Build Your Own Vim Emulation for VS Code

Vim has probably survived among modern IDEs because of its relatively unique philosophy. It supports modal editing, where the effect of each key press depends on the mode you're in. In insert mode, typing keys works the way it would in any editor: it inserts the keys you press. In normal mode, the sequences of keys you press invoke various commands, with commonly used commands usally requiring just one or two keystrokes.

This might sound daunting to learn, and granted, the learning curve is steep. But after you are fully accustomed to this way of editing, there's no turning back. You can move to, select and change documents so precisely and quickly that going without modal editing will feel painfully slow and cumbersome. The proof of this is that nearly all popular text editors have some kind of add-in that provides Vim emulation. VS Code has several of them.

One key advantage of modal keybindings is realized when you understand its noun-verb structure: many bindings define objects (regions of text you want to do something to, a.k.a. nouns) and others define operators (things you want to actually do to the objects, a.k.a. verbs). Muscle memory makes these combinations fast, and suddenly there is a large generative space of possible commands that you emit at the speed-of-thought.

In particular the value added for ModalKeys's approach is that it utilizes VS Code's existing features and just adds the concept of modal editing to the mix. This choice has two major benefits: (1) the commands can integrate seamlessly with the ecosystem of packages already present in VSCode, providng more long-term capabilities than emulating vim alone could provide and (2) the commands can be customized in precisely the way that works best for you.

In ModalKeys, you define a configuration file as a javascript file, and you then import it using the ModalKeys: Import preset keybindings command.

We don't have to use Vim's standard key bindings, if we prefer not to. You can map any key (sequence) to any command. However, you probably want to keep most of the basic commands the same, because you can then share muscle memory between basic vim usage and your own keybindings. Here, to keep things familiar, we'll follow most of Vim's conventions.

To start, our preset file will export a single object, containing the property keybindings.

module.exports = {
    "keybindings": {

Switching Between Modes

First things first: we need to be able to enter the normal mode somehow. The Esc key is mapped to the modalkeys.enterNormal command by default, so we dont't need to do anything for that. If you like, you can map other keys to this command using VS Code's standard keymappings pressing Ctrl/Cmd+K Ctrl/Cmd+S.

Insert Text

There are multiple ways to enter insert mode. If you want to insert text in the current cursor position, you press i.

        "i": "modalkeys.enterInsert",

To insert text at the beginning of line, you press I. For this operation, we need a command sequence, i.e. an array of commands.

        "I": [
            "cursorHome",
            "modalkeys.enterInsert"
        ],

Append Text

Appending text works analogously; a appends text after current character and A at the end of the line. There is a special case, though. If cursor is already at the last character of the line, it should not move. This is why we use a conditional command to move the cursor only, if the current character is not an empty string which marks the end of the line.

        "a": [
            { "if": "__char == ''", "then": "cursorRight" },
            "modalkeys.enterInsert"
        ],
        "A": [ "cursorEnd", "modalkeys.enterInsert" ],

Open a New Line

The third way to enter insert mode is to open a line. This means creating an empty line, and putting the cursor on it. There are two variants of this command as well: o opens a new line below the current line whereas O opens it on the current line.

        "o": [ "editor.action.insertLineAfter", "modalkeys.enterInsert" ],
        "O": [ "editor.action.insertLineBefore", "modalkeys.enterInsert" ],

Now we can test the commands we just created.

Cursor Movement

The next task in hand is to add commands for moving the cursor. As all Vim users know, instead of arrow keys, we move the cursor with h, j, k, and l keys. Before implementing these, let's talk a bit about text selection.

Selecting Text

In Vim, there is a separate "visual" mode that you activate when you want to select text. Visual mode can be characterwise or linewise.

Visual mode is on whenever an additional flag is set (by issuing a setMode command) and whenever you select text in the usual way from VSCode (e.g. via modalkeys.toggleSelection).

The end result is that selection mode works almost like visual mode in Vim, the main difference being that selections are not automatically turned off when you enter insert mode.

So, let's add a binding to toggle selections on or off. We use the familiar v key for this.

        "v": "modalkeys.toggleSelection",

Now we can add commands for cursor movement. These commands use the generic cursorMove command which takes arguments. The __mode == "visual" ensures that the commands only select text if we're in visual mode.

        "h": { "cursorMove": { to: 'left', select: '__mode == "visual"' } },
        "j": { "cursorMove": { to: 'down', select: '__mode == "visual"' } },
        "k": { "cursorMove": { to: 'up', select: '__mode == "visual"' } },
        "l": { "cursorMove": { to: 'right', select: '__mode == "visual"' } },

If we want to be more succinct in how we write these commands, we can also do the following.

    "::using::cursorMove": {
        "h": { to: 'left', select: '__mode == "visual"' },
        "j": { to: 'down', select: '__mode == "visual"' },
        "k": { to: 'up', select: '__mode == "visual"' },
        "l": { to: 'right', select: '__mode == "visual"' },
    },

ModalKeys knows to re-write this, such that the two forms are equivalent.

We can also simulate linewise visual mode using VS Code's expandLineSelection command. Note that we don't need to call modalkeys.toggleSelection this time as selection mode is turned on automatically.

    "V": "expandLineSelection",

Moving Inside Screen

To move cursor quickly to the top, middle, or bottom of the screen we use keys H, M, and L. Again, we need to use the cursorMove command.

    "::using::cursorMove": {
        "H": { to: 'viewPortTop', select: '__mode == "visual"' },
        "M": { to: 'viewPortCenter', select: '__mode == "visual"' },
        "L": { to: 'viewPortBottom', select: '__mode == "visual"' },
    },

Jumping to Previous/Next Word

Other commonly used navigation commands in Vim include w and b which move the cursor to the start of the next and previous word. For these we need to use conditional commands because cursorMove falls short in this use case.

        "w": {
            "if": "__mode == 'visual'",
            "then": "cursorWordStartRightSelect",
            "else": "cursorWordStartRight"
        },
        "b": {
            "if": "__mode == 'visual'",
            "then": "cursorWordStartLeftSelect",
            "else": "cursorWordStartLeft"
        },

e jumps to the end of the next word.

        "e": {
            "if": "__mode == 'visual'",
            "then": "cursorWordEndRightSelect",
            "else": "cursorWordEndRight"
        },

Note: We omit variants of these commands W, B, and E which skip the punctuation characters. There are no built-in commands in VS Code that work exactly like those in Vim. There are some extensions you can make use of to implement these commands (e.g. Selection Utilities). That's beyond the scope of this tutorial.

Jumping to Start/End of Line

In the similar vein, we'll throw in commands for jumping to the beginning 0, to the first non-blank character ^, and to the end of line $.

    "::using::cursorMove": {
        "0": { to: 'wrappedLineStart', select: '__mode == "visual"' },
        "^": { to: 'wrappedLineFirstNonWhitespaceCharacter', select: '__mode == "visual"' },
        "$": { to: 'wrappedLineEnd', select: '__mode == "visual"' },
    },

A lesser known variant of above commands is g_ that jumps to the last non-blank character of the line.

    "g_": { "cursorMove":
        { to: 'wrappedLineLastNonWhitespaceCharacter', select: '__mode == "visual"' }
    },

Jumping to Start/End of Document

Another motion command is gg which jumps to the beginning of the file.

            "g": {
                "if": "__mode == 'visual'",
                "then": "cursorTopSelect",
                "else": "cursorTop"
            },
        },

The opposite of that is G wich jumps to the end of file.

        "G": {
            "if": "__mode == 'visual'",
            "then": "cursorBottomSelect",
            "else": "cursorBottom"
        },

Jump to Character

We have the basic movement commands covered, so let's move on to more sophisticated ones. Seasoned Vim users avoid hitting movement commands repeatedly by using f and F keys which move directly to a given character. VS Code provides no built-in command for this, but ModalKeys includes an incremental search command which can be customized to this purpose.

        "f": {
            "if": "__mode == 'visual'",
            "then": {
                "modalkeys.search": {
                    "caseSensitive": true,
                    "acceptAfter": 1,
                    "selectTillMatch": true,
                }
            },
            "else": {
                "modalkeys.search": {
                    "caseSensitive": true,
                    "acceptAfter": 1,
                    "offset": "exclusive",
                }
            },
        },

The command is a bit involved, so let's explain what each argument does.

Now we can implement the opposite F command which searches for the previous character. The backwards parameter switches the search direction.

        "F": {
            "if": "__mode == 'visual'",
            "then": {
                "modalkeys.search": {
                    "caseSensitive": true,
                    "acceptAfter": 1,
                    "selectTillMatch": true,
                    "backwards": true,
                }
            },
            "else": {
                "modalkeys.search": {
                    "caseSensitive": true,
                    "acceptAfter": 1,
                    "offset": "exclusive",
                    "backwards": true
                }
            },
        },

With ; and , keys you can repeat the previous f or F commands either forwards or backwards.

        ";": "modalkeys.nextMatch",
        ",": "modalkeys.previousMatch",

We omitted a few useful jump commands, like t, T, {, and }. The t and T commands could be implemented using the "exclusive" offset. The paragraph operators, require an extension, like selection-utilities to implement.

Center Cursor on Screen

The last movement command we add is zz that scrolls the screen so that cursor is at the center. Again, the ability to use JS expression in arguments comes in handy: WE use the __line parameter to get the line where the cursor is.

        "zz": { "revealLine": { lineNumber: '__line', at: 'center' } }

Let's test some of the movement commands. We should be able to navigate now without using arrow keys or Home and End keys.

We skipped commands that move cursor up and down one page at the time. The reason for this is that these commands are bound to Ctrl/Cmd+b and Ctrl/Cmd+f in Vim. Since these are "normal" VS Code shortcuts we cannot remap them in ModalKeys. If you want to use these shortcuts, you need to add the bindings to the VS Code's keybindings.json file. Below is an example that uses the modalkeys.normal context to make the shortcuts work only in normal mode. Most of the Vim's standard Ctrl/Cmd+key combinations are already in use, so you need to decide whether you want to remap the existing commands first.

/* keybindings.json should contain the following:
{
    {
        "key": "ctrl+b",
        "command": "cursorPageUp",
        "when": "editorTextFocus && modalkeys.mode == normal"
    },
    {
        "key": "ctrl+f",
        "command": "cursorPageDown",
        "when": "editorTextFocus && modalkeys.mode == normal"
    }
}
*/

Commands with Counts

In Vim, you can repeat commands by typing a number first. For example, 3j moves the cursor down three lines. When you type numbers as part of a key sequence, ModalKeys stores these as a number, which you can access using the __count variable.

To make use of counts, we need to update some of the commands above. Below are shown the updated cursor movements that use the __count variable.

    "::using::cursorMove": {
        "h": { to: 'left', select: '__mode == "visual"', value: '__count' },
        "j": { to: 'down', select: '__mode == "visual"', value: '__count' },
        "k": { to: 'up', select: '__mode == "visual"', value: '__count' },
        "l": { to: 'right', select: '__mode == "visual"', value: '__count' },
    },
    "w": {
        "if": "__mode == 'visual'",
        "then": { "cursorWordStartRightSelect": {}, repeat: '__count' },
        "else": { "cursorWordStartRight": {}, repeat: '__count' },
    },
    "b": {
        "if": "__mode == 'visual'",
        "then": { "cursorWordStartLeftSelect": {}, repeat: '__count' },
        "else": { "cursorWordStartLeft": {}, repeat: '__count' },
    },
    "e": {
        "if": "__mode == 'visual'",
        "then": { "cursorWordEndRightSelect": {}, repeat: '__count' },
        "else": { "cursorWordEndRight": {}, repeat: '__count' },
    },

Many commands, like those shown above, can internally repeat (e.g. value for cursorMove), and this is generally better, as it executes faster. If a command does not take a parameter like this however, you can make use of the repeat parameter, shown above for the word motions. This will simply call the command multiple times.

Jumping to a Line

Another command that has a number prefix is xG where x is the line number you want to jump to. Let's add that as well in the same keymap. While the mapping is trivial the command itself is a bit involved, because we need to use two commands to do the jumping. First we move the target line to the top of the screen, and then we move the cursor to the same line. Unfortunately the built-in command workbench.action.gotoLine does not take any arguments, so we have to reinvent the wheel.

    "G": [
        { "revealLine": { lineNumber: '__count', at: 'top' } },
        { "cursorMove": { "to": "viewPortTop" } }
    ],

Editing

Now we'll implement Vim's common editing commands. We only add the ones that have counterparts in VS Code.

Joining Lines

J joins current and next line together.

        "J": "editor.action.joinLines",

Changing Text

Change commands delete some text and then enter insert mode. cc changes the current line (or all selected lines), c$ changes the text from the cursor to the end of line, and cw changes the end of the word. Three key sequnce ciw changes the whole word under the cursor.

    "cc": [
        "deleteAllLeft",
        "deleteAllRight",
        "modalkeys.enterInsert"
    ],
    "c$": [
        "deleteAllRight",
        "modalkeys.enterInsert"
    ],
    "cw": [
        "deleteWordEndRight",
        "modalkeys.enterInsert"
    ],

Change Until/Around/Inside

Very useful variants of change commands are those which allow changing text up to a given character or between given characters. For example, ct_ changes the text until next underscore, and ci" changes the text inside quotation marks. The cursor can be anywhere inside the quotation marks and the command still works.

First, we use the executeAfter option of the search command to implement changing all characters up until the given letter.

    "ct": {
        "modalkeys.search": {
            caseSensitive: true,
            acceptAfter: 1,
            backwards: false,
            selectTillMatch: true,
            offset: 'exclusive',
            wrapAround: false,
            executeAfter: [
                "deleteLeft",
                "modalkeys.enterInsert"
            ]
        }
    },
    "cf": {
        "modalkeys.search": {
            caseSensitive: true,
            acceptAfter: 1,
            backwards: false,
            selectTillMatch: true,
            offset: 'inclusive',
            wrapAround: false,
            executeAfter: [
                "deleteLeft",
                "modalkeys.enterInsert"
            ]
        }
    },

Next, we add commands to change the text inside or around various brackets, using an extension which implements this behavior.

    "ci(": [ "modalkeys.cancelMultipleSelections", "extension.selectParenthesis", "deleteLeft", "modalkeys.enterInsert" ],
    "ca(": [ "modalkeys.cancelMultipleSelections", "extension.selectParenthesis", "extension.selectParenthesis", "deleteLeft", "modalkeys.enterInsert" ],
    "ci[": [ "modalkeys.cancelMultipleSelections", "extension.selectSquareBrackets", "deleteLeft", "modalkeys.enterInsert" ],
    "ca[": [ "modalkeys.cancelMultipleSelections", "extension.selectSquareBrackets", "extension.selectSquareBrackets", "deleteLeft", "modalkeys.enterInsert" ],
    "ci{": [ "modalkeys.cancelMultipleSelections", "extension.selectCurlyBrackets", "deleteLeft", "modalkeys.enterInsert" ],
    "ca{": [ "modalkeys.cancelMultipleSelections", "extension.selectCurlyBrackets", "extension.selectCurlyBrackets", "deleteLeft", "modalkeys.enterInsert" ],

For each of these commands we first clear the selection, while leaving multiple cursors intact, to ensure the subsequent commands behave properly. Then we use the extension to select the appropriate region of text, delete it, and enter insert mode.

It is also useful to be able to change the current word the cursor is on. You can do this by typing ciw.

        "ciw": [
            "modalkeys.cancelMultipleSelections",
            "editor.action.smartSelect.expand",
            "deleteLeft",
            "modalkeys.enterInsert"
        ],

We could also implement delete commands diw, dt-, etc. in the similar fashion. But for the sake of keeping the tutorial short, we'll leave those as an exercise.

A shorthand for c$ command is C.

        "C": [
            "deleteAllRight",
            "modalkeys.enterInsert"
        ],

Undo & Redo

You can undo the last change with u. We also clear the selection to copy Vim's operation.

        "u": [
            "undo",
            "modalkeys.cancelSelection"
        ],

Since redo is mapped to Ctrl/Cmd+r by default, we leave this binding as an exercise to the reader.

Visual (Selection) Commands

Visual commands operate on the selected text. < and > shift selected text left or right (indent/outdent).

        "<": "editor.action.outdentLines",
        ">": "editor.action.indentLines",

Clipboard Commands

y yanks, i.e. copies, selected text to clipboard. Following Vim convention, we also clear the selection.

        "y": [
            "editor.action.clipboardCopyAction",
            "modalkeys.cancelSelection"
        ],

d deletes (cuts) the selected text and puts it to clipboard. Capital D deletes the rest of the line. x deletes just the character under the cursor.

        "d": "editor.action.clipboardCutAction",
        "D": [
            "cursorEndSelect",
            "editor.action.clipboardCutAction"
        ],
        "x": [
            "cursorRightSelect",
            "editor.action.clipboardCutAction"
        ],

Note: If there is no text selected, y and d commands perform exactly the same actions as yy and dd in Vim. That is, they yank or delete the current line. Again, one of the subtle differences that is futile to try to unify.

For pasting (or putting in Vim parlance) the text in clipboard you have two commands: p puts the text after the cursor, and P puts it before.

        "p": [
            "cursorRight",
            "editor.action.clipboardPasteAction"
        ],
        "P": "editor.action.clipboardPasteAction",

Switching Case

Switching selected text to upper or lower case is done with a nifty trick. We can examine the selection in a conditional command that calls different VS Code commands based on the expression. The command is bound to the tilde ~ character.

    "~": {
        "if": "__selectionstr == __selection.toUpperCase()",
        "then": "editor.action.transformToLowercase",
        "else": "editor.action.transformToUppercase"
    },

Searching

The last category of commands we implement is searching. We use the incremental search command provided by ModalKeys for this. As in Vim, typing / starts an incremental search. ? starts a search backwards.

    "/": {
        "command": "modalkeys.search",
        "args": {
            "caseSensitive": true
        }
    },
    "?": {
        "command": "modalkeys.search",
        "args": {
            "caseSensitive": true,
            "backwards": true
        }
    },

Jumping to next previous match is done with keys n and N.

    "n": "modalkeys.nextMatch",
    "N": "modalkeys.previousMatch"
}

There are some subtle differences in the search functionality as well. Instead of just highlighting matches ModalKeys selects them. This is preferable anyway, as replacing needs to be done manually with selection commands. Use VS Code's built-in find command, if you need regex support.

Conclusion

We have built far from complete but nevertheless usable Vim emulation which you can tweak in various ways to make it better. The point of this exercise was to show that you can significantly enhance VS Code's editing experience using just a simple extension and built-in commands.

The goal of ModalKeys is not to emulate Vim. My own bindings, for day-to-day use, do not match Vim's. I'd recommend you start with the preset vim bindings, and then adapt them to your own purposes.

You don't need to learn all the magical Vim facilities to make efficient use of ModalKeys. Just keep an eye on what operations you repeat, and think how you could make them more efficient. Then add commands that will speed up those operations. Try to make the new commands as general as possible, and as easy as possible to use. Your text editor should adapt to your way of working, not the other way around.

Happy Editing! 🚀

View on GitHub