Vim Mode

Tydora ships an optional Vim mode (LazyVim style). It provides the full normal / insert / visual triad in both source mode and live preview, along with a Leader menu (which-key) and tmux-style pane navigation.

Note

Vim mode is off by default and affects nothing while disabled. Enable it from the "Vim Mode" tab in Settings.

Enabling and Configuring

Open Settings (Ctrl+,) → "Vim Mode" tab:

Setting Default Description
Enable Vim mode Off The master switch
Leader key Space Pressing it in normal mode opens the Leader menu; shared by source mode and live preview
Menu auto-close timeout 3000 ms How long the Leader menu waits before closing when idle
Conflicting shortcut handover See below Decide item by item whether a conflicting key goes to Vim or stays with the app

Configuration is stored under its own localStorage keys, independent of the shortcut settings.

The Three Modes

  • normal: movement, deletion, copying, jumping — the command mode
  • insert: ordinary typing
  • visual: selection operations

Both source mode and live preview support all three. In live preview, Vim commands run through a TipTap adapter layer, and text-editing commands (dw, ciw, yy, …) behave the same as native Vim.

The Leader Menu

In normal mode, press the Leader key (Space by default) to open a which-key style menu, then press the corresponding key:

Key Action
e Toggle the file tree (sidebar)
Space / o Open a file (Quick Open)
s Global search
m Toggle editing mode
\ Split horizontally
- Split vertically
x Close the pane
h j k l Focus left / down / up / right
H J K L Move the current pane to far left / bottom / top / right
/ or p Command Palette

Prefix Key Hints

Pressing a prefix key such as g, z, m, or t also brings up a which-key hint listing the native Vim subcommands under that prefix (gg, gU, zz, zt, …). The hints are purely visual guidance — the keys themselves are still executed natively by the Vim extension.

Pane Navigation

In normal mode, use Ctrl+h / Ctrl+j / Ctrl+k / Ctrl+l to move focus between panes, matching the tmux habit.

File Tree Navigation (neo-tree style)

When focus is on the sidebar file tree, Vim mode provides a dedicated set of file tree keys:

Key Action
j / k Move the highlight down / up (without opening files)
h / Backspace Collapse the current directory
l / Enter / o Expand a directory or open a file
H / G Jump to the first / last item
p Jump to the parent directory
W / E Collapse all / expand all
C Collapse the current branch
a / % New file
A New folder
r Rename
d Delete
D / c Create a duplicate
x Move to…
y Copy path
\ / - Open in a split (horizontal / vertical)

Conflicting Shortcut Handover

Some Vim keys conflict by nature with app shortcuts. After enabling Vim, you can decide item by item on the settings page who gets each one (defaults shown):

Shortcut App action Vim meaning Default
Ctrl+D Strikethrough Scroll down half a page Handed to Vim
Ctrl+U Code block Scroll up half a page Handed to Vim
Ctrl+E Inline code Scroll down one line Handed to Vim
Ctrl+H Replace Move left / backspace Handed to Vim
Ctrl+F Find Scroll down a full page Handed to Vim
Ctrl+W Close pane Window-operation prefix Handed to Vim
Ctrl+O Quick Open Jump-list back Handed to Vim
Ctrl+G Knowledge graph Show file info Handed to Vim
Ctrl+P Command Palette Move up one line Kept for the app
Tip

Handover only applies in Vim's normal / visual modes, and only while focus is inside the editor. If you rely more on an app shortcut, set it to "off" so the app shortcut works as usual.