EliVim-VSCode

Customize VSCode to prioritize keyboard usage as much as possible (inspired by Neovim)

Plan

1. Prerequisites

2. Installation

   • Install the extensions
   • Copy/overwrite configuration files
   • Reload/Restart VS Code

3. Usage

   • Toggle terminal (cmd+, cmd+t or ctrl+j)
   • Git (ctrl+g)
   • Search text (cmd+shift+f)
   • Search file (cmdp)
   • The welcome page

4. Contributing

Prerequisites

Before customizing VSCode, make sure you have the following tools installed on your machine:

• fzf
• ripgrep
• lazygit

These tools are essential for enhancing your keyboard-first experience with VSCode. You can install these tools using the following commands:

# Mac OS
brew install fzf
brew install ripgrep
brew install lazygit

# Windows
choco install fzf
choco install ripgrep
choco install lazygit

# Ubuntu Linux
sudo apt-get install fzf
sudo apt-get install ripgrep
LAZYGIT_VERSION=$(curl -s "https://api.github.com/repos/jesseduffield/lazygit/releases/latest" | grep -Po '"tag_name": "v\K[^"]*')
curl -Lo lazygit.tar.gz "https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/releases/latest/download/lazygit_${LAZYGIT_VERSION}_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz"
tar xf lazygit.tar.gz lazygit
sudo install lazygit /usr/local/bin

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman fzf ripgrep lazygit

You also need to install the following fonts:

• Fira Code
• JetBrains Mono

Once you have installed these prerequisites, you can proceed with the customization steps.

Installation

⚠️ Warning: Before customizing VSCode, it is highly recommended to make a backup of your current setup. This will allow you to revert back to your original configuration if needed.

on Mac OS:

> cp "${userHome}/Library/Application Support/Code/User/" "${userHome}/Library/Application Support/Code/User.bak"

on Linux:

>cp "$XDG_CONFIG_DIR/VSCode/User" "$XDG_CONFIG_DIR/VSCode/User.bak"

1. Install the extensions

To install the extensions, run the following command:

on Mac OS:

> cat extensions.txt | xargs -L 1 code --install-extension

on Linux:

> cat extensions.txt | xargs -L 1 code --install-extension

This command installs each extension listed in the extensions.txt file using the code --install-extension command (code for the closed source version, codium for the open sourced, in Linux).

2. Copy/overwrite configuration files

Now copy keybindings.json, settings.json, and welcomePage.js to your VSCode User folder:

on Mac OS:

cp -i keybindings.json settings.json welcomePage.js "${userHome}/Library/Application Support/Code/User"

on Linux:

In Linux, several additional steps are required for this configuration to run properly. First, the APC Customize UI Plugin needs to be able to manipulate the files in the VSCode/Codium installation. This process is described here. Also, Linux users should edit the 'settings_linux.json' to ensure paths are correct for your distribution.

cp keybindings.json welcomePage.js "$XDG_CONFIG_DIR/VSCode/User/"
cp settings_linux.json "$XDG_CONFIG_DIR/VSCode/User/settings.json"

This command copies the mentioned files to the appropriate location in your VSCode User folder.

3. Reload/Restart VS Code

Reload or restart VSCode and now you are done! You can enjoy this minimalist VSCode setup.

Usage

This table shows the current keybindings, editable in "keybindings.json".

Click to view key commands

key	command	trigger	args
shift+cmd+t	-workbench.action.reopenClosedEditor
shift+cmd+t	workbench.action.terminal.new	terminalProcessSupported
ctrl+shift+`	-workbench.action.terminal.new	terminalProcessSupported
cmd+[KeyM]	workbench.action.createTerminalEditor
cmd+h	workbench.action.toggleActivityBarVisibility
ctrl+`	-workbench.action.terminal.toggleTerminal	terminal.active
alt+f	eslint.executeAutofix
ctrl+shift+g	editor.action.rename	editorHasRenameProvider && editorTextFocus && !editorReadonly
f2	-editor.action.rename	editorHasRenameProvider && editorTextFocus && !editorReadonly
shift+cmd+g	workbench.action.tasks.runTask		LazyGit
ctrl+shift+g	-workbench.view.scm	!gitlens:disabled && config.gitlens.keymap == 'chorded'
shift+cmd+t	-extension.goToTest	editorTextFocus
shift+cmd+t	extension.splitTestFile	editorTextFocus
cmd+f1	-extension.splitTestFile	editorTextFocus
cmd+[Comma] f	-testing.runCurrentFile	editorTextFocus
ctrl+t	runCurrentTest.run
ctrl+f	runCurrentTest.runAndUpdateSnapshots
ctrl+g	workbench.action.tasks.runTask	terminalProcessSupported	LazyGit
cmd+8	editor.action.marker.next	editorFocus
alt+f8	-editor.action.marker.next	editorFocus
cmd+9	editor.action.marker.nextInFiles	editorFocus
f8	-editor.action.marker.nextInFiles	editorFocus
ctrl+alt+cmd+right	workbench.action.decreaseViewSize
ctrl+alt+cmd+left	workbench.action.increaseViewSize
ctrl+alt+cmd+up	workbench.action.evenEditorWidths
cmd+t	-workbench.action.showAllSymbols
cmd+t	workbench.action.createTerminalEditorSide
ctrl+tab	extension.goToTest
cmd+p	-extension.GoToAnything
ctrl+cmd+p	searchEverywhere.search
alt+cmd+p	-searchEverywhere.search
shift+alt	fuzzySearch.activeTextEditor
alt+cmd+p	projectManager.listProjects
alt+cmd+p	-projectManager.listProjects
cmd+u	-cursorUndo	textInputFocus
cmd+u	thunder-client.import-curl
shift+cmd+c	-workbench.action.terminal.openNativeConsole	!terminalFocus
shift+cmd+c	vscode-chatgpt.view.focus
shift+cmd+r	-rerunSearchEditorSearch	inSearchEditor
shift+cmd+r	-nodeReadme.showReadme	editorTextFocus
shift+cmd+r	vscode-chatgpt.optimize
shift+cmd+t	vscode-chatgpt.addTests
ctrl+j	workbench.action.terminal.toggleTerminal
shift+alt+right	editor.action.inlineSuggest.showNext
shift+alt+left	editor.action.inlineSuggest.showPrevious
shift+alt+down	editor.action.inlineSuggest.trigger
shift+cmd+a	copilot-labs.use-brush-picker	editorTextFocus
shift+alt+cmd+e	-copilot-labs.use-brush-picker	editorTextFocus
shift+cmd+t	chatgpt-vscode.addTests	editorHasSelection
cmd+k shift+cmd+1	-chatgpt-vscode.addTests	editorHasSelection
shift+cmd+c	chatgpt-vscode.adhoc	editorHasSelection
cmd+k shift+cmd+7	-chatgpt-vscode.adhoc	editorHasSelection
shift+cmd+c	chatgpt-vscode.freeText
shift+cmd+m	workbench.action.toggleMaximizedPanel
shift+cmd+g	-editor.action.previousMatchFindAction	editorFocus
shift+cmd+g	-workbench.action.terminal.findPrevious	terminalFindFocused && terminalHasBeenCreated || terminalFindFocused && terminalProcessSupported || terminalFocus && terminalHasBeenCreated || terminalFocus && terminalProcessSupported
shift+cmd+f	find-it-faster.findWithinFiles
shift+cmd+u	-find-it-faster.findWithinFiles
shift+cmd+u	workbench.view.search	workbench.view.search.active && neverMatch =~ /doesNotMatch/
shift+cmd+f	-workbench.view.search	workbench.view.search.active && neverMatch =~ /doesNotMatch/
shift+cmd+r	chatgpt-vscode.optimize	editorHasSelection
cmd+k shift+cmd+3	-chatgpt-vscode.optimize	editorHasSelection
shift+cmd+k	workbench.action.terminal.killAll
shift+cmd+g	workbench.scm.focus
ctrl+g	lazygit-vscode.toggle
shift+cmd+l	-lazygit-vscode.toggle
ctrl+p	binocular.customCommands		pipeline
ctrl+shift+p	binocular.customCommands
shift+tab	workbench.action.previousEditorInGroup
cmd+k alt+cmd+left	-workbench.action.previousEditorInGroup
shift+tab	workbench.action.previousEditor
ctrl+alt+cmd+5	-workbench.action.previousEditor
alt+cmd+left	-workbench.action.previousEditor

Toggle terminal (cmd+, cmd+t or ctrl+j)

Press cmd+t to toggle the terminal on the side. Press cmd+, to open a full editor terminal. Press ctrl+j to open the integrated terminal.

Git (ctrl+g)

Press ctrl+g to open lazygit. With this tool, you can perform all your git operations using the keyboard only.

Search text (cmd+shift+f)

Press cmd+shift+f to search for text in your project. This will trigger find-it-faster extension, which is a fzf-rigrep wrapper for VSCode. It has the advantage of showing a preview of the file where the text is found.

Search file (cmd+p)

Press cmd+p to search for a file in your project. This will trigger the command palette, which has been redesigned. It is noticeably bigger and centered, so you don't have to look at the top of the screen to see the results.

The welcome page

The welcome page has also been redesigned. You can modify the welcome page by editing the welcomePage.js file.

Contributing

If you have any suggestions or improvements, feel free to open an issue or a pull request. Note that I am currently using Mac OS, so improvements for the documentation on other OSes are more than welcome.