Vim Mode

Vim-style editing in the Mux chat input

Mux includes a built-in Vim mode for the chat input, providing familiar Vim-style editing for power users.

Enabling Vim Mode

Vim mode is always enabled. Press ESC to enter normal mode from insert mode.

Modes

Insert Mode (Default)

• This is the default mode when typing in the chat input
• Type normally, all characters are inserted
• Press ESC or Ctrl-[ to enter normal mode

Normal Mode

• Command mode for navigation and editing
• Indicated by “NORMAL” text above the input
• Pending commands are shown (e.g., “NORMAL d” when delete is pending)
• Press i, a, I, A, o, or O to return to insert mode

Visual Mode

• Visual selection mode for operating on highlighted text
• Enter with v (characterwise) or V (linewise)
• Motions extend the selection (e.g. h/j/k/l, w/b/e, 0/$)
• Press Esc to exit visual mode back to normal mode (cursor returns to the start of the selection)

Supported operators in visual mode:

• d - Delete selection
• c - Change selection (delete and enter insert mode)
• y - Yank (copy) selection

Notes:

• Counts apply to motions (e.g. v3w)
• Operators act on the current selection (no extra motion required)

Navigation

Basic Movement

• h - Move left one character
• j - Move down one line
• k - Move up one line
• l - Move right one character

Word Movement

• w - Move forward to start of next word
• W - Move forward to start of next WORD (whitespace-separated)
• b - Move backward to start of previous word
• B - Move backward to start of previous WORD
• e - Move to end of current/next word
• E - Move to end of current/next WORD

Line Movement

• 0 - Move to beginning of line
• _ - Move to first non-whitespace character of line
• $ - Move to end of line
• Home - Same as 0
• End - Same as $
• gg - Go to first line
• gg - Go to line (1-indexed)
• G - Go to last line
• G - Go to line (1-indexed)

Find/Till (Current Line)

• f - Find next on the current line
• F - Find previous on the current line
• t - Move till before next on the current line
• T - Move till after previous on the current line
• ; - Repeat last f/F/t/T in the same direction
• , - Repeat last f/F/t/T in the opposite direction

Counts apply (e.g. 3fx finds the third x on the line).

Column Preservation

When moving up/down with j/k, the cursor attempts to stay in the same column position. If a line is shorter, the cursor moves to the end of that line, but will return to the original column on longer lines.

Entering Insert Mode

• i - Insert at cursor
• a - Append after cursor
• I - Insert at beginning of line
• A - Append at end of line
• o - Open new line below and insert
• O - Open new line above and insert

Editing Commands

Simple Edits

• x - Delete character under cursor
• p - Paste after cursor
• P - Paste before cursor

Undo/Redo

• u - Undo last change
• Ctrl-r - Redo

Notes:

• Insert-mode typing is grouped: i ... Esc becomes a single undo step.
• Undo/redo does not affect the yank register.

Dot Repeat

• . - Repeat the last structural edit at the current cursor position.

Limitations:

• Dot repeat does not replay arbitrary insert-mode typed text.
• Not every command is repeatable yet (for example, find/till-based edits like dfx).

Line Operations

• dd - Delete line (yank to clipboard)
• yy - Yank (copy) line
• cc - Change line (delete and enter insert mode)

Operators + Motions

Vim’s power comes from combining operators with motions. All operators work with all motions:

Operators

• d - Delete
• c - Change (delete and enter insert mode)
• y - Yank (copy)

Motions

• w - To next word
• b - To previous word
• e - To end of word
• W - To next WORD (whitespace-separated)
• B - To previous WORD
• E - To end of WORD
• $ - To end of line
• 0 - To beginning of line
• _ - To first non-whitespace character
• f - Find next on the current line
• F - Find previous on the current line
• t - Move till before next on the current line
• T - Move till after previous on the current line
• ; - Repeat last f/F/t/T in the same direction
• , - Repeat last f/F/t/T in the opposite direction

Examples

• dw - Delete to next word
• dW - Delete to next WORD
• de - Delete to end of word
• d$ - Delete to end of line
• dfx - Delete through next x on the line
• ctx - Change till before next x on the line
• cw - Change to end of word (like ce)
• ce - Change to end of word
• cW - Change to end of WORD (like cE)
• cE - Change to end of WORD
• c0 - Change to beginning of line
• y$ - Yank to end of line
• ye - Yank to end of word
• yy - Yank line (doubled operator)

Shortcuts

• D - Same as d$ (delete to end of line)
• C - Same as c$ (change to end of line)

Count Prefixes

Many motions and commands support numeric count prefixes:

• 3w - Move forward three words
• 20l - Move right 20 characters
• 2dd - Delete two lines
• d3w - Delete three words

Parsing rules

• Digits 1–9 start a count.
• 0 appends only if a count is already in progress; otherwise it remains the 0 motion.
• Counts are capped at 10,000.

Supported commands (MVP)

Counts currently apply to:

• Motions: h/j/k/l, w/W, b/B, e/E, 0, $, _, gg, G, f/F, t/T, ;, ,
• Edits: x, ~
• Operator + motion combos, including dd/yy/cc

Limitations

Counts are not yet supported for every command (e.g. repeating paste, undo/redo, or insert-mode entry).

Text Objects

Text objects let you operate on semantic units.

Words

• iw - Inner word (word under cursor)

  • diw - Delete inner word
  • ciw - Change inner word
  • yiw - Yank inner word

• aw - A word (includes surrounding whitespace)

  • daw - Delete word + whitespace
  • caw - Change word + whitespace
  • yaw - Yank word + whitespace

Text objects work from anywhere within the word — you don’t need to be at the start.

Delimiters (current line only)

Quotes:

• i” / a” - Inside / around double quotes
• i’ / a’ - Inside / around single quotes

Brackets:

• i( / a( - Inside / around parentheses
• i[ / a[ - Inside / around square brackets
• i{ / a{ - Inside / around curly braces

Notes:

• These are currently line-local (they don’t search across lines).
• Escaping and complex nesting behavior is not yet supported.

Visual Feedback

• Cursor: Thin blinking cursor in insert mode, solid block in normal/visual modes
• Selection: Visual mode uses the textarea selection highlight
• Mode Indicator: Shows current mode and pending commands (e.g., “NORMAL d” when waiting for motion)

Keybind Conflicts

ESC Key

ESC is used for:

1. Exiting Vim normal mode (highest priority)
2. NOT used for canceling edits (use Ctrl-Q instead)
3. NOT used for interrupting streams in Vim mode (use Ctrl-C)
4. In non-Vim mode, Esc interrupts streams

Ctrl+C Key (Vim Mode)

In Vim mode, Ctrl+C always interrupts streams (similar to terminal interrupt behavior). This means:

• Standard Ctrl+C copy is not available in Vim mode
• Use vim yank commands (y, yy, yiw, etc.) to copy text instead
• This provides consistent interrupt behavior whether text is selected or not

Tips

1. Learn operators + motions: Instead of memorizing every command, learn the operators (d, c, y) and motions (w, b, $, 0). They combine naturally.

2. Use text objects: ciw to change a word is more reliable than cw because it works from anywhere in the word.

3. Column preservation: When navigating up/down, your column position is preserved across lines of different lengths.

Not Yet Implemented

Features that may be added in the future:

• ge - Backward end of word motion
• More text objects - Multi-line delimiters, escaping, and additional objects
• Visual block mode (Ctrl-v) - Blockwise selection
• Macros - Recording and replaying command sequences
• Marks - Named cursor positions