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Key Bindings

Onivim's keyboard configuration is designed to be mostly compatible with VSCode's Key Bindings.

Editing the keybindings

• Press Command+Shift+P (Mac) or Control+Shift+P (Windows, Linux) to bring up the command palette
• Select Preferences: Open keybindings File

Keybinding Format

Keybindings are defined as a JSON array, like:

[
  { "key": "<C-P>", "command": "workbench.action.quickOpen", "when": "editorTextFocus" }
]

Each rule consists of:

• A key that describes the pressed keys

NOTE: Today, our key format is expressed as a Vim-style key-binding. Our plan, though, is to support both Vim-style (<C-K>) and VSCode-style key specifies (ctrl+k)

• A command containing the identifier of the command to execute
• An optional when clause containing a boolean expression that will be evaluated depending on the current editor state.

When a key is pressed:

• The rules are evaluated from bottom to top
• The first rule that matches, both the key and in terms of when is accepted
• If a rule is found and has a command set, the command is executed.
• If no matching rules are found, we pass the input key through to libvim to be handled by Vim.

There are a set of default rules provided by Onivim, but the customized rules are appended to the bottom - thus, user key bindings are executed first.

key format

The key parameter supports both Vim style and VSCode style key bindings.

Vim style

Vim-style keybindings are surrounded by < and >, and allow the following modifiers:

Modifier	Description	Example
C-	Control key	<C-P>
S-	Shift key	<S-P>
A-	Alt key	<A-P>
D-	Command key	<D-P>

Note: A difference between Vim and Onivim is that D- also handles the 'Meta' and 'Win' keys on Linux and Windows, respectively

Modifiers may be combined, for example:

[
  { "key": "<C-S-P>", "command": "workbench.action.quickOpen", "when": "editorTextFocus" }
]

The <C-S-P> key binding would require the Control, Shift, and P keys to be pressed.

VSCode style

VSCode-style keybindings feature friendly names, like:

Modifier	Description	Example
Ctrl+	Control key	Ctrl+P
Shift+	Shift key	Shift+P
Alt+	Alt key	Alt+J
Meta+	Meta/Command/Windows key
Cmd+	Same as above	Cmd+P
Win+	Same as above	Win+P

Key Sequences

Onivim supports binding to key sequences, which require multiple key-presses in succession to engage.

Example:

  { "key": "jk", "command": "vim.esc", "when": "insertMode" }

This would require a key-press of 'j', followed by 'k'.

command arguments

when clause contexts

Onivim 2 gives you control over when key bindings are enabled through the when clause.

Conditional operators

For conditional expressions, you can use the following conditional operators:

Operator	Symbol	Example
Or	||	listFocus || textInputFocus
And	&&	insertMode && suggestWidgetVisible

Expressions may be grouped with (), for example:

(editorTextFocus && !insertMode) || suggestWidgetVisible

Contexts

Common contexts with VSCode:

Context Name	True When
editorTextFocus	An editor has focus
inSnippetMode	A snippet session is currently active
textInputFocus	A text input area has focus
terminalFocus	A terminal has focus
suggestWidgetVisible	The suggest widget (auto-completion) is visible

Onivim-specific contexts:

Context Name	True When
insertMode	The active editor is in insert mode
normalMode	The active editor is in normal mode
visualMode	The active editor is in visual mode
sneakMode	Sneak mode is active
commandLineFocus	The Vim commandline is open
listFocus	A list of items (like a pop-up menu) is focused
vimListNavigation	Inside a Vim-navigable list
vimTreeNavigation	Inside the file explorer

Commands

Default Key Binding	Description	Command
Command+Shift+P / Control+Shift+P	Show Command Palette	workbench.action.showCommands
Command+Shift+M / Control+Shift+M	Show Problems Pane	workbench.actions.view.problems
Command+P / Control+P	Quick Open (File Picker)	workbench.action.quickOpen
Control+Tab	Navigate to next editor in group	workbench.action.quickOpenNavigateNextInEditorPicker
Shift+Control+Tab	Navigate to previous editor in group	workbench.action.quickOpenNavigatePreviousInEditorPicker
Command+= / Control+=	Zoom In	workbench.action.zoomIn
Command+- / Control+-	Zoom Out	workbench.action.zoomOut
Command+0 / Control+0	Zoom Reset	workbench.action.zoomReset

Basic Editing

Default Key Binding	Description	Command
Control+V / Command+V	Paste from clipboard	editor.action.clipboardPasteAction
Control+S / Command+S	Save file	workbench.action.files.save

List / Menu commands

Default Key Binding	Description	Command
Up Arrow / Control+P	Move focus up	list.focusUp
Down Arrow / Control+N	Move focus down	list.focusDown

Sidebar

Default Key Binding	Description	Command
Command+Shift+E / Control+Shift+E	Focus Explorer	workbench.view.explorer
Command+Shift+F / Control+Shift+F	Focus Search	workbench.action.findInFiles
Command+Shift+X / Control+Shift+X	Focus Extensions	workbench.view.extensions
Control+Shift+G	Focus Source Control	workbench.view.scm
Control+W, Control+J	Navigate down a section	vim.window.moveDown
Control+W, Control+K	Navigate up a section	vim.window.moveUp

Snippets

Default Key Binding	Description	Command
n/a	Insert a Snippet	editor.action.insertSnippet
n/a	Configure user snippets	workbench.action.openSnippets

Window Management

Default Key Binding	Description	Command
Control+W, Control+V	Vertical Split	view.splitVertical
Control+W, Control+S	Horizontal Split	view.splitHorizontal
Control+W, Control+H	Move to left split	window.moveLeft
Control+W, Control+L	Move to right split	window.moveRight
Control+W, Control+J	Move down a split	window.moveDown
Control+W, Control+K	Move up a split	window.moveUp
Control+W, Control+R	Rotate forwards	view.rotateForward
Control+W, Control+Shift+R	Rotate backwards	view.rotateBackward
	Decrease editor size	workbench.action.decreaseViewSize
	Increase editor size	workbench.action.increaseViewSize
Control+W, <	Decrease editor size horizontally	vim.decreaseHorizontalWindowSize
Control+W, >	Increase editor size horizontally	vim.increaseHorizontalWindowSize
Control+W, -	Decrease editor size vertically	vim.decreaseVerticalWindowSize
Control+W, +	Increase editor size vertically	vim.increaseVerticalWindowSize
	Decrease editor size up	vim.decreaseWindowSizeUp
	Increase editor size up	vim.increaseWindowSizeUo
	Decrease editor size down	vim.decreaseWindowSizeDown
	Increase editor size down	vim.increaseWindowSizeDown
	Decrease editor size left	vim.decreaseWindowSizeLeft
	Increase editor size left	vim.increaseWindowSizeLeft
	Decrease editor size right	vim.decreaseWindowSizeRight
	Increase editor size right	vim.increaseWindowSizeRight
Control+W, O	Maximize editor	workbench.action.maximizeEditor
~~Control+W, \	~~	Maximize editor horizontally	vim.maximizeWindowWidth
Control+W, _	Maximize editor vertically	vim.maximizeWindowHeight
	Toggle editor group sizes	workbench.action.toggleEditorWidths
Control+W, =	Reset editor sizes	workbench.action.evenEditorWidths

Vim commands

Default Key Binding	Description	Command
Escape	Used to send <ESC> to Vim	vim.esc

Additional Commands

Default Key Binding	Description	Command
n/a	Enable KeyDisplayer	keyDisplayer.enable
n/a	Disable KeyDisplayer	keyDisplayer.disable

Ex Commands

Commands that start with a : (colon) will be interpreted as vim ex commands. These can also carry arguments.

Examples:

  {"key": "kk", "command": ":split", "when": "editorTextFocus"},
  {"key": "<C-D>", "command": ":d 2", "when": "insertMode"}

Leader Key

A leader key can be specified via the following configuration setting:

{ "vim.leader": "<space>" }

NOTE: This setting is in configuration.json, not keybindings.json

Alternatively, the leader key can be specified via an Ex command:

:nmap <space> <Leader>

Once the leader key is defined, it may be used in both keybindings.json and via VimL map commands:

[
  { "key": "<Leader>p", "command": "workbench.action.quickOpen", "when": "editorTextFocus && normalMode" }
]

or, alternatively, in VimL:

:nnoremap <Leader>p <C-S-P>