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VSCodeVim
Vim
TypeScript2015–2025
VSCodeVim / Vim

Vim

:star: Vim for Visual Studio Code

46Distinct people
59Mentions
1Explicit recommenders
15.2KGitHub stars
REPOSITORY AT A GLANCE

What to know before exploring

What it is

:star: Vim for Visual Studio Code

GitHub

Where it is used

No documented product use was verified in the last source check.

What people are saying

There are a few. I am using VSCodeVim[1] with the default settings (besides the typical `jj` command) I love it, and using anything else feels weird. I remember having some…

MFogleman used a recommendation phrase. One indexed comment matches. This is a phrase match, not a verdict.

No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.

Also in these discussions

Mentioned in the same Hacker News threads. That is not proof they are substitutes.

This week on Hacker News

Nov 7–Nov 14 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/14/2026, 6:01:08 PM UTC.

No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.

Mentions over time

HN mentions by year59 dated mentions

Observed mentions: 2015-11-18 22:14:12 UTC to 2025-05-06 19:02:05 UTC.

0369122015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 1 mentions; 0 submissions, 1 comments20152016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 12 mentions; 0 submissions, 12 comments2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 12 mentions; 0 submissions, 12 comments2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 5 mentions; 0 submissions, 5 comments2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 8 mentions; 0 submissions, 8 comments2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 7 mentions; 0 submissions, 7 comments20202021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 4 mentions; 0 submissions, 4 comments2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 1 mentions; 0 submissions, 1 comments2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 4 mentions; 1 submissions, 3 comments2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 2 mentions; 0 submissions, 2 comments2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 3 mentions; 1 submissions, 2 comments2025

Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.

View mention counts and date ranges
UTC ranges include their start and exclude their end. Select a period to filter the source evidence.
PeriodStart (UTC)End (exclusive, UTC)MentionsSubmissionsComments
20152015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC101
20162016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC12012
20172017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC12012
20182018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC505
20192019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC808
20202020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC707
20212021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC404
20222022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC101
20232023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC413
20242024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC202
20252025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC312

From the project README

An excerpt from the repository, fetched Nov 13, 2026.

Read the project’s introduction
VSCodeVim Vim emulation for Visual Studio Code VSCodeVim is a Vim emulator for Visual Studio Code. 📃 Our change log outlines the breaking/major/minor updates between releases. Report missing features/bugs on GitHub. Table of Contents (click to expand) 💾 Installation Mac Windows ⚙️ Settings Quick Example VSCodeVim settings Neovim Integration Key Remapping "vim.insertModeKeyBindings"/"vim.normalModeKeyBindings"/"vim.visualModeKeyBindings"/"vim.operatorPendingModeKeyBindings" "vim.insertModeKeyBindingsNonRecursive"/"normalModeKeyBindingsNonRecursive"/"visualModeKeyBindingsNonRecursive"/"operatorPendingModeKeyBindingsNonRecursive" Debugging Remappings Remapping more complex key combinations Vim modes Vim settings .vimrc support 🖱️ Multi-Cursor Mode 🔌 Emulated Plugins vim-airline vim-easymotion vim-surround vim-commentary vim-indent-object vim-sneak CamelCaseMotion Input Method ReplaceWithRegister vim-textobj-entire vim-textobj-arguments 🎩 VSCodeVim tricks! 📚 F.A.Q. ❤️ Contributing Special shoutouts to: 💾 Installation VSCodeVim can be installed via the VS Code Marketplace or the OpenVSX Marketplace. Mac To enable key-repeating, execute the following in your Terminal, log out and back in, and then restart VS Code: defaults write com.microsoft.VSCode ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false # For VS Code defaults write com.microsoft.VSCodeInsiders ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false # For VS Code Insider defaults write com.vscodium ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false # For VS Codium defaults write com.microsoft.VSCodeExploration ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false # For VS Codium Exploration users defaults write com.exafunction.windsurf ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false # For Windsurf defaults delete -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled # If necessary, reset global default We also recommend increasing Key Repeat and Delay Until Repeat settings in System Settings/Preferences -> Keyboard. Windows Like real vim, VSCodeVim will take over your control keys. This behavior can be adjusted with the useCtrlKeys and handleKeys settings. ⚙️ Settings The settings documented here are a subset of the supported settings; the full list is described in the FEATURES -> Settings tab of VSCodeVim's extension details page, which can be found in the extensions view of VS Code. Quick Example Below is an example of a settings.json file with settings relevant to VSCodeVim: { "vim.easymotion": true, "vim.incsearch": true, "vim.useSystemClipboard": true, "vim.useCtrlKeys": true, "vim.hlsearch": true, "vim.insertModeKeyBindings": [ { "before": ["j", "j"], "after": ["<Esc>"] } ], "vim.normalModeKeyBindingsNonRecursive": [ { "before": ["<leader>", "d"], "after": ["d", "d"] }, { "before": ["<C-n>"], "commands": [":nohl"] }, { "before": ["K"], "commands": ["lineBreakInsert"], "silent": true } ], "vim.leader": "<space>", "vim.handleKeys": { "<C-a>": false, "<C-f>": false }, // To improve performance "extensions.experimental.affinity": { "vscodevim.vim": 1 } } VSCodeVim settings These settings are specific to VSCodeVim. Setting Description Type Default Value vim.changeWordIncludesWhitespace Include trailing whitespace when changing word. This configures the cw action to act consistently as its siblings (yw and dw) instead of acting as ce. Boolean false vim.cursorStylePerMode.{Mode} Configure a specific cursor style for {Mode}. Omitted modes will use default cursor type Supported cursors: line, block, underline, line-thin, block-outline, and underline-thin. String None vim.digraphs.{shorthand} Set custom digraph shorthands that can override the default ones. Entries should map a two-character shorthand to a descriptive string and one or more UTF16 code points. Example: "R!": ["🚀", [55357, 56960]] Object {"R!": ["🚀", [0xD83D, 0xDE80]] vim.disableExtension Disable VSCodeVim extension. This setting can also be toggled using toggleVim command in the Command Palette Boolean false vim.handleKeys Delegate configured keys to be handled by VS Code instead of by the VSCodeVim extension. Any key in keybindings section of the package.json that has a vim.use<C-...> in the when argument can be delegated back to VS Code by setting "<C-...>": false. Example: to use ctrl+f for find (native VS Code behavior): "vim.handleKeys": { "<C-f>": false }. String "<C-d>": true "<C-s>": false "<C-z>": false vim.overrideCopy Override VS Code's copy command with our own, which works correctly with VSCodeVim. If cmd-c/ctrl-c is giving you issues, set this to false and complain here. Boolean false vim.useSystemClipboard Use the system clipboard register (*) as the default register Boolean false vim.searchHighlightColor Background color of non-current search matches String findMatchHighlightBackground ThemeColor vim.searchHighlightTextColor Foreground color of non-current search matches String None vim.searchMatchColor Background color of current search match String findMatchBackground ThemeColor vim.searchMatchTextColor Foreground color of current search match String None vim.substitutionColor Background color of substitution text when vim.inccommand is enabled String "#50f01080" vim.substitutionTextColor Foreground color of substitution text when vim.inccommand is enabled String None vim.startInInsertMode Start in Insert mode instead of Normal Mode Boolean false vim.useCtrlKeys Enable Vim ctrl keys overriding common VS Code operations such as copy, paste, find, etc. Boolean true vim.visualstar In visual mode, start a search with * or # using the current selection Boolean false vim.highlightedyank.enable Enable highlighting when yanking Boolean false vim.highlightedyank.color Set the color of yank highlights String rgba(250, 240, 170, 0.5) vim.highlightedyank.duration Set the duration
Read the full README on GitHub

What Hacker News says

12 sources
My plugin for Visual Studio Code is nearing 1000 followers and 200k downloads: https://github.com/VSCodeVim/Vim (Last year it was nearly nonexistent.) I learned a lot about managing an open source project, but probably the biggest thing was that I learned that even something as uncontentious as a Vim plugin can get a ton of hate online, including from Hacker News. I would hate to be working on a more contentious and visible project.
In Ask HN: What was your greatest accomplishment in 2016?
Sublime's Vim mode (https://www.sublimetext.com/docs/2/vintage.html) > Vintage supports these ctrl key bindings: * Ctrl+[: Escape [... others] Atom-vim-mode-plus has it by default. https://github.com/t9md/atom-vim-mode-plus/blob/master/keyma... VSCodeVim doesn't have it by default, but it's an option. https://github.com/VSCodeVim/Vim#usectrlkeys If you need Escape, there is always a way to get it. Whether you bind the touch bar top-left to Escape (which you should in an editing application basically and nowhere else) or you use the widely-held Ctrl-[ default bind from your favorite Vim mode. Plus, the agency of being able to dynamically rebind the rest of the keys or use it as a separate HUD could be seen as useful. I agree the MacBookPro 2016 is bad. But this is a stupid reason to think it's bad.
In MacBook Pro is a lie
I wanted to use VSCode when I started writing TypeScript three months ago, but I found the Vim plugins super lacking, so I used Atom instead, which has a much more robust Vim plugin. However, I tried VSCode again last week after being disappointed by continued bugs in atom-typescript, and was happy to discover the Vim plugin (https://github.com/VSCodeVim/Vim) had made a ton of progress since I'd last given it a shot. It's still not quite as good as Atom's, but it's definitely getting there. Plus, the project's team is very active and friendly - I actually submitted a PR a few days ago fixing a bug (the VSCode extension development workflow is super easy, it turns out!) and they quickly merged it :) I also found out that the VSCode developers know that it's an important plugin, and they actually have a category of issues on the VSCode repo
Read the rest
specifically for extension APIs they need to add to make the Vim plugin as powerful as possible. This new update includes several of those, and I have a feeling by the end of the year the Vim plugin in VSCode will be on par or better than that of plugins for other editors.
In Visual Studio Code 1.4
Personally, I always thought Visual Studio Code was interesting, but I didn't like the lack of Vim support. So I spent the last month working on the VSCodeVim extension, and now I think it's much better. If lack of Vim key bindings has been putting you off, give it a shot now! (And if there's anything missing, log it as an issue in our repository - we'll try to get to it quickly. https://github.com/VSCodeVim/Vim)
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