Announcing ‘mini.keymap’

Make special key mappings: multi-step actions (like “smart” tab, shift-tab, enter, backspace) and combos (more general “better escape” like behavior)

Originally posted on Reddit

Hello, Neovim users!

I invite you to break a long pause between new mini.nvim module releases together with ‘mini.keymap’. It can also be installed using separate GitHub repository.

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This module is aimed to solve three pressing issues:

• Provide a way to tie together different modules/plugins which can use <Tab> / <S-Tab> / <CR> / <BS> keys in Insert mode. These are usually known as “smart” keys, but ‘mini.keymap’ offers a more general and customizable alternative of “multi-step actions”.

• Resolve the oldest open feature request for adding “better escape” like functionality into ‘mini.nvim’. I personally prefer exiting into Normal mode with <C-S> (which also saves), but I can see the appeal of jk. Maybe I’ll try to get used to it. Besides, the end result in ‘mini.keymap’ (called “combo”) is more versatile.

• The upcoming ‘mini.nvim’ release 0.16.0 will be mostly about new ‘mini.completion’ features and many new features in other modules. But I’d like for every stable release to provide at least one new module. So here we are.

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Features of ‘mini.keymap’:

• Map keys to perform configurable multi-step actions: if condition for step one is true - execute step one action, else check step two, and so on until falling back to executing original keys. This is usually referred to as “smart” keys (like “smart tab”).

  There are many built-in steps targeted for Insert mode mappings of special keys like <Tab>, <S-Tab>, <CR>, and <BS>. Here is the full list and some common examples. More plugin might support in the future (like for accepting inline completion and “next text edit”), but having as much coverage as possible is not the goal.

• Map keys as “combo”: each key acts immediately plus execute extra action if all are typed within configurable delay between each other. Some of the common use cases include:

  • Map insertable keys to exit into Normal mode (as this won’t have side effects like inoremap jk <Esc>).
  • Show a notification if there are too many same navigation keys pressed (to break bad habits).

  Here are more examples.

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Please, check it out and tell me what you think! You can leave your suggestions either here in comments or in dedicated beta-testing issue. I’d also like to collect ideas about useful combos that are not convenient to be done as a regular mapping.

Thanks!