Vim-Like
Your first Vim experince. Power of Vim + Ease of Vscode.
Goal of this extension is not 100% vim emulation but to bring in as many features of vim as possible, while maintaining and leveraging behaviour of vscode. Some vim behaviour is tweaked to be more sensible and beginner friendly.
Some Features
- Switch between VISUAL and INSERT mode while preserving the selection. This makes things so much easier if you are new to vim.
- Doesn't override standard vscode behaviour. ctrl+c, ctrl+v, ctrl+f etc works as expected.
- Standard multi-cursor support. All vscode methods to place multiple cursors like alt+d, alt+click works as expected with vim motions.
- Special MultiCursor mode to place cursors completely via keyboard.
- Registers supported.
- Surround plugin built in. Add replace and delete quotes/brackets around text without hassle. (XML tags support coming soon..)
Coming Soon
Learner Mode to help beginners learn vim motions as you work.. repeat operator- Surround support for more chars
Leader key
Modes
Vim-Like provides 4 main modes: NORMAL, INSERT, VISUAL, VISUAL-LINE.
INSERT mode is pretty much a vanilla vscode experience.
| From Mode |
To Mode |
Keys |
| Normal |
Insert |
i |
| Insert |
Normal |
jf (customizable) |
| Normal |
Visual |
v |
| Visual |
Normal |
v |
| Visual |
Insert |
I |
| Insert |
Visual |
jv (customizable) |
| Normal |
Visual Line |
V |
| Visual Line |
Normal |
vv |
Escape key also switches to Normal mode.
Operators
Operators are used with motion and text objects as ranges to operate on. op{ num }{ motion/text-object }
| Key |
Action |
y |
Yank (copy) Range |
m |
Move (cut) Range |
d |
Delete Range |
c |
Delete Range and enter Insert mode |
gu |
Transform Range to lowercase |
gU |
Transform Range to uppercase |
- Unlike Vim
d operator does not write to default register
m operator writes to default register. So in vim-like y and m behaves like standard copy and cut operations and d like standard delete.- Unlike Vim all
moved yanked text is moved to numbered (1-9) history registers.
- All
deleted text that is atleast a line long or more is also moved to (1-9) registers.
0 register always has the last yanked text.- If named registers are used then text is not written to any other registers.
Use p to paste last yanked/moved text or "{reg}p to paste from a register
Surround Operator
Add Replace and Delete quotes/brackets around text without hassle. (XML tags support coming soon..)
| Key |
Input 1 |
Input 2 |
Action |
cs |
wrapchar |
wrapchar |
Change surrounding input-1 with input-2 |
ds |
wrapchar |
|
Delete surrounding input-1 |
ys |
motion/textobject |
wrapchar |
Wrap range returned from input-1 by input-2 |
wrapchar = { } ( ) [ ] < > " ' `
MultiCursor Mode
Add multiple cursors completely via keyboard.
Press q to enter MultiCursor mode.
Use motions to navigate and place cursor markers
Press q to exit MultiCursor mode. All markrers will be converted to cursors.
| Key |
Action |
a |
Add cursor marker |
r |
Remove cursor marker |
t |
Toggle cursor marker |
c |
Clear all cursor markers |
Tab |
Go to next marked cursor |
Shift+Tab |
Go to prev marked cursor |
Registers
Registers are like internal clipboards for vim. Select a register "{reg} to be used by next operator or paste action.
| Register |
Description |
" |
Default Register. If no register is selected by user the default register is used. |
a-z |
Named Registers. eg. "x |
0 |
Yank Register. Stores the text from last yank. |
1-9 |
History registers. 1 being most recent and 9 the oldest |
* |
System Clipboard Register. To yank/move/paste to and from System Clipboard. |
Motions
Combine motions with number to repeat them. {num}motion
| Keys |
Description |
h |
Move left. |
j |
Move down. |
k |
Move up. |
l |
Move right. |
w |
Next word start (exclusive) |
W |
Next WORD start (exclusive) |
e |
Next word end |
E |
Next WORD end |
b |
Prev word start |
B |
Prev WORD start |
ge |
Prev word end |
gE |
Prev WORD end |
f{char} |
Jump to next occurrence of {char} |
F{char} |
Jump to previous occurrence of {char}. |
t{char} |
Jump to 1 char before next occurrence of {char}. |
T{char} |
Jump to 1 char before previous occurrence of {char}. |
; |
Repeat last f/F/t/T motion |
, |
Repeat last f/F/t/T motion in opposite direction |
/{word} |
Search {word} forward and jump (exclusive) |
?{word} |
Search {word} backward and jump (exclusive) |
n |
Repeat last word-search motion |
N |
Repeat last word-search motion in opposite direction |
gg |
First line of the document. |
G |
Last line of the document. |
} |
Down a paragraph. |
{ |
Up a paragraph. |
$ |
End of line. |
^ |
First non-white char of line. |
0 |
Beginning of line. |
H |
Top of screen. |
M |
Middle of screen. |
L |
Bottom of screen. |
'[ |
Go to start of last yanked range |
'] |
Go to end of last yanked range |
Other Actions
VSCode Actions
| Keys |
Description |
za |
Fold toggle |
zc |
Fold close |
zo |
Fold open |
z{num} |
Fold level {num} |
gd |
Goto Definition / Peek Reference |
t |
Toggle peek widget focus (when reference editor is visible) |
gh |
Show hover type/error information |
Space |
Scroll down (default by 5 lines) |
Shift+Space |
Scroll up (default by 5 lines) |
: |
Show command palette |
| Keys |
Description |
i |
Switches to insert mode and allows you to edit text right before the current cursor position |
I |
Switches to insert mode and places the cursor at the beginning of the line |
a |
Switches to insert mode and allows you to edit text right after the current cursor position |
A |
Switches to insert mode and places the cursor at the end of the line |
o |
Switches to insert mode adding a line below the current one |
O |
Switches to insert mode adding a line above the current one |
J |
Join lines |
p |
Paste yanked text after cursor |
P |
Paste yanked text before cursor |
u |
Undo |
U |
Redo |
dd |
Delete line under cursor |
D |
Delete to the end of the line |
cc |
Delete line under cursor and enter Insert mode |
C |
Delete to the end of the line and enter Insert mode |
yy |
Yank line under cursor |
Y |
Yank to the end of the line |
mm |
Move (cut) line under cursor |
gm |
Move (cut) to the end of line |
x |
Delete selection |
s |
Delete selection and enter Insert mode |
Settings
preventCursorPastBoundary
Like Vim, prevent cursor moving past last char on line.
"default": false
But this also causes wrapped lines to be skipped when moving up and down and cursor to move into folded code.
smartRelativeLineNumbers
User relative line numbers when in Normal, Visual or Visual Line mode.
"default": true
yankHighlightBackgroundColor
Background color for highlighted yanked text.
"default": "#28a5fc"
yankHighlightForegroundColor
Background color for highlighted yanked text.
"default": "#ffffff"
yankHighlightDuration
Duration for which yanked should be highlighted (in ms)
"default": 300
longStatusBarText
"default": true
Show more descriptive texts in status bar for current key pressed.
Set how many lines are srolled by spacebar.
"default": 5
switchInsertToNormalKeybinding
Keybinding to switch from Insert mode to NORMAL mode.
"default": [ "j" "f" ],
switchInsertToVisualKeybinding
Keybinding to switch from Insert mode to VISUAL mode.
"default": [ "j" "v" ],
saveFileOnSwitchToNormal
Save document when switching to NORMAL mode.
"default": false
