts that are popped. 4075

set

Accepts the same arguments as push, but will first pop this context off, and then push the given context(s) onto the stack.

Any match will receive the meta_scope of the context being popped and the context being pushed.

embed 3153

Accepts the name of a single context to push into. While similar to push, it pops out of any number of nested contexts as soon as the escape pattern is found. This makes it an ideal tool for embedding one syntax within another.

escape

This key is required if embed is used, and is a regex used to exit from the embedded context. Any backreferences in this pattern will refer to capture groups in the match regex.

embed_scope

A scope assigned to all text matched after the match and before the escape. Similar in concept to meta_content_scope.

escape_captures

A mapping of capture groups to scope names, for the escape pattern. Use capture group 0 to apply a scope to the entire escape match.

branch 4050

Accepts the names of two or more contexts, which are attempted in order. If a fail action is encountered, the highlighting of the file will be restarted at the character where the branch occured, and the next context will be attempted.

branch_point

This is the unique identifier for the branch and is specified when a match uses the fail action.

The branch action allows for handling syntax constructs that are ambiguous, and also allows handling constructs that span multiple lines.

For ideal performance, the contexts should be listed in the order of how likely they are to be accepted. Note: because highlighting with branches requires reprocessing an entire branch upon each change to the document, the highlighting engine will not rewind more than 128 lines when a fail occurs.

fail 4050

Accepts the name of a branch_point to rewind to and retry the next context of. If a fail action specifies a branch_point that was never pushed on the stack, or has already been popped off of the stack, it will have no effect.

The following keys control behavior that is exclusive, and only one can be specified per match pattern:

• push
• pop <4075
• set
• embed 3153
• branch 4050
• fail 4050

Match Examples

A basic match assigning a single scope to the entire match:

- match: \w+
  scope: variable.parameter.c++

Assigning different scopes to the regex capture groups:

- match: ^\\s*(#)\\s*\\b(include)\\b
  captures:
    1: meta.preprocessor.c++
    2: keyword.control.include.c++

Pushing into another context named function-parameters:

- match: \b\w+(?=\()
  scope: entity.name.function.c++
  push: function-parameters

Popping out of a context:

- match: \)
  scope: punctuation.section.parens.end.c++
  pop: true

Popping out of the current context and pushing into another:

- match: \}
  scope: punctuation.section.block.end.c++
  set: file-global

Embedding another syntax 3153:

- match: (```)(js|javascript)
  captures:
    1: punctuation.section.code.begin.markdown
    2: constant.other.markdown
  embed: scope:source.js
  embed_scope: meta.embedded.js.markdown
  escape: ^```
  escape_captures:
    0: punctuation.section.code.end.markdown

Using branch to attempt one highlighting, with the ability to fallback to another. 4050:

expression:
  - match: (?=\()
    branch_point: open_parens
    branch:
      - paren_group
      - arrow_function

paren_group:
  - match: \(
    scope: punctuation.section.parens.begin.js
    push:
      - include: expressions
      - match: \)
        scope: punctuation.section.parens.begin.js
        set:
          - match: =>
            fail: open_parens
          - match: (?=\S)
            pop: 2

arrow_function:
  - match: \(
    scope: punctuation.section.parens.begin.js
    push:
      - match: \w+
        scope: variable.parameter.js
      - match: ','
        scope: punctuation.separator.comma.js
      - match: \)
        scope: punctuation.section.parens.begin.js
        set:
          - match: =>
            scope: storage.type.function.arrow.js
            push: arrow_function_body

Using pop with another action. 4075:

paragraph:
  - match: '(```)(py|python)'
    captures:
      1: punctuation.definition.code.begin.md
      2: constant.other.language-name.md
    pop: 1
    embed: scope:source.python
    embed_scope: source.python.embedded
    escape: ^```
    escape_captures:
      0: punctuation.definition.code.end.md

Include Patterns

Frequently it's convenient to include the contents of one context within another. For example, you may define several different contexts for parsing the C language, and almost all of them can include comments. Rather than copying the relevant match patterns into each of these contexts, you can include them:

expr:
  - include: comments
  - match: \b[0-9]+\b
    scope: constant.numeric.c
  ...

Here, all the match patterns and include patterns defined in the comments context will be pulled in. They'll be inserted at the position of the include pattern, so you can still control the pattern order. Any meta patterns defined in the comments context will be ignored.

Including an External Prototype 4075

When including a context from another syntax, it may be desirable to also include any applicable prototype from that syntax. By default, an include pattern does not include such a prototype. If the key/value pair apply_prototype: true is added to the include pattern, the context does not specify meta_include_prototype: false and the other syntax has a prototype context, then those patterns will also be included.

tags:
  - include: scope:source.html.basic
    apply_prototype: true

Prototype Context

With elements such as comments, it's so common to include them that it's simpler to make them included automatically in every context, and just list the exceptions instead. You can do this by creating a context named prototype, it will be included automatically at the top of every other context, unless the context contains the meta_include_prototype key. For example:

prototype:
  - include: comments

string:
  - meta_include_prototype: false
  ...

In C, a /* inside a string does not start a comment, so the string context indicates that the prototype should not be included.

Including Other Files

Sublime Syntax files support the notion of one syntax definition including another. For example, HTML can contain embedded JavaScript. Here's an example of a basic syntax defintion for HTML that does so:

scope: text.html

contexts:
  main:
    - match: <script>
      push: Packages/JavaScript/JavaScript.sublime-syntax
      with_prototype:
        - match: (?=</script>)
          pop: true
    - match: "<"
      scope: punctuation.definition.tag.begin
    - match: ">"
      scope: punctuation.definition.tag.end

Note the first rule above. It indicates that when we encounter a <script> tag, the main context within JavaScript.sublime-syntax should be pushed onto the context stack. It also defines another key, with_prototype. This contains a list of patterns that will be inserted into every context defined within JavaScript.sublime-syntax. Note that with_prototype is conceptually similar to the prototype context, however it will be always be inserted into every referenced context irrespective of their meta_include_prototype key.

In this case, the pattern that's inserted will pop off the current context while the next text is a </script> tag. Note that it doesn't actually match the </script> tag, it's just using a lookahead assertion, which plays two key roles here: It both allows the HTML rules to match against the end tag, highlighting it as-per normal, and it will ensure that all the JavaScript contexts will get popped off. The context stack may be in the middle of a JavaScript string, for example, but when the </script> is encountered, both the JavaScript string and main contexts will get popped off.

Note that while Sublime Text supports both .sublime-syntax and .tmLanguage files, it's not possible to include a .tmLanguage file within a .sublime-syntax one.

Another common scenario is a templating language including HTML. Here's an example of that, this time with a subset of Jinja:

scope: text.jinja
contexts:
  main:
    - match: ""
      push: "Packages/HTML/HTML.sublime-syntax"
      with_prototype:
        - match: "{{"
          push: expr

  expr:
    - match: "}}"
      pop: true
    - match: \b(if|else)\b
      scope: keyword.control

This is quite different from the HTML-embedding-JavaScript example, because templating languages tend to operate from the inside out: by default, it needs to act as HTML, only escaping to the underlying templating language on certain expressions.

In the example above, we can see it operates in HTML mode by default: the main context includes a single pattern that always matches, consuming no text, just including the HTML syntax.

Where the HTML syntax is included, the Jinja syntax directives ({{ ... }}) are included via the with_prototype key, and thus get injected into every context in the HTML syntax (and JavaScript, by transitivity).

Variables

It's not uncommon for several regexes to have parts in common. To avoid repetitious typing, you can use variables:

variables:
  ident: '[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z_0-9]*'
contexts:
  main:
    - match: '\b{{ident}}\b'
      scope: keyword.control

Variables must be defined at the top level of the .sublime-syntax file, and are referenced within regxes via {{varname}}. Variables may themselves include other variables. Note that any text that doesn't match {{[A-Za-z0-9_]+}} won't be considered as a variable, so regexes can still include literal {{ characers, for example.

Selected Examples

Bracket Balancing

This example highlights closing brackets without a corresponding open bracket:

name: C
scope: source.c

contexts:
  main:
    - match: \(
      push: brackets
    - match: \)
      scope: invalid.illegal.stray-bracket-end

  brackets:
    - match: \)
      pop: true
    - include: main

Sequential Contexts

This example will highlight a C style for statement containing too many semicolons:

for_stmt:
  - match: \(
    set: for_stmt_expr1
for_stmt_expr1:
  - match: ";"
    set: for_stmt_expr2
  - match: \)
    pop: true
  - include: expr
for_stmt_expr2:
  - match: ";"
    set: for_stmt_expr3
  - match: \)
    pop: true
  - include: expr
for_stmt_expr3:
  - match: \)
    pop: true
  - match: ";"
    scope: invalid.illegal.stray-semi-colon
  - include: expr

Advanced Stack Usage

In C, symbols are often defined with the typedef keyword. So that Goto Definition can pick these up, the symbols should have the entity.name.type scope attached to them.

Doing this can be a little tricky, as while typedefs are sometimes simple, they can get quite complex:

typedef int coordinate_t;

typedef struct
{
    int x;
    int y;
} point_t;

To recognise these, after matching the typedef keyword, two contexts will be pushed onto the stack: the first will recognise a typename, and then pop off, while the second will recognise the introduced name for the type:

main:
  - match: \btypedef\b
    scope: keyword.control.c
    set: [typedef_after_typename, typename]

typename:
  - match: \bstruct\b
    set:
      - match: "{"
        set:
          - match: "}"
            pop: true
  - match: \b[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z_0-9]*\b
    pop: true

typedef_after_typename:
  - match: \b[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z_0-9]*\b
    scope: entity.name.type
    pop: true

In the above example, typename is a reusable context, that will read in a typename and pop itself off the stack when it's done. It can be used in any context where a type needs to be consumed, such as within a typedef, or as a function argument.

The main context uses a match pattern that pushes two contexts on the stack, with the rightmost context in the list becoming the topmost context on the stack. Once the typename context has popped itself off, the typedef_after_typename context will be at the top of the stack.

Also note above the use of anonymous contexts for brevity within the typename context.

PHP Heredocs

This example shows how to match against Heredocs in PHP. The match pattern in the main context captures the heredoc identifier, and the corresponding pop pattern in the heredoc context refers to this captured text with the \1 symbol:

name: PHP
scope: source.php

contexts:
  main:
    - match: <<<([A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9_]*)
      push: heredoc

  heredoc:
    - meta_scope: string.unquoted.heredoc
    - match: ^\1;
        pop: true

Testing

When building a syntax definition, rather than manually checking scopes with the show_scope_name command, you can define a syntax test file that will do the checking for you:

// SYNTAX TEST "Packages/C/C.sublime-syntax"
#pragma once
// <- source.c meta.preprocessor.c++
 // <- keyword.control.import

// foo
// ^ source.c comment.line
// <- punctuation.definition.comment

/* foo */
// ^ source.c comment.block
// <- punctuation.definition.comment.begin
//     ^ punctuation.definition.comment.end

#include "stdio.h"
// <- meta.preprocessor.include.c++
//       ^ meta string punctuation.definition.string.begin
//               ^ meta string punctuation.definition.string.end
int square(int x)
// <- storage.type
//  ^ meta.function entity.name.function
//         ^ storage.type
{
    return x * x;
//  ^^^^^^ keyword.control
}

"Hello, World! // not a comment";
// ^ string.quoted.double
//                  ^ string.quoted.double - comment

To make one, follow these rules

1. Ensure the file name starts with syntax_test_.
2. Ensure the file is saved somewhere within the Packages directory: next to the corresponding .sublime-syntax file is a good choice.
3. Ensure the first line of the file starts with: <comment_token> SYNTAX TEST "<syntax_file>". Note that the syntax file can either be a .sublime-syntax or .tmLanguage file.

Once the above conditions are met, running the build command with a syntax test or syntax definition file selected will run all the Syntax Tests, and show the results in an output panel. Next Result (F4) can be used to navigate to the first failing test.

Each test in the syntax test file must first start the comment token (established on the first line, it doesn't actually have to be a comment according to the syntax), and then either a ^ or <- token.

The two types of tests are:

• Caret: ^ this will test the following selector against the scope on the most recent non-test line. It will test it at the same column the ^ is in. Consecutive ^s will test each column against the selector.
• Arrow: <- this will test the following selector against the scope on the most recent non-test line. It will test it at the same column as the comment character is in.

Compatibility

When the syntax highlighting engine of Sublime Text requires changes that will break existing syntaxes, these modifications or bug fixes are gated behind the version key.

Currently there exist two versions: 1 and 2. The absense of the version key indicates version 1.

Version 1

The following is a list of bugs and behavior preserved in version 1 that have been fixed or changed in version 2. This list is primarily useful when understanding what to look for when updating the version of syntax.

• embed_scope Stacks with scope of Other Syntax
  

  Description
  When embedding a the main context from another syntax, the embed_scope will be combined with the scope of the other syntax. In version 2 syntaxes, the scope of the other syntax will only be included if embed_scope is not specified.

  Syntax 1

  scope: source.lang
  contexts:
    paragraph:
      - match: \(
        scope: punctuation.section.group.begin
        embed: scope:source.other
        embed_scope: source.other.embedded
        escape: \)
        escape_captures:
          0: punctuation.section.group.end
  

  Syntax 2

  scope: source.other
  contexts:
    main:
      - match: '[a-zA-Z0-9_]+'
        scope: identifier
  

  Text

  'abc'

  Result
  The text abc will get the scope source.other.embedded source.other identifier in version 1 syntaxes. In version 2 syntaxes, it will get source.other.embedded identifier.

• Match Pattern with set and meta_content_scope
  

  Description
  When performing a set action on a match, the matched text will get the meta_content_scope of the context being popped, even though pop actions don’t, and a set is the equivalent of a pop then push.

  Syntax

  scope: source.lang
  contexts:
    function:
      - meta_content_scope: meta.function
      - match: '[a-zA-Z0-9_]+'
        scope: variable.function
      - match: \(
        scope: punctuation.section.group.begin
        set: function-params
  
    function-params:
      - meta_scope: meta.function.params
      - match: \)
        scope: punctuation.section.group.end
        pop: true
  

  Text

  abc()

  Result
  The text ( should get the scope meta.function.params punctuation.section.group.begin. Instead it gets the incorrect scope meta.function meta.function.params punctuation.section.group.begin.

• Match Pattern with set and Target with clear_scopes
  

  Description
  If a set action has a target with a clear_scopes value, scopes will not be cleared properly.

  Syntax

  scope: source.lang
  contexts:
    main:
      - match: \bdef\b
        scope: keyword
        push:
          - function
          - function-name
  
    function:
      - meta_scope: meta.function
  
    function-name:
      - match: '[a-zA-Z0-9_]+'
        scope: variable.function
      - match: \(
        scope: punctuation.section.group.begin
        set: function-params
  
    function-params:
      - meta_scope: meta.function.params
      - clear_scopes: 1
      - match: \)
        scope: punctuation.section.group.end
        pop: 2
  

  Text

  def abc()

  Result
  The text ( should get the scope meta.function.params punctuation.section.group.begin. Instead it gets the incorrect scope meta.function meta.function.params punctuation.section.group.begin.

• Embed Escape Match and Meta Scopes
  

  Description
  The text matched by the escape pattern of an embed action will not get the meta_scope or meta_content_scope of the context that contains it.

  Syntax

  scope: source.lang
  contexts:
    context1:
      - meta_scope: meta.group
      - meta_content_scope: meta.content
      - match: \'
        scope: punctuation.begin
        embed: embed
        escape: \'
        escape_captures:
          0: punctuation.end
  
    embed:
      - match: '[a-z]+'
        scope: word
  

  Text

  'abc'

  Result
  The second ' should get the scope meta.group meta.content punctuation.end. Instead it gets the incorrect scope punctuation.end.

• Multiple Target Push Actions with clear_scopes
  

  Description
  If multiple contexts are pushed at once, and more than one context specifies clear_scopes with a value greater than 1, the resulting scopes are incorrect.

  Syntax

  scope: source.lang
  contexts:
    main:
      - meta_content_scope: meta.main
      - match: '[a-zA-Z0-9]+\b'
        scope: identifier
        push:
          - context2
          - context3
  
    context2:
      - meta_scope: meta.ctx2
      - clear_scopes: 1
  
    context3:
      - meta_scope: meta.ctx3
      - clear_scopes: 1
      - match: \n
        pop: true
  

  Text

  abc 1

  Result
  The clear_scopes values of all target contexts are added up and applied before applying the meta_scope and meta_content_scope of any targets. Thus, the text abc will be scoped meta.ctx2 meta.ctx3 identifier, instead of the correct scope of source.lang meta.ctx3 identifier.

• Regex Capture Group Order
  

  Description
  If an lower-numbered capture group matches text that occurs after text matched by a higher-numbered capture group, the lower-numbered capture group will not have its capture scope applied.

  Syntax

  scope: source.lang
  contexts:
    main:
      - match: '(?:(x)|(y))+'
        captures:
          1: identifier.x
          2: identifier.y
  

  Text

  yx

  Result
  The text y is matched by capture group 2, and the text x is matched by capture group 1. x will not get scoped indentifier.x since it occurs after the match from capture group 2.