navz

Move around your code without reaching for the mouse.

navz gives VS Code three things: jump your cursor to any word you can see in two keystrokes, put the line you're reading exactly where you want it on screen, and move half a screen at a time without losing your place.

There are no modes to enter and nothing to learn beyond the handful of keybindings below.

Extension: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=vish-navz.navz

Jump to any word

Press Alt+Enter. Every word on screen gets a two-letter label. Type the first letter — labels that don't match dim immediately, so you can see your input landing. Type the second letter and your cursor is there.

Press Escape at any point to cancel.

Select to a word

Alt+Shift+Enter works the same way, but extends your selection from where you are to the word you pick instead of just moving the cursor. If you already have a selection, the anchor stays put and only the active end moves.

Put the current line where you want it

Sometimes you don't need to move the cursor — you just want the code you're reading somewhere more comfortable on screen. Alt+Z followed by one key moves the view and leaves your cursor exactly where it is:

• Alt+Z Z — current line to the center
• Alt+Z T — current line to the top
• Alt+Z B — current line to the bottom

Reading a function signature with the body below it? Alt+Z T. Want context on both sides? Alt+Z Z.

By default the cursor is anchored flush against the edge. VS Code sometimes shifts the view by a few lines the next time you move the cursor — to clear sticky scroll at the top, or a partially visible row at the bottom. If that bothers you, set navz.scrollMargin to leave a cushion:

"navz.scrollMargin": 4

The cursor then lands that many lines inside the edge and nothing shifts afterwards. editor.cursorSurroundingLines is respected either way — whichever of the two is larger wins.

Move half a screen

Alt+D and Alt+U move down and up by half a screen. Unlike the Alt+Z commands, these bring the cursor along, and it lands centered — so you always know where it is after a few of them.

Alt+Shift+D and Alt+Shift+U do the same while extending the selection.

Movement counts display rows, so half a screen means half of what you can actually see, whether or not word wrap is on.

Keybindings

On macOS the half-page motions are Ctrl+D, Ctrl+U, Ctrl+Shift+D and Ctrl+Shift+U instead — Option+U is a dead key for umlaut input there, so it never reaches the editor. They match vim's originals, and they only apply while the editor has focus, so Ctrl+U still clears the line in the terminal.

Every command is also in the Command Palette under navz:, and every binding can be remapped in keybindings.json.

The Alt+Z prefix shadows VS Code's Alt+Z (toggle word wrap), which stays available from the View menu and the Command Palette.

Coming from vim?

The keys were chosen to match what you already have in your fingers:

One deliberate difference: vim's Ctrl-D keeps the cursor at the same row within the window, while navz centers it. Centering means never hunting for the cursor after a couple of half-page moves.

navz isn't a vim emulator and doesn't try to be. Vim is a vast ocean, and this is one small slice of it — the few motions that are worth having on their own, without modes and without taking on the rest. If you're already happy in a vim emulator you don't need navz; jump mode conflicts with them anyway. It's for everyone else who'd still rather not reach for the mouse.

Companion plugin

scrollz provides the same viewport commands for the micro editor.

Known limitations

• Up to 676 words can be labeled at once (26×26 codes: aa–zz). On very large viewports this limit may be reached.
• Jump mode conflicts with extensions that also override the type command (e.g. some vim emulators). navz shows a warning and exits gracefully if this happens. The Alt+Z, Alt+D and Alt+U commands are unaffected.

Release notes

See CHANGELOG.md. Version 1.0.0 moves the viewport commands off Ctrl+I, which collided with inline chat, onto the Alt+Z prefix.

License

MIT