Vim Mode

Modal editing in the SQL editor.

Vim Mode

Turn on vim mode in Settings > Editor > Vim mode. A badge next to the editor shows the current mode.

Mode badge in the SQL editor

Modes

Mode	How to enter
Normal	Esc
Insert	i, I, a, A, o, O, s, S, c, C, gi
Replace	R
Visual	v
Visual Line	V
Command line	:, /, ?

gi puts you back where you last left insert.

Move the cursor

Characters

Key	Goes to
h j k l	Left, down, up, right
0	Start of line
^ _	First non-blank on line
$	End of line

Words

Key	Goes to
w b e	Next word, prev word, word end
W B E	Same, whitespace-only word boundary
ge gE	Prev word end, prev WORD end

Lines and pages

Key	Goes to
gg	First line
G	Last line
5G	Line 5
H M L	Top, middle, bottom of view
%	Matching (), [], {}

Find a character

Key	Goes to
f{c}	Next {c} on this line
F{c}	Prev {c} on this line
t{c}	Just before next {c}
T{c}	Just after prev {c}
; ,	Repeat last find, reverse last find

Sentences and paragraphs

Key	Goes to
( )	Prev sentence, next sentence
{ }	Prev blank line, next blank line
[[ ]]	Prev {-at-col-0, next {-at-col-0

Counts work: 3w moves three words, 5j moves five lines down.

Edit

Key	Action
d{m}	Delete (with motion)
c{m}	Change (delete then enter insert)
y{m}	Yank
dd cc yy	Same on the whole line
D C Y	Same as d$, c$, yy
x X	Delete one char under, one before cursor
s S	Replace one char or whole line, then insert
r{c}	Replace one char with {c}, stay in normal
~	Toggle case under cursor
g~{m} gu{m} gU{m}	Toggle, lower, upper with motion
g~~ guu gUU	Same on the whole line
>> <<	Indent, outdent line
>{m} <{m}	Indent, outdent with motion
J	Join next line with a space
gJ	Join next line, no space

2d3w deletes six words. 3yy yanks three lines. 5>> indents five lines.

Yank, delete, and change all write to the system clipboard.

Text objects

Use after d, c, y, or in visual mode.

Object	Inside	Around
Word	iw	aw
WORD	iW	aW
" ' ` string	i" i' i`	a" a' a`
( ) parens	i( ib	a( ab
{ } braces	i{ iB	a{ aB
[ ] brackets	i[	a[
< > angles	i<	a<
HTML tag	it	at
Paragraph	ip	ap

ciw rewrites the current word. da" removes a quoted string and its trailing space. yip copies the current paragraph.

Paste

Key	Action
p	After cursor (or below the line for linewise yank)
P	Before cursor (or above the line)
3p	Paste three times

In visual mode, p and P replace the selection with the register.

Registers

Prefix with "{a-z} to pick a register.

Register	Holds
"	Last yank or delete
"a … "z	Named, overwrite
"A … "Z	Same, append
"0	Last yank only
"1 … "9	Delete ring, rotates on each delete

"ayy stores a line in a. "ap pastes it back later.

Marks

Key	Action
m{a-z}	Set mark
`{a-z}	Jump to exact mark
'{a-z}	Jump to first non-blank of the mark’s line
`< `>	Start, end of last visual selection
'' “	Back to position before the last jump

Marks shift when you insert or delete text before them.

Search

Key	Action
/pattern Enter	Forward search
?pattern Enter	Backward search
n N	Next, previous match
* #	Search word under cursor, forward or back

The pattern is a literal, case-sensitive substring, not a regex. Searches wrap around.

Repeat and undo

Key	Action
.	Repeat last change
u	Undo
U	Undo all edits on this line
Ctrl+R	Redo

5. repeats the last change five times.

Macros

Key	Action
q{a-z}	Start recording into a register
q	Stop recording
@{a-z}	Play back
@@	Play back the last macro
3@a	Play three times

Recursion is capped at 50 to keep self-calling macros safe.

Scroll

Key	Action
Ctrl+D Ctrl+U	Half page down, up
Ctrl+F Ctrl+B	Full page down, up
Ctrl+E Ctrl+Y	One line down, up
zt zz zb	Put current line at top, middle, bottom
gj gk	Same as j k (logical lines, not wrapped display lines)

Visual mode

Motions extend the selection. Then:

Key	Action
d x	Delete
c	Delete and insert
y	Yank
J gJ	Join lines
~ u U	Toggle, lower, upper case
r{c}	Replace each char with {c}
o	Move cursor to the other end
I A	Insert at start, end of selection
gv	Reselect the last visual selection

Indent and outdent work in normal mode only (>>, <<, >{m}, <{m}).

Insert mode shortcuts

Key	Action
Ctrl+W	Delete the previous word
Ctrl+U	Delete back to line start
Ctrl+H	Backspace
Ctrl+T	Indent line
Ctrl+D	Outdent line
Esc	Back to normal

Numbers

Ctrl+A adds one to the next number on the line. Ctrl+X subtracts one. Both honor a count (5 Ctrl+A), negative numbers, and 0x hex.

Command line

Command	Action
:w	Run the current query
:q	Close the tab

/ and ? are search. Other : commands, including :wq and :x, are parsed and ignored.