VSmacs
Emacs-style key bindings for Visual Studio Code. No kill ring, no extra chrome. The goal is to keep over-engineering to a minimum.
Requirements
- Visual Studio Code or VSCodium 1.116 or newer — same as
engines.vscode in package.json (^1.116.0). VSCodium’s stable release usually tracks a recent VS Code minor; this floor matches current Codium while still allowing newer VS Code builds.
Features
Basic move
| Keys |
Action |
ctrl+a |
Move to beginning of the line |
ctrl+e |
Move to end of the line |
ctrl+f |
Move forward |
alt+f |
Move forward one word |
ctrl+b |
Move backward |
alt+b |
Move backward one word |
ctrl+n |
Move down (next line) |
ctrl+p |
Move up (previous line) |
ctrl+x shift+, |
Move to top of buffer |
ctrl+x shift+. |
Move to bottom of buffer |
alt+shift+, |
Move to top of buffer |
alt+shift+. |
Move to bottom of buffer |
ctrl+l |
Move cursor to center of viewport |
| Keys |
Action |
alt+v |
Page up |
ctrl+alt+v |
Page down (on macOS, ctrl+v) |
Jump and problems
| Keys |
Action |
alt+g g |
Go to line |
alt+g n |
Next problem in files |
alt+g p |
Previous problem in files |
Search
| Keys |
Action |
ctrl+s |
Open search, next match |
ctrl+r |
Open search, previous match |
| Keys |
Action |
ctrl+g |
Cancel, close |
Screen and editor
| Keys |
Action |
ctrl+x ctrl+c |
Close active editor |
ctrl+x 0 |
Close active editor |
ctrl+x 1 |
Maximize editor group |
ctrl+x 2 |
Split editor horizontally |
ctrl+x 3 |
Split editor vertically |
ctrl+x o |
Focus next editor group |
ctrl+x left |
Previous editor in group |
ctrl+x right |
Next editor in group |
File
| Keys |
Action |
ctrl+x ctrl+s |
Save |
ctrl+x s |
Save all |
ctrl+x ctrl+w |
Save as |
ctrl+x ctrl+f |
Quick open |
ctrl+x ctrl+b |
Open recently used editor |
ctrl+x b |
Show all editors |
Editing
| Keys |
Action |
ctrl+/, ctrl+x u, ctrl+_ |
Undo |
ctrl+. |
Redo |
ctrl+', ctrl+x space |
Trigger suggest (autocomplete) |
ctrl+;, ctrl+x . |
Quick fix |
ctrl+space |
Toggle mark mode |
alt+w |
Copy to clipboard |
ctrl+w |
Cut to clipboard |
ctrl+y |
Paste from clipboard |
ctrl+k |
Kill line (cut) |
ctrl+j, ctrl+m, ctrl+o |
Insert line after |
ctrl+d |
Delete after |
alt+d |
Delete word after |
ctrl+x h |
Select all |
alt+/, ctrl+x / |
Toggle line comment |
Other
| Keys |
Action |
alt+x |
Command palette |
Development
This repo uses Bun for installs and scripts (packageManager in package.json). For local Node/Bun versions, mise reads .tool-versions.
| Command |
Description |
bun install |
Install dependencies (including the TypeScript compiler). |
bun run compile |
Emit JavaScript to out/ (used by the published extension). |
bun run watch |
Same as compile in watch mode (default VS Code build task). |
bun run generate |
Compile, then merge commands/command-*.json (including command-scroll.json) into package.json contributes.keybindings. Run this after editing those JSON files. |
bun run lint |
Biome check (lint + format check). |
bun run format |
Biome check with --write (format and safe fixes). |
Linting and formatting are handled by Biome only (no ESLint or Prettier). The workspace recommends the Biome VS Code extension.
To try the extension in a VS Code window: open this folder, run Run Extension from the Run and Debug view (see .vscode/launch.json).
Publishing (maintainers)
The Publish extension workflow (Actions) runs bun run generate, then publishes to the Visual Studio Marketplace with @vscode/vsce. Trigger it manually from the Actions tab, or push a v* version tag. Add a repository secret VSCE_PAT with a Marketplace personal access token (scope: Marketplace → Manage). Bump "version" in package.json before publishing a new release; see CHANGELOG.md for release notes.
The Build VSIX workflow runs the same generate step, runs vsce package, and uploads the resulting .vsix as a workflow artifact. It runs on pushes and pull requests to main or master, and can be started manually from the Actions tab; open a completed run and download the vsmacs-vsix artifact. Install locally with Extensions: Install from VSIX… in VS Code.
License
MIT. See package.json for links, repository, and publisher metadata.
