vim-motions-pi

A focused Vim-style editing layer for pi: fast motions, text objects, visual selections, and optional clipboard sync.

It brings the essential Vim editing loop into pi without the full Vim complexity.

At a glance

Edit faster inside pi, with the Vim commands people actually reach for.

• Move with h j k l, w b e, 0 ^ $, and gg G
• Change text with dw, ciw, dd, yy, p, u, and r<char>
• Select with v / V, then yank, delete, or paste
• Target regions with text objects like iw, aw, ip, and ap
• Mirror yank/delete/change operations to the system clipboard when enabled

Quick demo

Install

Install with pi:

pi install npm:vim-motions-pi

Or try it for the current run only:

pi -e npm:vim-motions-pi

Local development / test

Run the extension directly from this repo:

pi -e ./extensions/vim-motion.ts

What it supports

Modes

• insert
• normal
• visual
• visual-line

Core motions

• Character motions: h j k l
• Word motions: w b e
• Line motions: 0 ^ $
• Buffer motions: gg G
• Find motions: f F t T
• Repeat find: ; and ,

Editing actions

• Operators: d y c
• Motion-based edits: dw, yw, cw, d$, y^, etc.
• Linewise forms: dd, yy, cc, D, C, S
• Direct helpers: x, X, p, P, u, r<char>, o, O, J, i, I, a, A

Selection

• v enters visual mode
• V enters visual-line mode
• Visual selections support y, d, and p

Text objects

• iw, aw
• iW, aW
• i", a"
• ip, ap
• Works with operators, for example: diw, yaw, ciW, ci", dap

Counts

• Prefix counts are supported for motions and many commands
• Examples: 3w, 2dd, 5x, 4G

Visual mode notes

• o swaps the visual selection ends.
• v exits visual mode.
• V switches to visual-line mode.
• p / P replace the selection with the current register contents.

Register behavior

• Yanks, deletes, and changes go to a single unnamed register.
• p and P paste from that register.
• Linewise operations keep line breaks when that makes sense.

Optional clipboard sync

Keep the unnamed register in sync with your system clipboard.

Set one parameter:

VIM_MOTION_PI_CLIPBOARD=off|all|yank

• off: disable clipboard sync
• all: sync yank, delete, and change operations
• yank: sync only yank operations

Change it inside pi with:

/vim-clipboard

pi shows a short notification when the mode changes.

When enabled, the extension uses the usual clipboard command on your OS (pbcopy, clip, wl-copy, xclip, or xsel) if available.

Examples

3w      move forward 3 words
ciw     change inner word
daw     delete around word
yy      yank current line
p       paste yanked text
f,      find the next comma
;       repeat the last find

Limitations

This is a Vim-like subset, not full Vim.

It only affects the text input/editor area inside pi, not the whole app.

In insert mode, most keys pass through to pi directly, except Esc, which returns to normal mode.

In normal / visual modes, some pi hotkeys may be intercepted by Vim-style key handling.

Not supported:

• search with / or ?
• macros
• marks
• dot-repeat (.)
• multiple named registers

Uninstall

pi remove npm:vim-motions-pi

Source

• GitHub: https://github.com/kepatrick/vim-motions-pi
• Source lives in extensions/vim-motion.ts