Code Flow
A VS Code Extension for Productivity Junkies
Code Flow is an extension that aims to improve a default set of keybindings with a keyboard-centric workflow. The shortcuts here were elaborated to provide a better editing experience with mnemonics and consistent conventions.
Shortcuts
The shortcuts here presented use some kind a mnemonic device to improve command usage and discovery.
Although the main goal is to provide a more productive shortcut scheme, the extension tries to stay as close as possible to the overall editing experience in VS Code, trying to not drastically change important editing commands... For instance, we avoid poluting commands in the global scope (Ctrl, Alt & Shift) and the rebinds that are done are thought out to improve on the standard shortcuts. For the most part we try to stay consistant with the current editing experience but expanding a little bit more on top of it.
Most of the new commands/ chords will be located in a specific scope like:
- K as in - Workbench navigation
- B as in - Buffer (text editor) and panels
- T as in - Text Transformations
- L as in - Line movement and editing
- G as in - Go somewhere in the file
Workbench Navigation
| Shortcut |
Command |
| Ctrl + K Ctrl + E |
Toggle Explorer |
| Ctrl + K Ctrl + F |
Toggle Find (Search) |
| Ctrl + K Ctrl + D |
Toggle Debugger |
| Ctrl + K Ctrl + G |
Toggle Git |
| Ctrl + K Ctrl + S |
Toggle Sidebar |
| Ctrl + K Ctrl + R |
Toggle Remote Explorer |
| Ctrl + K Ctrl + B |
Toggle Buffer (Text Editor) |
| Ctrl + K Ctrl + T |
Toggle Terminal |
| Ctrl + K Ctrl + M |
Toggle Minimap |
File Explorer Commands
| Shortcut |
Command |
| Ctrl + N |
New File |
| Ctrl + Shift + N |
New Folder |
Buffer Commands
| Shortcut |
Command |
| Ctrl + B Ctrl + W |
Close Buffer |
| Ctrl + B Ctrl + N |
Split (New) Buffer |
| Ctrl + B Ctrl + P |
Open Preview Buffer |
| Ctrl + B Ctrl + - |
Split Buffer Horizontaly |
| Ctrl + B Ctrl + = |
Split Buffer Orthogonaly |
| Ctrl + B Right |
Move To Right Buffer |
| Ctrl + B Left |
Move To Left Buffer |
| Ctrl + B Up |
Move To Top Buffer |
| Ctrl + B Down |
Move To Bottom Buffer |
| Ctrl + B Ctrl + Right |
Move Buffer Right |
| Ctrl + B Ctrl + Left |
Move Buffer Left |
| Ctrl + B Ctrl + Up |
Move Buffer Top |
| Ctrl + B Ctrl + Down |
Move Buffer Bottom |
| Ctrl + B Ctrl + A |
Show All Editors |
| Ctrl + B Ctrl + G |
Show Editors In Active Group |
| Ctrl + B Ctrl + R |
Reopen Last Closed |
Content Manipulation
| Shortcut |
Command |
| Ctrl + [ |
Indent |
| Ctrl + ] |
Deindent |
| Ctrl + Shift + [ |
Fold |
| Ctrl + Shift + ] |
Unfold |
| Alt + T U |
Transform To Uppercase |
| Alt + T L |
Transform To Lowercase |
| Alt + T T |
Transform To Titlecase |
| Alt + T S |
Transform To SnakeCase |
| Alt + Shift + D |
Delete Word |
Line Editing
| Shortcut |
Command |
| Ctrl + L E |
Move To End Of Line |
| Ctrl + L Shift + E |
Select To End Of Line |
| Ctrl + L S |
Move To Start Of Line |
| Ctrl + L Shift + S |
Select To Start Of Line |
| Ctrl + L L |
Select The Whole Line |
| Ctrl + L D |
Delete The Line |
| Ctrl + L Delete |
Delete everything To The Right |
| Ctrl + L Backspace |
Delete everything To The Left |
Movement
| Shortcut |
Command |
| Ctrl + Up |
Smart Travel Up |
| Ctrl + Down |
Smart Travel Down |
| Alt + Right |
Deslocate Word Right |
| Alt + Left |
Deslocate Word Left |
| Alt + Left |
Deslocate Word Left |
| Ctrl + G G |
Go To Line Number |
| Ctrl + G L |
Go To Last Editing Location |
| Ctrl + G B |
Go To Bracket |
| Ctrl + G Shift + B |
Select To Bracket |
| Ctrl + G S |
Go Start Of File |
| Ctrl + G E |
Go To End Of File |
| Ctrl + G Up |
Go Up To The Visible Screen Area |
| Ctrl + G Shift + Up |
Select Up To The Visible Screen Area |
| Ctrl + G Down |
Go Down To The Visible Screen Area |
| Ctrl + G Shift + Down |
Select Down To The Visible Screen Area |
Custom Features
Smart Travel
Navigate vertically in your code using Ctrl + Up and Ctrl + Down by skipping non-relevant lines (like punctuation or whitespace only). The criteria to decide if a line is considered relevant or not can be configured per language using the code-flow.languageMarks setting. If the extension does not found a compatible language configured, the default behaviour is to jump to lines where there are word characters: /^\w+/.
PS.: This is generally more flexible than using VS Code symbols because you don't need an external provider and you can configure your own rules.
Keyboard Layout
This extensions uses layout independent bingings.
If by any means you have problems with your keyboard layout, you can customize the shortucts in your user profile.
An example of OEM bingings for a ABNT2 keyboard
Only remap if the shortcuts are not properly recognized by your system
{
"key": "ctrl+shift+oem_6",
"command": "editor.fold"
},
{
"key": "ctrl+shift+oem_5",
"command": "editor.unfold"
},
{
"key": "ctrl+oem_6",
"command": "editor.action.indentLines"
},
{
"key": "ctrl+oem_5",
"command": "editor.action.outdentLines"
},
{
"key": "ctrl+b ctrl+oem_plus",
"command": "workbench.action.splitEditorOrthogonal"
},
{
"key": "ctrl+b ctrl+oem_minus",
"command": "workbench.action.splitEditorDown"
}
Extensions pairings
- Code Flea: To speed up even more your code navigation
Future Ideas
- Ctrl + T = Select Until Character (VIM-Like)
- Ctrl + G R = Go To Relative Line Number (VIM-Like)
- Ctrl + G F = Go To Line Fuzzy
- Alt + L = Delete Line
