CODEWITHSUNDEEP
zshvi
Radex
Radex

Reputation: 8587

How to setup Vi Editing Mode for zsh

I want to set vi in editing mode in zsh (I am using oh-my-zsh) at start automatically when I open my shell, so at the beginning of my .zshrc I have tried the following code:

set -o vi

or

bindkey -v

but when pressing enter in the shell I cannot enter the vi mode.

If I tried one of the two commands in the shell, it works.

Basically I want zsh to start in vi edit mode.

Any ideas how to solve this problem?

Upvotes: 63

Views: 101641

Answers (3)

J.T.
J.T.

Reputation: 927

If you don't mind using a plugin for vi mode in zsh, here is a better choice for you, which I wrote, to quickly reach it.

zsh-vi-mode: A better and friendly vi(vim) mode plugin for ZSH.

After adding this plugin, then you can input with vi-mode like this:

demo

Upvotes: 14

Simba
Simba

Reputation: 27698

bindkey -v is enough to enable vi mode in ZSH. If you are worried the setting will be overwritten by another plugin, put the setting at the bottom of your ~/.zshrc.

After vi mode is enabled, you enter the "insert" mode by default. To enter "normal" mode, use Esc. And i or a to switch back to "insert" mode.

BTW, softmoth/zsh-vim-mode is the most powerful vim mode plugin I've ever used in ZSH.

Using bindkey -v may take over functionality such as history search with control+R and control+S. To restore that particular behavior, add the following lines after bindkey -v:

bindkey ^R history-incremental-search-backward 
bindkey ^S history-incremental-search-forward

Other bindings can be found in the ZSH manual Standard Widgets section.

Upvotes: 82

olore
olore

Reputation: 4857

If you are using https://ohmyz.sh/ you can add vi-mode to the list of plugins in ~/.zshrc:

plugins=(git vi-mode)

Upvotes: 42

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