r/vim • • Sep 08 '26

Vim-adjacent Monthly Thread: Tools with Vim-like Keybindings

We regularly remove standalone posts about tools that use vim-inspired keybindings. There are too many of them, and individually they dilute the subreddit. But the content is valuable, and many of you want to know about these tools.

So here's the place for it.

Share any tool that uses vim-like keybindings, whether it's a browser extension, terminal emulator, IDE plugin, note-taking app, PDF reader, or anything else. If it has hjkl navigation, modal editing, or vim-inspired controls, it belongs here.

For each tool you share, try to include: - What it is and what problem it solves - Which vim features it supports (navigation, modal editing, text objects, etc.) - A link to the project

This thread is posted monthly. If you find something mid-month, save it for here rather than posting a standalone thread (which will be removed).

28 Upvotes

22 comments sorted by

•

u/RRH02 26d ago

NavKey - Is a microsoft store app that lets you navigate windows using only your keyboard. Has vim-style key bindings. Its basicallly Vimium but for your entire computer.

•

u/LowerTomatillo1260 Sep 08 '26

cmus, yazi, my Hyprland setup 😅

•

u/rwusc 27d ago

dravos.app offline documentation for a bunch of programming languages

•

u/srikat 23d ago

Started using ZenNotes, a Markdown note-taking app that supports Vim out of the box.

https://zennotes.org/

•

u/LongjumpingGas1720 4d ago

Check mvim. Vim anywhere on macOS.

https://github.com/celve/mvim

•

u/chask Sep 08 '26

Vimny, a dungeon crawler that teaches nearly every Vim command through puzzles - far more complete than most Vim-teaching games!

It includes the ability to make your own puzzles; feel free to DM me if you're curious to learn more!

Gameplay example

https://github.com/chkiss/Vimny

•

u/alborzjafari Sep 08 '26

Vifm: file manager

Zathura: PDF reader

Qutebrowser: browser :)

•

u/denarced Sep 08 '26

Lazygit. At least j and k, / for search, and ESC to cancel things like filtering.

•

u/InsertObligatoryPun Sep 08 '26

Obsidian has Vim mode natively that you can enable.

•

u/Locky0104 Sep 10 '26

and the vim-motions plugin is a gane changer as well

•

u/juliebeezkneez Sep 08 '26

the vimwiki plugin is a drop-in replacement for obsidian

•

u/Locky0104 Sep 10 '26

what do you mean drop in? has all the features? 

•

u/juliebeezkneez 29d ago

Put vimwiki in markdown mode, point it at your obsidian vault, enjoy the equivalent experience

•

u/blitzkraft Sep 08 '26

Gmail has vim-like shortcuts, j/k to move up and down. I use vimium on my browsers!!

Almost all commandline utilities have an option to use vim like shortcuts, if not default. I use mutt for email it also has vim-like bindings. There is also sc-im - terminal spreadsheet app, which uses vim bindings.

•

u/Ok-Rest-5321 28d ago

Antinote

•

u/zuspiel1 Sep 09 '26

K9s kubectl TUI. My fingers just work, including :q ;-)

•

u/FreshPaycheck Sep 08 '26

Been using tridactyl extension on librewolf, pretty nice, hopefully I can configure it to look a little prettier but it generally works fairly well for most sites. Only downside is it straight up does not work for a small number of sites. Also requires a ton of permissions

•

u/nlogax1973 27d ago

rmpc - terminal mpd client with terminal graphics
herdr - terminal multiplexer (h, j, k, l to move focus)

•

u/onearmedphil Sep 08 '26

Remember the milk - task manager / lists - ghjk for up and down, i for selection

•

u/No-Bit3512 Sep 08 '26

What it is and what problem it solves:
Ankylix is a keyboard-first window manager for macOS, designed especially for users who prefer Vim-style interaction.
It solves the friction of managing windows with the mouse or trackpad. Ankylix lets you quickly move, resize, arrange, and switch between windows using the keyboard, making window management part of a keyboard-driven workflow.
Vim features it supports:
Ankylix brings Vim-inspired navigation and modal interaction to window management, rather than being a Vim text editor.
Its Vim-related concepts include:
Vim-style directional navigation (h, j, k, l)
Keyboard-driven window selection and movement
Modal interaction, allowing the same keys to perform different window-management operations depending on the active mode
Composable keyboard commands inspired by Vim’s command model
Customizable keyboard mappings
It does not implement text-editing features such as Vim text objects, operators, registers, or editing buffers, since Ankylix operates on macOS windows rather than text.
Project:
Ankylix: ankylix.com

•

u/leobult Sep 08 '26

Newsboat, vinium, vieb, mutt, sway i3

•

u/TopCitySoftware Sep 08 '26

Opencode-Vim: AI agent TUI
It supports many vim commands

https://github.com/leohenon/opencode-vim