VSCode key bindings to navigate like Neovim

keybindings.json

[
  // Navigation
  {
    "key": "ctrl-h",
    "command": "workbench.action.navigateLeft"
  },
  {
    "key": "ctrl-l",
    "command": "workbench.action.navigateRight"
  },
  {
    "key": "ctrl-k",
    "command": "workbench.action.navigateUp"
  },
  {
    "key": "ctrl-j",
    "command": "workbench.action.navigateDown"
  },
  {
    "key": "space ,",
    "command": "workbench.action.showAllEditors",
    "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && (editorTextFocus || !inputFocus)"
  },
  {
    "key": "space e",
    "command": "runCommands",
    "args": {
      "commands": [
        "workbench.action.toggleSidebarVisibility",
        "workbench.files.action.focusFilesExplorer"
      ]
    },
    "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && (editorTextFocus || !inputFocus) && !sideBarFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "space e",
    "command": "runCommands",
    "args": {
      "commands": [
        "workbench.action.toggleSidebarVisibility",
        "workbench.action.focusActiveEditorGroup"
      ]
    },
    "when": "sideBarFocus && !inputFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "space e",
    "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && editorTextFocus && foldersViewVisible",
    "command": "workbench.action.toggleSidebarVisibility"
  },
  {
    "key": "s h",
    "command": "workbench.action.splitEditor",
    "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && (editorTextFocus || !inputFocus)"
  },
  {
    "key": "s v",
    "command": "workbench.action.splitEditorDown",
    "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && (editorTextFocus || !inputFocus)"
  },

  // Coding
  {
    "key": "space c a",
    "command": "editor.action.codeAction",
    "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && editorTextFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "shift-k",
    "command": "editor.action.moveLinesUpAction",
    "when": "vim.mode == 'VisualLine' && editorTextFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "shift-j",
    "command": "editor.action.moveLinesDownAction",
    "when": "vim.mode == 'VisualLine' && editorTextFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "shift-k",
    "command": "editor.action.showHover",
    "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && editorTextFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "space c r",
    "command": "editor.action.rename",
    "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && editorTextFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "space c s",
    "command": "workbench.action.gotoSymbol",
    "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && editorTextFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "space b d",
    "command": "workbench.action.closeActiveEditor",
    "when": "(vim.mode == 'Normal' && editorTextFocus) || !inputFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "space b o",
    "command": "workbench.action.closeOtherEditors",
    "when": "(vim.mode == 'Normal' && editorTextFocus) || !inputFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "space space",
    "command": "workbench.action.quickOpen",
    "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && (editorTextFocus || !inputFocus)"
  },
  {
    "key": "space g d",
    "command": "editor.action.revealDefinition",
    "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && editorTextFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "space g r",
    "command": "editor.action.goToReferences",
    "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && editorTextFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "space g i",
    "command": "editor.action.goToImplementation",
    "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && editorTextFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "space s g",
    "command": "workbench.action.findInFiles",
    "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && (editorTextFocus || !inputFocus)"
  },
  {
    "key": "space g g",
    "command": "runCommands",
    "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && (editorTextFocus || !inputFocus)",
    "args": {
      "commands": ["workbench.view.scm", "workbench.scm.focus"]
    }
  },
  {
    "key": "ctrl-n",
    "command": "editor.action.addSelectionToNextFindMatch",
    "when": "(vim.mode == 'Normal' || vim.mode == 'Visual') && (editorTextFocus || !inputFocus)"
  },

  // File Explorer
  {
    "key": "r",
    "command": "renameFile",
    "when": "filesExplorerFocus && foldersViewVisible && !explorerResourceIsRoot && !explorerResourceReadonly && !inputFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "c",
    "command": "filesExplorer.copy",
    "when": "filesExplorerFocus && foldersViewVisible && !explorerResourceIsRoot && !explorerResourceReadonly && !inputFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "p",
    "command": "filesExplorer.paste",
    "when": "filesExplorerFocus && foldersViewVisible && !explorerResourceIsRoot && !explorerResourceReadonly && !inputFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "x",
    "command": "filesExplorer.cut",
    "when": "filesExplorerFocus && foldersViewVisible && !explorerResourceIsRoot && !explorerResourceReadonly && !inputFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "d",
    "command": "deleteFile",
    "when": "filesExplorerFocus && foldersViewVisible && !explorerResourceIsRoot && !explorerResourceReadonly && !inputFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "a",
    "command": "explorer.newFile",
    "when": "filesExplorerFocus && foldersViewVisible && !explorerResourceIsRoot && !explorerResourceReadonly && !inputFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "s",
    "command": "explorer.openToSide",
    "when": "filesExplorerFocus && foldersViewVisible && !explorerResourceIsRoot && !explorerResourceReadonly && !inputFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "shift-s",
    "command": "runCommands",
    "when": "filesExplorerFocus && foldersViewVisible && !explorerResourceIsRoot && !explorerResourceReadonly && !inputFocus",
    "args": {
      "commands": [
        "workbench.action.splitEditorDown",
        "explorer.openAndPassFocus",
        "workbench.action.closeOtherEditors"
      ]
    }
  },
  {
    "key": "enter",
    "command": "explorer.openAndPassFocus",
    "when": "filesExplorerFocus && foldersViewVisible && !explorerResourceIsRoot && !explorerResourceIsFolder && !inputFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "enter",
    "command": "list.toggleExpand",
    "when": "filesExplorerFocus && foldersViewVisible && !explorerResourceIsRoot && explorerResourceIsFolder && !inputFocus"
  },

  // Debug
  {
    "key": "space d a",
    "command": "workbench.action.debug.selectandstart",
    "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && (editorTextFocus || !inputFocus) && debuggersAvailable"
  },
  {
    "key": "space d t",
    "command": "workbench.action.debug.stop",
    "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && editorTextFocus && inDebugMode && !focusedSessionIsAttached"
  },
  {
    "key": "space d o",
    "command": "workbench.action.debug.stepOver",
    "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && (editorTextFocus || !inputFocus) && inDebugMode && debugState == 'stopped'"
  },
  {
    "key": "space d b",
    "command": "editor.debug.action.toggleBreakpoint",
    "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && editorTextFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "space d e",
    "command": "editor.debug.action.showDebugHover",
    "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && editorTextFocus && inDebugMode && debugState == 'stopped'"
  },
  {
    "key": "space d c",
    "command": "workbench.action.debug.continue",
    "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && (editorTextFocus || !inputFocus) && inDebugMode && debugState == 'stopped'"
  }
]

If the space key is set, EasyMotion will become ineffective.

@qingzhoufeihu I don't use EasyMotion, so I didn't know about that. How would you get around this? Space is oftentimes set as the leaderkeys in vim/neovim, so I'd look into changing EasyMotion's trigger instead (if it's possible).

Thank you for your reply. I changed the leader to < , and it perfectly solved the problem.

Navigation
ctrl + h : move to left window
ctrl + j : move down window
ctrl + k : move up window
ctrl + l : move to right window

space + , : show all editors
space + e : open sidebar
space s g : find in files
space g g : go to git

tab : next tab in group
shift + tab : prevoius tab in group

s h : split editor
s v : split editor down

Coding
shift + j : move line down ( editor mode)
shift + k : move line up ( editor mode)
shift + k : show hover

space c a : show code action
space c r : rename veriable
space c s : show symbol
space b d : close active editor
space b o : close other editor
space space : quick open
space g d : go to definition
space g r : go to reference
space g i : go to implementation
space s g : find in files

ctrl + n : add slection next find match (normal mode & visual mode)

File Explorer
r : rename file
c : copy file
p : paste file
x : cut file
d : delete file
enter: open file

s : open to side
shift + s : split editor down

a : add new file
shift + a : add new folder

Maybe usefull for some people that need a cheatsheet

AMAZING

This was so helpful, I tried doing this on my own but was having issues with the sidebar.

Much love!

Thank ... You... So... F... Much!!!
Absolutely Amazing keybindings, much love and appreciation 🙏🏽

Glad you found this useful @hvenry @ravicorreia 🙌

@nikolovlazar thanks a lot. This is what I need - good from both worlds - VimVS.

If you have a problem with space+e try this:

 "key": "space e",
 "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && editorTextFocus && foldersViewVisible",
 "command": "workbench.action.toggleSidebarVisibility"
},

{
  "key": "space e",
  "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal'  && sideBarVisible",
  "command": "workbench.action.toggleSidebarVisibility"
}

Anybody knows how to make the file explorer related bindings to work on solution explorer that comes with C# dev kit. I am trying to migrate from Visual studio to Code for that. I did not find any documentation around that as well.

I saw that someone added keybinds for splitting the editor, which is exactly what I wanted, but I also noticed that the bindings s h and s v conflicted with Vim's native s (substitute) command, which I use quite a bit.

So I tested a few ergonomic alternatives and landed on the following setup, which feels much more natural:

{
  "key": "space h",
  "command": "workbench.action.splitEditor",
  "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && (editorTextFocus || !inputFocus)"
},
{
  "key": "space v",
  "command": "workbench.action.splitEditorDown",
  "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && (editorTextFocus || !inputFocus)"
},

I also changed the close current pane, since personally space b d and space b o didn't feel very comfortable and VSCode’s default ctrl+w wasn’t working inside Vim mode. (If you’re more used to Vim’s :q command to close, you could use space q instead, but I chose space w because it matches browser tab behavior and VSCode’s native pane-closing shortcut.). This one's personal preference but I'll still add it in case someone else also likes it.

{
  "key": "space w",
  "command": "workbench.action.closeActiveEditor",
  "when": "vim.mode == 'Normal' && (editorTextFocus || !inputFocus)"
},
{
  "key": "space shift+w",
  "command": "workbench.action.closeOtherEditors",
  "when": "(vim.mode == 'Normal' && editorTextFocus) || !inputFocus"
},

Lastly, I adjusted the Explorer bindings to avoid conflict with Vim motions and maintain consistent muscle memory:

{
  "key": "space e h",
  "command": "explorer.openToSide",
  "when": "filesExplorerFocus && foldersViewVisible && !explorerResourceIsRoot && !explorerResourceReadonly && !inputFocus"
},
{
  "key": "space e v",
  "command": "runCommands",
  "when": "filesExplorerFocus && foldersViewVisible && !explorerResourceIsRoot && !explorerResourceReadonly && !inputFocus",
  "args": {
    "commands": [
      "workbench.action.splitEditorDown",
      "explorer.openAndPassFocus",
      "workbench.action.closeOtherEditors"
    ]
  }
}

Just thought I'd comment this since I really liked these modifications to this already amazing config, thank you so much!