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Documentation General documentation about how to use SpaceVim, including the quick start guide and FAQs.

Home >> Documentation

Core Pillars

Four core pillars: Mnemonic, Discoverable, Consistent and “Crowd-Configured”.

If any of these core pillars are violated open an issue and we’ll try our best to fix it.

Mnemonic

Key bindings are organized using mnemonic prefixes, like b for buffer, p for project, s for search, h for help, etc…

Discoverable

Innovative real-time display of available key bindings. Simple query system to quickly find available layers, packages, and more.

Consistent

Similar functionalities have the same key bindings everywhere thanks to a clearly defined set of conventions. Documentation is mandatory for any layer that ships with SpaceVim.

Crowd-Configured

Community-driven configuration provides curated packages tuned by power users and bugs are fixed quickly.

Highlighted features

  • Great documentation: access documentation in SpaceVim with :h SpaceVim.
  • Minimalistic and nice graphical UI: you'll love the awesome UI and its useful features.
  • Keep your fingers on the home row: for quicker editing with support for QWERTY and BEPO layouts.
  • Mnemonic key bindings: commands have mnemonic prefixes like [WIN] for all the window and buffer commands or [Unite] for the unite work flow commands.
  • Fast boot time: Lazy-load 90% of plugins with dein.vim
  • Lower the risk of RSI: by heavily using the space bar instead of modifiers.
  • Batteries included: discover hundreds of ready-to-use packages nicely organised in configuration layers following a set of conventions.
  • Neovim centric: Dark powered mode of SpaceVim

Screenshots

welcome page

welcome-page

workflow

work-flow

Neovim on iTerm2 using the SpaceVim color scheme base16-solarized-dark

Depicts a common frontend development scenario with JavaScript (jQuery), SASS, and PHP buffers.

Non-code buffers show a Neovim terminal, a TagBar window, a Vimfiler window and a TernJS definition window.

To get more screenshots, see: issue #415

Concepts

Transient-states

SpaceVim defines a wide variety of transient states (temporary overlay maps) where it makes sense. This prevents one from doing repetitive and tedious presses on the SPC key.

When a transient state is active, a documentation is displayed in the transient state buffer. Additional information may as well be displayed in it.

Move Text Transient State:

Move Text Transient State

Who can benefit from this?

  • Elementary Vim users.
  • Vim users pursuing a beautiful appearance.
  • Vim users wanting to lower the risk of RSI.
  • Vim users wanting to learn a different way to edit files.
  • Vim users wanting a simple but deep configuration system.

Update and Rollback

Update SpaceVim itself

There are several methods of updating the core files of SpaceVim. It is recommended to update the packages first; see the next section.

Automatic Updates

By default, this feature is disabled. It would slow down the startup of Vim/Neovim. If you like this feature, add the following to your custom configuration file.

[options]
    automatic_update = true

SpaceVim will automatically check for a new version every startup. You have to restart Vim after updating.

Updating from the SpaceVim Buffer

Users can use command :SPUpdate SpaceVim to update SpaceVim. This command will open a new buffer to show the process of updating.

Updating Manually with git

For users who prefer to use the command line, they can use the following command in a terminal to update SpaceVim manually:

git -C ~/.SpaceVim pull

Update plugins

Use :SPUpdate command to update all the plugins and SpaceVim itself. After :SPUpdate, you can assign plugins need to be updated. Use Tab to complete plugin names after :SPUpdate.

Reinstall plugins

When a plugin has failed to update or is broken, Use the :SPReinstall command to reinstall the plugin. The plugin's name can be completed via the key binding <Tab>.

For example:

:SPReinstall echodoc.vim

Get SpaceVim log

The runtime log of SpaceVim can be obtained via the key binding SPC h L. To get the debug information about the current SpaceVim environment, Use the command :SPDebugInfo!. This command will open a new buffer where default information will be shown. You can also use SPC h I to open a buffer with SpaceVim's issue template.

Custom Configuration

The very first time SpaceVim starts up, it will ask you to choose a mode, basic mode or dark powered mode. then it will create a SpaceVim.d/init.toml in your HOME directory. All the configuration files can be stored in the ~/.SpaceVim.d/ directory.

~/.SpaceVim.d/ will be added to &runtimepath.

It is also possible to override the location of ~/.SpaceVim.d/ using the environment variable SPACEVIMDIR. Of course you can also use symlinks to change the location of this directory.

SpaceVim also supports project specific configuration files. The init file is .SpaceVim.d/init.toml in the root of your project. The local .SpaceVim.d/ will also be added to the &runtimepath.

All SpaceVim options can be found in :h SpaceVim-options, the key is the same as the option name without the g:spacevim_ prefix.

Comprehensive documentation is available in :h SpaceVim. Users can also use SPC h SPC to fuzzy find the documentation of SpaceVim options. This key binding requires one fuzzy finder layer to be loaded.

Add custom plugins

If you want to add plugins from github, just add the repo name to the custom_plugins section:

[[custom_plugins]]
    repo = "lilydjwg/colorizer"
    on_cmd = ["ColorHighlight", "ColorToggle"]
    merged = false

You can also use the url of the repository, for example:

[[custom_plugins]]
    repo = "https://gitlab.com/code-stats/code-stats-vim.git"
    merged = false

on_cmd option means this plugin will be loaded only when the following commands are called.

merged option is used for merging plugins directory. When merged is true, all files in this custom plugin will be merged into ~/.cache/vimfiles/.cache/init.vim/ for neovim or ~/.cache/vimfiles/.cache/vimrc/ for vim.

For more options see :h dein-options.

disable existing plugins

If you want to disable plugins which are added by SpaceVim, you can use SpaceVim disabled_plugins options:

[options]
    # NOTE: the value should be a list, and each item is the name of the plugin.
    disabled_plugins = ["clighter", "clighter8"]

Bootstrap Functions

SpaceVim provides two kinds of bootstrap functions for custom configurations and key bindings, namely bootstrap_before and bootstrap_after.

To enable them you need to add the following into ~/.SpaceVim.d/init.toml.

[options]
    bootstrap_before = 'myspacevim#before'
    bootstrap_after = 'myspacevim#after'

The difference is that the bootstrap before function will be called before SpaceVim core, and the bootstrap after function is called on autocmd VimEnter.

The bootstrap functions should be placed in the autoload directory in ~/.SpaceVim.d/. In our case, create file ~/.SpaceVim.d/autoload/myspacevim.vim with the following contents, for example:

function! myspacevim#before() abort
    let g:neomake_c_enabled_makers = ['clang']
    nnoremap jk <Esc>
endfunction

function! myspacevim#after() abort
    iunmap jk
endfunction

The bootstrap_before will be called after custom configuration file is loaded. And the bootstrap_after will be called after Vim Enter autocmd.

If you want to add custom SPC prefix key bindings, you can add them to bootstrap function, make sure the key bindings are not used in SpaceVim.

function! myspacevim#before() abort
    call SpaceVim#custom#SPCGroupName(['G'], '+TestGroup')
    call SpaceVim#custom#SPC('nore', ['G', 't'], 'echom 1', 'echomessage 1', 1)
endfunction

Similarly, if you want to add custom key bindings prefixed by language leader key, which is typically ,, you can add them to the boostrap function. Make sure that the key bindings are not used by SpaceVim.

function! myspacevim#before() abort
    call SpaceVim#custom#LangSPCGroupName('python', ['G'], '+TestGroup')
    call SpaceVim#custom#LangSPC('python', 'nore', ['G', 't'], 'echom 1', 'echomessage 1', 1)
endfunction

Vim compatible mode

The different key bindings between SpaceVim and vim are shown as below.

  • In vim the s key replaces the character under the cursor. In SpaceVim it is the Window key binding's specific leader in Normal mode. This leader can be changed via the windows_leader option which uses s as the default variable. If you still prefer the original function of s, you can use an empty string to disable this feature.

    [options]
    windows_leader = ''

  • In vim the , key repeats the last last f, F, t and T, but in SpaceVim it is the language specific Leader key. To disable this feature, set the option enable_language_specific_leader to false.

    [options]
    enable_language_specific_leader = false

  • In vim the q key does recording, but in SpaceVim it is used to close current window. The option for setting the key binding to close the current window is windows_smartclose, and the default value is q. If you prefer to use the original function of q, you can use an empty string to disable this feature.

    [options]
    windows_smartclose = ''

  • In SpaceVim the jk key (press j then k in succession) has been mapped to <Esc> in insert mode. To disable this key binding, set escape_key_binding to an empty string.

    [options]
    escape_key_binding = ''

  • In vim the Ctrl-a binding on the command line can auto-complete variable names, but in SpaceVim it moves to the cursor to the beginning of the command line.

  • In SpaceVim the Ctrl-b binding on the command line is mapped to <Left>, which will move cursor to the left.

  • In SpaceVim the Ctrl-f binding on the command line is mapped to <Right>, which will move cursor to the right.

SpaceVim provides a vimcompatible mode, in vimcompatible mode, all the differences above will disappear. You can enable the vimcompatible mode by adding vimcompatible = true to the [options] section.

If you want to disable any differences above, use the relevant options. For example, in order to disable language specific leader, you may add the following lines to your configuration file:

[options]
    enable_language_specific_leader = false

Send a PR to add the differences you found in this section.

Private Layers

This section is an overview of layers. A more extensive introduction to writing configuration layers can be found in SpaceVim's layers page (recommended reading!).

Purpose

Layers help collect related packages together to provide features. For example, the lang#python layer provides auto-completion, syntax checking, and REPL support for python files. This approach helps keep configurations organized and reduces overhead for users by keeping them from having to think about what packages to install. To install all the python features users only need to add the lang#python layer to their custom configuration file.

Structure

In SpaceVim, a layer is a single file. In a layer, for example, autocomplete layer, the file is autoload/SpaceVim/layers/autocomplete.vim, and there are three public functions:

  • SpaceVim#layers#autocomplete#plugins(): returns a list of the plugins used by this plugin
  • SpaceVim#layers#autocomplete#config(): The layer's configuration, such as key bindings and autocmds
  • SpaceVim#layers#autocomplete#set_variable(): Function for setting layer options
  • SpaceVim#layers#autocomplete#get_options(): Returns a list of all the available layer options

Debug upstream plugins

If you found out that one of the built-in plugins has bugs, and you want to debug it, You can follow these steps:

  1. Disable the plugin Take disabling neomake.vim for instance:
[options]
    disabled_plugins = ["neomake.vim"]
  1. Add a forked plugin or add a local plugin Use the toml file to load custom plugins:
[[custom_plugins]]
    repo = "wsdjeg/neomake.vim"
    # note: you need to disable merged feature
    merged = false

Use the bootstrap_before function to add the local plugin:

function! myspacevim#before() abort
    set rtp+=~/path/to/your/localplugin
endfunction

Interface elements

SpaceVim has a minimalistic and distraction free UI:

  • custom airline with color feedback according to current check status
  • custom icon in sign column and error feedbacks for checker.

Colorschemes

The default colorscheme of SpaceVim is gruvbox. There are two variants of this colorscheme, dark and light. Some aspects of these colorschemes can be customized in the custom configuration file, read :h gruvbox.

It is possible to change the colorscheme in ~/.SpaceVim.d/init.toml with the variable colorscheme. For instance, to specify desert:

[options]
    colorscheme = "desert"
    colorscheme_bg = "dark"
Mappings Descriptions
SPC T n switch to a random colorscheme listed in colorscheme layer.
SPC T s select a theme using a fuzzy finder.

All the included colorschemes can be found in colorscheme layer.

SpaceVim supports true colors in terminal, and it is disabled by default, to enable this feature, you should make sure your terminal supports true colors. For more information see: Colours in terminal.

If your terminal does not support true colors, you can disable SpaceVim true colors feature in [options] section:

enable_guicolors = false

Font

The default font used by SpaceVim is SourceCodePro Nerd Font Mono. It is recommended to install it on your system if you wish to use it.

To change the default font set the variable guifont in your ~/.SpaceVim.d/init.toml file. By default its value is:

guifont = "SourceCodePro Nerd Font Mono:h11"

If the specified font is not found, the fallback one will be used (depends on your system). Also note that changing this value has no effect if you are running Vim/Neovim in terminal.

Mouse

Mouse support is enabled in Normal mode and Visual mode by default. To change the default value, you need to use the bootstrap function.

For example, to disable mouse:

function! myspacevim#before() abort
    set mouse=
endfunction

Read :h 'mouse' for more info.

UI Toggles

Some UI indicators can be toggled on and off (toggles start with t and T):

Key Bindings Descriptions
SPC t 8 highlight characters past the 80th column
SPC t a toggle autocomplete (only available with autocomplete_method = deoplete)
SPC t f display the fill column (by default max_column is 120)
SPC t h h toggle highlight of the current line
SPC t h i toggle highlight indentation levels
SPC t h c toggle highlight current column
SPC t h s toggle syntax highlighting
SPC t i toggle indentation guide at point
SPC t n toggle line numbers
SPC t b toggle background
SPC t c toggle conceal
SPC t p toggle paste mode
SPC t t open tabs manager
SPC T ~ display ~ in the fringe on empty lines
SPC T F toggle frame fullscreen
SPC T f toggle display of the fringe
SPC T m toggle menu bar
SPC T t toggle tool bar

Statusline

The core#statusline layer provides a heavily customized powerline with the following capabilities:

  • show the window number
  • show the current mode
  • color code for current state
  • show the index of search results
  • toggle syntax checking info
  • toggle battery info
  • toggle minor mode lighters
  • show VCS information (branch, hunk summary) (requires git and VersionControl layers)
Key Bindings Descriptions
SPC [1-9] jump to the windows with the specific number

Reminder of the color codes for the states:

Mode Color
Normal Grey
Insert Blue
Visual Orange
Replace Aqua

All the colors are based on the current colorscheme.

Some elements can be dynamically toggled:

Key Bindings Descriptions
SPC t m b toggle the battery status (need to install acpi)
SPC t m c toggle the org task clock (available in org layer)(TODO)
SPC t m i toggle the input method
SPC t m m toggle the minor mode lighters
SPC t m M toggle the major mode
SPC t m n toggle the cat! (If colors layer is declared in your dotfile)(TODO)
SPC t m p toggle the cursor position
SPC t m t toggle the time
SPC t m d toggle the date
SPC t m T toggle the mode line itself
SPC t m v toggle the version control info

nerd font installation:

By default SpaceVim uses nerd-fonts, which can be downloaded from their website.

syntax checking integration:

When syntax checking minor mode is enabled, a new element appears showing the number of errors and warnings.

Search index integration:

Search index shows the number of occurrences when performing a search via / or ?. SpaceVim integrates the search status nicely by displaying it temporarily when n or N are being pressed. See the 20/22 segment in the screenshot below.

search status

Search index is provided by incsearch layer, to enable this layer:

[[layers]]
    name = "incsearch"

Battery status integration:

acpi displays the remaining battery percentage as well as the time remaining to charge or discharge the battery completely.

A color code is used for the battery status:

Battery State Color
Charging Green
Discharging Orange
Critical Red

All the colors are based on the current colorscheme.

Statusline separators:

It is possible to easily customize the statusline separator by setting the statusline_separator variable in your custom configuration file and then redraw the statusline. For instance, if you want to set the separator back to the well-known arrow separator, add the following snippet to your configuration file:

[options]
    statusline_separator = 'arrow'

Here is an exhaustive set of screenshots for all the available separators:

Separator Screenshot
arrow separator-arrow
curve separator-curve
slant separator-slant
nil separator-nil
fire separator-fire

Minor Modes:

The minor mode area can be toggled on and off with SPC t m m.

Unicode symbols are displayed by default. Add statusline_unicode_symbols = false to your custom configuration file to use ASCII characters instead (may be useful in the terminal if you cannot set an appropriate font).

The letters displayed in the statusline correspond to the key bindings used to toggle them.

Key Bindings Unicode ASCII Mode
SPC t 8 ⑧ 8 toggle character highlighting for long lines
SPC t f ⓕ f fill-column-indicator mode
SPC t s ⓢ s syntax checking (neomake)
SPC t S Ⓢ S enabled in spell checking
SPC t w ⓦ w whitespace mode (highlight trailing whitespace)

colorscheme of statusline:

By default SpaceVim only supports colorschemes included in colorscheme layer.

If you want to contribute a theme please check the template of a statusline theme.

" the theme colors should be
" [
"    \ [ a_guifg,  a_guibg,  a_ctermfg,  a_ctermbg],
"    \ [ b_guifg,  b_guibg,  b_ctermfg,  b_ctermbg],
"    \ [ c_guifg,  c_guibg,  c_ctermfg,  c_ctermbg],
"    \ [ z_guibg,  z_ctermbg],
"    \ [ i_guifg,  i_guibg,  i_ctermfg,  i_ctermbg],
"    \ [ v_guifg,  v_guibg,  v_ctermfg,  v_ctermbg],
"    \ [ r_guifg,  r_guibg,  r_ctermfg,  r_ctermbg],
"    \ [ ii_guifg, ii_guibg, ii_ctermfg, ii_ctermbg],
"    \ [ in_guifg, in_guibg, in_ctermfg, in_ctermbg],
" \ ]
" group_a: window id
" group_b/group_c: stausline sections
" group_z: empty area
" group_i: window id in insert mode
" group_v: window id in visual mode
" group_r: window id in select mode
" group_ii: window id in iedit-insert mode
" group_in: windows id in iedit-normal mode
function! SpaceVim#mapping#guide#theme#gruvbox#palette() abort
    return [
    \ ['#282828', '#a89984', 246, 235],
    \ ['#a89984', '#504945', 239, 246],
    \ ['#a89984', '#3c3836', 237, 246],
    \ ['#665c54', 241],
    \ ['#282828', '#83a598', 235, 109],
    \ ['#282828', '#fe8019', 235, 208],
    \ ['#282828', '#8ec07c', 235, 108],
    \ ['#282828', '#689d6a', 235, 72],
    \ ['#282828', '#8f3f71', 235, 132],
    \ ]
endfunction

This example is the gruvbox colorscheme, if you want to use same colors when switching between different colorschemes, you may need to set custom_color_palette in your custom configuration file. For example:

[options]
    custom_color_palette = [
        ["#282828", "#a89984", 246, 235],
        ["#a89984", "#504945", 239, 246],
        ["#a89984", "#3c3836", 237, 246],
        ["#665c54", 241],
        ["#282828", "#83a598", 235, 109],
        ["#282828", "#fe8019", 235, 208],
        ["#282828", "#8ec07c", 235, 108],
        ["#282828", "#689d6a", 235, 72],
        ["#282828", "#8f3f71", 235, 132],
    ]

Custom section

You can use the bootstrap function to add a custom section to the statusline, for example:

function! s:test_section() abort
  return 'ok'
endfunction
call SpaceVim#layers#core#statusline#register_sections('test', function('s:test_section'))

Then, add test section to statusline_right_sections option:

[options]
    statusline_right_sections = ['cursorpos', 'percentage', 'test']

Tabline

Buffers will be listed on the tabline if there is only one tab, each item contains the index, buffer name and the filetype icon. If there is more than one tab, all of them will be listed on the tabline. Each item can be quickly accessed by using <Leader> number. Default <Leader> is \.

Key Bindings Descriptions
<Leader> 1 Jump to index 1 on tabline
<Leader> 2 Jump to index 2 on tabline
<Leader> 3 Jump to index 3 on tabline
<Leader> 4 Jump to index 4 on tabline
<Leader> 5 Jump to index 5 on tabline
<Leader> 6 Jump to index 6 on tabline
<Leader> 7 Jump to index 7 on tabline
<Leader> 8 Jump to index 8 on tabline
<Leader> 9 Jump to index 9 on tabline
g r Switch to alternate tab (switch back and forth)

Note: SPC Tab is the key binding for switching to alternate buffer. Read Buffers and Files section for more info.

SpaceVim tabline also supports mouse click, the left mouse button will switch to the buffer, while the middle mouse button will delete the buffer.

NOTE: This feature is only supported in Neovim with has('tablineat').

Key Bindings Descriptions
<Mouse-left> Switch to the buffer
<Mouse-middle> Delete the buffer

Tab manager:

You can also use SPC t t to open the tab manager window.

Key bindings within the tab manager window:

Key Bindings Descriptions
o Close or expand tab windows.
r Rename the tab under the cursor.
n Create new named tab below the cursor tab
N Create new tab below the cursor tab
x Delete the tab
Ctrl-Shift-Up Move tab backward
Ctrl-Shift-Down Move tab forward
<Enter> Switch to the window under the cursor.

File tree

SpaceVim uses vimfiler as the default file tree, the default key binding is <F3>. SpaceVim also provides SPC f t and SPC f T to open the file tree.

To change the filemanager plugin:

[options]
    # file manager plugins supported in SpaceVim:
    # - vimfiler (default)
    # - nerdtree
    # - defx
    filemanager = "defx"

VCS integration is supported, there will be a column status, this feature may make vimfiler slow, so it is not enabled by default. To enable this feature, add enable_vimfiler_gitstatus = true to your custom configuration file. Here is a picture of this feature:

file-tree

There is also an option to configure the side of the file tree, by default it is right. To move the file tree to the left, you can use the filetree_direction option:

[options]
    filetree_direction = "left"

File tree navigation

Navigation is centered on the hjkl keys with the hope of providing a fast navigation experience like in vifm:

Key Bindings Descriptions
<F3> / SPC f t Toggle file explorer
with in file tree
<Left> / h go to parent node and collapse expanded directory
<Down> / j select next file or directory
<Up> / k select previous file or directory
<Right> / l open selected file or expand directory
N Create new file under cursor
r Rename the file under cursor
d Delete the file under cursor
K Create new directory under cursor
y y Copy file full path to system clipboard
y Y Copy file to system clipboard
P Paste file to the position under the cursor
. Toggle hidden files
s v Split edit
s g Vertical split edit
p Preview
i Switch to directory history
v Quick look
g x Execute with vimfiler associated
' Toggle mark current line
V Clear all marks
> increase filetree screenwidth
< decrease filetree screenwidth
<Home> Jump to first line
<End> Jump to last line
Ctrl-Home Switch to project root directory
Ctrl-r Redraw

Open file with file tree.

If only one file buffer is opened, a file is opened in the active window, otherwise we need to use vim-choosewin to select a window to open the file.

Key Bindings Descriptions
l / <Enter> open file in one window
s g open file in a vertically split window
s v open file in a horizontally split window

General usage

The following key bindings are the general key bindings for moving the cursor.

Key Bindings Descriptions
h move cursor left
j move cursor down
k move cursor up
l move cursor right
<Up>, <Down> Smart up and down
H move cursor to the top of the screen
L move cursor to the bottom of the screen
< Indent to left and re-select
> Indent to right and re-select
} paragraphs forward
{ paragraphs backward
Ctrl-f Smart page forward (Ctrl-f / Ctrl-d)
Ctrl-b Smart page backward (C-b / C-u)
Ctrl-e Smart scroll down (3 Ctrl-e/j)
Ctrl-y Smart scroll up (3Ctrl-y/k)

Native functions

When vimcompatible is not enabled, some native key bindings of vim has been overrided. To use them, SpaceVim provides alternate key bindings:

Key bindings Mode Action
<Leader> q r Normal Same as native q
<Leader> q r / Normal Same as native q /, open cmdwin
<Leader> q r ? Normal Same as native q ?, open cmdwin
<Leader> q r : Normal Same as native q :, open cmdwin

Command line mode key bindings

After pressing :, you can switch to command line mode, here is a list of key bindings can be used in command line mode:

Key bindings Descriptions
Ctrl-a move cursor to beginning
Ctrl-b Move cursor backward in command line
Ctrl-f Move cursor forward in command line
Ctrl-w delete a whole word
Ctrl-u remove all text before cursor
Ctrl-k remove all text after cursor
Ctrl-c/Esc cancel command line mode
Tab next item in popup menu
Shift-Tab previous item in popup menu

Mappings guide

A guide buffer is displayed each time the prefix key is pressed in normal mode. It lists the available key bindings and their short descriptions. The prefix can be [SPC], [WIN] and <Leader>.

The prefixes are mapped to the following keys by default:

Prefix name Custom options and default values Descriptions
[SPC] NONE / <Space> default mapping prefix of SpaceVim
[WIN] windows_leader / s window mapping prefix of SpaceVim
<Leader> default vim leader default leader prefix of vim/Neovim

The default value of <Leader> is \, if you want to change this key, you need to use the bootstrap function. For example, to use , as the <Leader> key:

function! myspacevim#before() abort
    let g:mapleader = ','
endfunction

NOTE: When modifying the variable g:mapleader in a function. you can not omit the variable's scope. Because the default scope of a variable in function is l:. It seems different from what you see in vim help :h mapleader.

By default the guide buffer will be displayed 1000ms after the keys being pressed. You can change the delay by adding vim option 'timeoutlen' to your bootstrap function.

For example, after pressing <Space> in normal mode, you will see:

mapping-guide

This guide shows you all the available key bindings that begin with [SPC], you can type b for all the buffer mappings, p for project mappings, etc.

After pressing Ctrl-h in guide buffer, you will get paging and help info in the statusline.

Keys Descriptions
u undo pressing
n next page of guide buffer
p previous page of guide buffer

Use SpaceVim#custom#SPC() to define custom SPC mappings. For instance:

call SpaceVim#custom#SPC('nnoremap', ['f', 't'], 'echom "hello world"', 'test custom SPC', 1)

Fuzzy find key bindings

It is possible to search for specific key bindings by pressing ? in the root of the guide buffer.

To narrow the list down, just insert the mapping keys or descriptions of what mappings you want, Unite/Denite will fuzzy find the mappings, to find buffer related mappings:

unite-mapping

Then use <Tab> or <Up> and <Down> to select the mapping, press <Enter> to execute that command.

Editing

Moving text

Key Action
> / Tab Indent to right and re-select
< / Shift-Tab Indent to left and re-select
Ctrl-Shift-Up move lines up
Ctrl-Shift-Down move lines down

Code indentation

The default indentation of code is 2, which is controlled by the option default_indent. If you prefer to use 4 as code indentation. Just add the following snippet to SpaceVim's configuration file:

[options]
    default_indent = 4

The default_indent option will be applied to vim's &tabstop, &softtabstop and &shiftwidth options. By default, when the user inserts a <Tab>, it will be expanded to spaces. This feature can be disabled by expand_tab option.

[options]
    default_indent = 4
    expand_tab = true

Text manipulation commands

Text related commands (start with x):

Key Bindings Descriptions
SPC x a # align region at #
SPC x a % align region at %
SPC x a & align region at &
SPC x a ( align region at (
SPC x a ) align region at )
SPC x a [ align region at [
SPC x a ] align region at ]
SPC x a { align region at {
SPC x a } align region at }
SPC x a , align region at ,
SPC x a . align region at . (for numeric tables)
SPC x a : align region at :
SPC x a ; align region at ;
SPC x a = align region at =
SPC x a ¦ align region at ¦
`SPC x a `
SPC x a SPC align region at [SPC]
SPC x a a align region (or guessed section) using default rules (TODO)
SPC x a c align current indentation region using default rules (TODO)
SPC x a l left-align with evil-lion (TODO)
SPC x a L right-align with evil-lion (TODO)
SPC x a r align region at user-specified regexp
SPC x a o align region at operators +-*/ etc
SPC x c count the number of chars/words/lines in the selection region
SPC x d w delete trailing whitespace
SPC x d SPC Delete all spaces and tabs around point, leaving one space
SPC x g l set languages used by translate commands (TODO)
SPC x g t translate current word using Google Translate
SPC x g T reverse source and target languages (TODO)
SPC x i c change symbol style to lowerCamelCase
SPC x i C change symbol style to UpperCamelCase
SPC x i i cycle symbol naming styles (i to keep cycling)
SPC x i - change symbol style to kebab-case
SPC x i k change symbol style to kebab-case
SPC x i _ change symbol style to under_score
SPC x i u change symbol style to under_score
SPC x i U change symbol style to UP_CASE
SPC x j c set the justification to center
SPC x j f set the justification to full (TODO)
SPC x j l set the justification to left
SPC x j n set the justification to none (TODO)
SPC x j r set the justification to right
SPC x J move down a line of text (enter transient state)
SPC x K move up a line of text (enter transient state)
SPC x l d duplicate a line or region
SPC x l s sort lines (ignorecase)
SPC x l S sort lines (case-senstive)
SPC x l u uniquify lines (ignorecase)
SPC x l U uniquify lines (case-senstive)
SPC x o use avy to select a link in the frame and open it (TODO)
SPC x O use avy to select multiple links in the frame and open them (TODO)
SPC x t c swap (transpose) the current character with the previous one
SPC x t C swap (transpose) the current character with the next one
SPC x t w swap (transpose) the current word with the previous one
SPC x t W swap (transpose) the current word with the next one
SPC x t l swap (transpose) the current line with the previous one
SPC x t L swap (transpose) the current line with the next one
SPC x u lowercase text
SPC x U uppercase text
SPC x ~ toggle case text
SPC x w c count the words in the select region
SPC x w d show dictionary entry of word from wordnik.com (TODO)
SPC x <Tab> indent or dedent a region rigidly (TODO)

Text insertion commands

Text insertion commands (start with i):

Key bindings Descriptions
SPC i l l insert lorem-ipsum list
SPC i l p insert lorem-ipsum paragraph
SPC i l s insert lorem-ipsum sentence
SPC i p 1 insert simple password
SPC i p 2 insert stronger password
SPC i p 3 insert password for paranoids
SPC i p p insert a phonetically easy password
SPC i p n insert a numerical password
SPC i u Search for Unicode characters and insert them into the active buffer.
SPC i U 1 insert UUIDv1 (use universal argument to insert with CID format)
SPC i U 4 insert UUIDv4 (use universal argument to insert with CID format)
SPC i U U insert UUIDv4 (use universal argument to insert with CID format)

Tip: You can specify the number of password characters using a prefix argument (i.e. 10 SPC i p 1 will generate a 10 character simple password).

Expand regions of text

Key bindings available in visual mode:

Key bindings Descriptions
v expand visual selection of text to larger region
V shrink visual selection of text to smaller region

Increase/Decrease numbers

Key Bindings Descriptions
SPC n + increase the number under the cursor by one and initiate transient state
SPC n - decrease the number under the cursor by one and initiate transient state

In transient state:

Key Bindings Descriptions
+ increase the number under the cursor by one
- decrease the number under the cursor by one
Any other key leave the transient state

Tip: You can set the step (1 by default) by using a prefix argument (i.e. 10 SPC n + will add 10 to the number under the cursor).

Copy and paste

If has('unnamedplus'), the register used by <Leader> y is +, otherwise it is *. Read :h registers for more info about other registers.

Key Descriptions
<Leader> y Copy text to system clipboard
<Leader> p Paste text from system clipboard after here
<Leader> P Paste text from system clipboard before here
<Leader> Y Copy text to pastebin

The <Leader> Y key binding will copy selected text to a pastebin server. It requires curl in your $PATH. The default command is:

curl -s -F "content=<-" http://dpaste.com/api/v2/

This command will read stdin and copy it to dpaste server. It is same as:

echo "selected text" | curl -s -F "content=<-" http://dpaste.com/api/v2/

Commenting

Comments are handled by nerdcommenter, it’s bound to the following keys.

Key Bindings Descriptions
SPC ; comment operator
SPC c a switch to the alternative set of delimiters
SPC c h hide/show comments
SPC c l toggle line comments
SPC c L comment lines
SPC c u uncomment lines
SPC c p toggle paragraph comments
SPC c P comment paragraphs
SPC c s comment with pretty layout
SPC c t toggle comment on line
SPC c T comment the line under the cursor
SPC c y toggle comment and yank
SPC c Y yank and comment
SPC c $ comment current line from cursor to the end of the line

Tip: SPC ; will start operator mode, in this mode, you can use a motion command to comment lines. For example, SPC ; 4 j will comment the current line and the following 4 lines.

Undo tree

Undo tree visualizes the undo history and makes it easier to browse and switch between different undo branches. The default key binding is F7. If +python or +python3 is enabled, mundo will be loaded, otherwise undotree will be loaded.

Key bindings within undo tree windows:

key bindings description
G move bottom
J move older write
K move newer write
N previous match
P play to
<2-LeftMouse> mouse click
/ search
<CR> preview
d diff
<down> move older
<up> move newer
i toggle inline
j move older
k move newer
n next match
o preview
p diff current buffer
q quit
r diff
gg move top
? toggle help

Multi-Encodings

SpaceVim uses utf-8 as the default encoding. There are four options for this:

  • fileencodings (fencs): ucs-bom,utf-8,default,latin1
  • fileencoding (fenc): utf-8
  • encoding (enc): utf-8
  • termencoding (tenc): utf-8 (only supported in Vim)

To fix a messy display: SPC e a is the mapping to auto detect the file encoding. After detecting the file encoding, you can run the command below to fix it:

set enc=utf-8
write

Window manager

Window manager key bindings can only be used in normal mode. The default leader [WIN] is s, you can change it via windows_leader option:

[options]
    windows_leader = "s"
Key Bindings Descriptions
q Smart buffer close
WIN v :split
WIN V Split with previous buffer
WIN g :vsplit
WIN G Vertically split with previous buffer
WIN t Open new tab (:tabnew)
WIN o Close other windows (:only)
WIN x Remove buffer, leave blank window
WIN q Remove current buffer
WIN Q Close current buffer (:close)
Shift-Tab Switch to alternate window (switch back and forth)

SpaceVim has mapped normal q (record a macro) as smart buffer close, and record a macro (vim's q) has been mapped to <Leader> q r, if you want to disable this feature, you can use vimcompatible mode.

General Editor windows

Key Bindings Descriptions
<F2> Toggle tagbar
<F3> Toggle Vimfiler
Ctrl-Down Move to split below (Ctrl-w j)
Ctrl-Up Move to upper split (Ctrl-w k)
Ctrl-Left Move to left split (Ctrl-w h)
Ctrl-Right Move to right split (Ctrl-w l)

Window manipulation key bindings

Every window has a number displayed at the start of the statusline and can be quickly accessed using SPC number.

Key Bindings Descriptions
SPC 1 go to window number 1
SPC 2 go to window number 2
SPC 3 go to window number 3
SPC 4 go to window number 4
SPC 5 go to window number 5
SPC 6 go to window number 6
SPC 7 go to window number 7
SPC 8 go to window number 8
SPC 9 go to window number 9

Windows manipulation commands (start with w):

Key Bindings Descriptions
SPC w . windows transient state
SPC w <Tab> switch to alternate window in the current frame (switch back and forth)
SPC w = balance split windows
SPC w b force the focus back to the minibuffer (TODO)
SPC w c Distraction-free reading current window (tools layer)
SPC w C Distraction-free reading other windows via vim-choosewin (tools layer)
SPC w d delete a window
SPC u SPC w d delete a window and its current buffer (does not delete the file) (TODO)
SPC w D delete another window using vim-choosewin
SPC u SPC w D delete another window and its current buffer using vim-choosewin (TODO)
SPC w t toggle window dedication (dedicated window cannot be reused by a mode) (TODO)
SPC w f toggle follow mode
SPC w F create new tab
SPC w h move to window on the left
SPC w H move window to the left
SPC w j move to window below
SPC w J move window to the bottom
SPC w k move to window above
SPC w K move window to the top
SPC w l move to window on the right
SPC w L move window to the right
SPC w m maximize/minimize a window (maximize is equivalent to delete other windows) (TODO, now only support maximize)
SPC w M swap windows using vim-choosewin
SPC w o cycle and focus between tabs
SPC w p m open messages buffer in a popup window (TODO)
SPC w p p close the current sticky popup window (TODO)
SPC w r rotate windows forward
SPC w R rotate windows backward
SPC w s / SPC w - horizontal split
SPC w S horizontal split and focus new window
SPC w u undo window layout
SPC w U redo window layout
SPC w v / SPC w / vertical split
SPC w V vertical split and focus new window
SPC w w cycle and focus between windows
SPC w W select window using vim-choosewin
SPC w x exchange current window with next one

Buffers and Files

Buffers manipulation key bindings

Buffer manipulation commands (start with b):

Key Bindings Descriptions
SPC <Tab> switch to alternate buffer in the current window (switch back and forth)
SPC b . buffer transient state
SPC b b switch to a buffer (via denite/unite)
SPC b d kill the current buffer (does not delete the visited file)
SPC u SPC b d kill the current buffer and window (does not delete the visited file) (TODO)
SPC b D kill a visible buffer using vim-choosewin
SPC u SPC b D kill a visible buffer and its window using ace-window(TODO)
SPC b Ctrl-d kill other buffers
SPC b Ctrl-D kill buffers using a regular expression(TODO)
SPC b e erase the content of the buffer (ask for confirmation)
SPC b h open SpaceVim home buffer
SPC b n switch to next buffer avoiding special buffers
SPC b m open Messages buffer
SPC u SPC b m kill all buffers and windows except the current one(TODO)
SPC b p switch to previous buffer avoiding special buffers
SPC b P copy clipboard and replace buffer (useful when pasting from a browser)
SPC b R revert the current buffer (reload from disk)
SPC b s switch to the scratch buffer (create it if needed)
SPC b w toggle read-only (writable state)
SPC b Y copy whole buffer to clipboard (useful when copying to a browser)
z f Make current function or comments visible in buffer as much as possible (TODO)

Create a new empty buffer

Key Bindings Descriptions
SPC b N h create new empty buffer in a new window on the left
SPC b N j create new empty buffer in a new window at the bottom
SPC b N k create new empty buffer in a new window above
SPC b N l create new empty buffer in a new window below
SPC b N n create new empty buffer in current window

Special Buffers

Buffers created by plugins are not normal files, and they will not be listed on tabline. And also will not be listed by SPC b b key binding in fuzzy finder layer.

File manipulation key bindings

Files manipulation commands (start with f):

Key Bindings Descriptions
SPC f / Find files with find or fd command
SPC f b go to file bookmarks
SPC f c copy current file to a different location(TODO)
SPC f C d convert file from unix to dos encoding
SPC f C u convert file from dos to unix encoding
SPC f D delete a file and the associated buffer with confirmation
SPC f E open a file with elevated privileges (sudo layer) (TODO)
SPC f W save a file with elevated privileges (sudo layer)
SPC f f open file
SPC f F try to open the file under point
SPC f o Find current file in file tree
SPC f R rename the current file(TODO)
SPC f s save a file
SPC f S save all files
SPC f r open a recent file
SPC f t toggle file tree side bar
SPC f T show file tree side bar
SPC f d toggle disk manager in Windows OS
SPC f y show and copy current file absolute path in the cmdline
SPC f Y show and copy remote url of current file

NOTE: If you are using Windows, you need to install findutils or fd. If you are using scoop to install packages, the commands in C:\WINDOWS\system32 will override the User PATH, so you need to put the scoop binary path before C:\WINDOWS\system32 in PATH.

After pressing SPC f /, the find window will be opened. It is going to run find or fd command asynchronously. By default, find is the default tool, you can use ctrl-e to switch tools.

find

To change the default file searching tool, you can use file_searching_tools option. It is [] by default.

[options]
    file_searching_tools = ['find', 'find -not -iwholename "*.git*" ']

The first item is the name of the tool, the second one is the default searching command.

Vim and SpaceVim files

Convenient key bindings are located under the prefix SPC f v to quickly navigate between Vim and SpaceVim specific files.

Key Bindings Descriptions
SPC f v v display and copy SpaceVim version
SPC f v d open SpaceVim custom configuration file

Available layers

All layers can be easily discovered via :SPLayer -l accessible with SPC h l.

Available plugins in SpaceVim

All plugins can be easily discovered via <Leader> f p.

Fuzzy finder

Fuzzy finder provides a variety of efficient content searching key bindings, including file searching, outline searching, vim messages searching and register content searching.

SpaceVim provides five fuzzy find tools, each of them is configured in a layer (unite, denite, leaderf, ctrlp and fzf layer).

These layers have the same key bindings and features. But they need different dependencies.

Users only need to load one of these layers to be able to get these features.

for example, to load the denite layer:

[[layers]]
    name = "denite"

Key bindings

Key bindings Discription
<Leader> f <Space> Fuzzy find menu:CustomKeyMaps
<Leader> f p Fuzzy find menu:AddedPlugins
<Leader> f e Fuzzy find register
<Leader> f h Fuzzy find history/yank
<Leader> f j Fuzzy find jump, change
<Leader> f l Fuzzy find location list
<Leader> f m Fuzzy find output messages
<Leader> f o Fuzzy find outline
<Leader> f q Fuzzy find quick fix
<Leader> f r Resumes Unite window

Differences between these layers

The above key bindings are only part of fuzzy finder layers, please read the layers's documentations.

Feature denite unite leaderf ctrlp fzf
CustomKeyMaps menu yes yes yes no no
AddedPlugins menu yes yes yes no no
register yes yes yes yes yes
file yes yes yes yes yes
yank history yes yes yes no yes
jump yes yes yes yes yes
location list yes yes yes no yes
outline yes yes yes yes yes
message yes yes yes no yes
quickfix list yes yes yes yes yes
resume windows yes yes yes no no

Key bindings within the fuzzy finder buffer

Key Bindings Descriptions
<Tab> / Ctrl-j Select next line
Shift-Tab / Ctrl-k Select previous line
<Esc> Leave Insert mode
Ctrl-w Delete backward path
Ctrl-u Delete whole line before cursor
<Enter> Run default action
Ctrl-s Open in a split
Ctrl-v Open in a vertical split
Ctrl-t Open in a new tab
Ctrl-g Close fuzzy finder

With an external tool

SpaceVim can be interfaced with different searching tools like:

The search commands in SpaceVim are organized under the SPC s prefix with the next key being the tool to use and the last key is the scope. For instance, SPC s a b will search in all opened buffers using ag.

If the last key (determining the scope) is uppercase then the current word under the cursor is used as default input for the search. For instance, SPC s a B will search for the word under the cursor.

If the tool key is omitted then a default tool will be automatically selected for the search. This tool corresponds to the first tool found on the system from the list search_tools, the default order is ['rg', 'ag', 'pt', 'ack', 'grep', 'findstr', 'git']. For instance SPC s b will search in the opened buffers using pt if rg and ag have not been found on the system.

The tool keys are:

Tool Key
ag a
grep g
git grep G
ack k
rg r
pt t

The available scopes and corresponding keys are:

Scope Key
opened buffers b
buffer directory d
files in a given directory f
current project p

Notes:

  • rg, ag and pt are optimized to be used in a source control repository but they can be used in an arbitrary directory as well.
  • It is also possible to search in several directories at once by marking them in the unite buffer.

Beware if you use pt, TCL parser tools also install a command line tool called pt.

Custom searching tool

To change the options of a search tool, you need to use the bootstrap function. The following example shows how to change the default option of searching tool rg.

function! myspacevim#before() abort
    let profile = SpaceVim#mapping#search#getprofile('rg')
    let default_opt = profile.default_opts + ['--no-ignore-vcs']
    call SpaceVim#mapping#search#profile({'rg' : {'default_opts' : default_opt}})
endfunction

The structure of searching tool profile is:

" { 'ag' : {
"   'namespace' : '',         " a single char a-z
"   'command' : '',           " executable
"   'default_opts' : [],      " default options
"   'recursive_opt' : [],     " default recursive options
"   'expr_opt' : '',          " option to enable expr mode
"   'fixed_string_opt' : '',  " option to enable fixed string mode
"   'ignore_case' : '',       " option to enable ignore case mode
"   'smart_case' : '',        " option to enable smart case mode
"   }
"  }

Useful key bindings

Key Bindings Descriptions
SPC r l resume the last completion buffer
SPC s ` go back to the previous place before jump
Prefix argument will ask for file extensions

Summary

The following table summurizes the search key bindings:

Key Bindings Descriptions
SPC s <scope> Search using the first found tool
SPC s a <scope> Search using ag
SPC s g <scope> Search using grep
SPC s G <scope> Search using git-grep
SPC s k <scope> Search using ack
SPC s r <scope> Search using rg
SPC s t <scope> Search using pt
SPC s / Search in the project on the fly using the default tools
SPC s w g Search google (opens search results in a browser) (TODO)
SPC s w w Search wikipedia (opens search results in a browser) (TODO)

With <scope> being one of the following:

Scope Description
b All open buffers
d Current buffer's directory
f Arbitrary directory
p Current project
s Current buffer
j Background search in the project

Notes:

  • A capital letter may be used for <scope> to search for the word under the cursor.
  • To enable google suggestions, you need to add enable_googlesuggest = 1 to your custom configurations file.

Hint: It is also possible to search in a project without having to open a file beforehand. To do so use [SPC] p p and then C-s on a given project to directly search into it like with [SPC] s p. (TODO)

Key bindings in FlyGrep buffer:

Key Bindings Descriptions
<Esc> close FlyGrep buffer
<Enter> open file at the cursor line
Ctrl-t open item in new tab
Ctrl-s open item in split window
Ctrl-v open item in vertical split window
Ctrl-q apply all items into quickfix
<Tab> move cursor line down
Shift-<Tab> move cursor line up
<BackSpace> remove last character
Ctrl-w remove the Word before the cursor
Ctrl-u remove the Line before the cursor
Ctrl-k remove the Line after the cursor
Ctrl-a / <Home> Go to the beginning of the line
Ctrl-e / <End> Go to the end of the line

Persistent highlighting

SpaceVim uses search_highlight_persist to keep the searched expression highlighted until the next search. It is also possible to clear the highlighting by pressing [SPC] s c or executing the ex command :noh.

Getting help

Fuzzy finder layer is powerful tool to unite all interfaces. It is meant to be like Helm for Vim. These mappings are for getting help info about functions, variables etc:

Key Bindings Descriptions
SPC h SPC discover SpaceVim documentation, layers and packages using fuzzy finder layer
SPC h i get help with the symbol at point
SPC h k show top-level bindings with which-key
SPC h m search available man pages

Reporting an issue:

Key Bindings Descriptions
SPC h I Open SpaceVim GitHub issue template with pre-filled information

Unimpaired bindings

Mappings Descriptions
[ SPC Insert space above
] SPC Insert space below
[ b Go to previous buffer
] b Go to next buffer
[ n Go to previous conflict marker
] n Go to next conflict marker
[ f Go to previous file in directory
] f Go to next file in directory
[ l Go to the previous error
] l Go to the next error
[ c Go to the previous vcs hunk (need VersionControl layer)
] c Go to the next vcs hunk (need VersionControl layer)
[ q Go to the previous error
] q Go to the next error
[ t Go to the previous frame
] t Go to the next frame
[ w Go to the previous window
] w Go to the next window
[ e Move line up
] e Move line down
[ p Paste above current line
] p Paste below current line
g p Select pasted text

Jumping, Joining and Splitting

The SPC j prefix is for jumping, joining and splitting.

Jumping

Key Bindings Descriptions
SPC j 0 go to the beginning of line (and set a mark at the previous location in the line)
SPC j $ go to the end of line (and set a mark at the previous location in the line)
SPC j b jump backward
SPC j f jump forward
SPC j d jump to a listing of the current directory
SPC j D jump to a listing of the current directory (other window)
SPC j i jump to a definition in buffer (denite outline)
SPC j I jump to a definition in any buffer (denite outline)
SPC j j jump to a character in the buffer (easymotion)
SPC j J jump to a suite of two characters in the buffer (easymotion)
SPC j k jump to next line and indent it using auto-indent rules
SPC j l jump to a line with avy (easymotion)
SPC j q show the dumb-jump quick look tooltip (TODO)
SPC j u jump to a URL in the current window
SPC j v jump to the definition/declaration of an Emacs Lisp variable (TODO)
SPC j w jump to a word in the current buffer (easymotion)

Joining and splitting

Key Bindings Descriptions
J join the current line with the next line
SPC j o join a code block into a single-line statement
SPC j m split a one-liner into multiple lines
SPC j k go to next line and indent it using auto-indent rules
SPC j n split the current line at point, insert a new line and auto-indent
SPC j o split the current line at point but let point on current line
SPC j s split a quoted string or s-expression in place
SPC j S split a quoted string or s-expression with \n, and auto-indent the new line

Other key bindings

Commands starting with g

After pressing prefix g in normal mode, if you do not remember the mappings, you will see the guide which contains short descriptions of all the mappings starting with g.

Key Bindings Descriptions
g # search under cursor backward
g $ go to rightmost character
g & repeat last ":s" on all lines
g ' jump to mark
g * search under cursor forward
g + newer text state
g , newer position in change list
g - older text state
g / stay incsearch
g 0 go to leftmost character
g ; older position in change list
g < last page of previous command output
g <Home> go to leftmost character
g E end of previous word
g F edit file under cursor(jump to line after name)
g H select line mode
g I insert text in column 1
g J join lines without space
g N visually select previous match
g Q switch to Ex mode
g R enter VREPLACE mode
g T previous tag page
g U make motion text uppercase
g ] tselect cursor tag
g ^ go to leftmost no-white character
g _ go to last char
g ` jump to mark
g a print ascii value of cursor character
g d goto definition
g e go to end of previous word
g f edit file under cursor
g g go to line N
g h select mode
g i insert text after '^ mark
g j move cursor down screen line
g k move cursor up screen line
g m go to middle of screenline
g n visually select next match
g o goto byte N in the buffer
g p Select last paste
g s sleep N seconds
g t next tag page
g u make motion text lowercase
g ~ swap case for Nmove text
g <End> go to rightmost character
g Ctrl-g show cursor info

Commands starting with z

After pressing prefix z in normal mode, if you do not remember the mappings, you will see the guide which contains short descriptions of all the mappings starting with z.

Key Bindings Descriptions
z <Right> scroll screen N characters to left
z + cursor to screen top line N
z - cursor to screen bottom line N
z . cursor line to center
z <Enter> cursor line to top
z = spelling suggestions
z A toggle folds recursively
z C close folds recursively
z D delete folds recursively
z E eliminate all folds
z F create a fold for N lines
z G mark good spelled (update internal wordlist)
z H scroll half a screenwidth to the right
z L scroll half a screenwidth to the left
z M set foldlevel to zero
z N set foldenable
z O open folds recursively
z R set foldlevel to deepest fold
z W mark wrong spelled (update internal wordlist)
z X re-apply foldlevel
z ^ cursor to screen bottom line N
z a toggle a fold
z b redraw, cursor line at bottom
z c close a fold
z d delete a fold
z e right scroll horizontally to cursor position
z f create a fold for motion
z g mark good spelled
z h scroll screen N characters to right
z i toggle foldenable
z j mode to start of next fold
z k mode to end of previous fold
z l scroll screen N characters to left
z m subtract one from foldlevel
z n reset foldenable
z o open fold
z r add one to foldlevel
z s left scroll horizontally to cursor position
z t cursor line at top of window
z v open enough folds to view cursor line
z w mark wrong spelled
z x re-apply foldlevel and do "zV"
z z smart scroll
z <Left> scroll screen N characters to right

Advanced usage

Managing projects

When you open a file, SpaceVim will change the current directory to the root directory of the project that contains this file. The project's root directory detection is based on the project_rooter_patterns option, and the default value is:

[options]
    project_rooter_patterns = ['.git/', '_darcs/', '.hg/', '.bzr/', '.svn/']

The project manager will find the outermost directory by default. To find the nearest directory instead, you need to change project_rooter_outermost to false:

[options]
    project_rooter_patterns = ['.git/', '_darcs/', '.hg/', '.bzr/', '.svn/']
    project_rooter_outermost = false

Sometimes we want to ignore some directories when detecting the project root directory. To do that add a ! prefix before the pattern. For example, to ignore the node_packages/ directory:

[options]
    project_rooter_patterns = ['.git/', '_darcs/', '.hg/', '.bzr/', '.svn/', '!node_packages/']
    project_rooter_outermost = false

You can also disable project root detection completely (i.e. vim will set the root directory to the present working directory):

[options]
    project_rooter_automatically = false

Project manager commands start with p:

Key Bindings Descriptions
SPC p ' open a shell in project’s root (need the shell layer)

Searching files in project

Key Bindings Descriptions
SPC p f find files in current project
SPC p F find cursor file in current project
SPC p / fuzzy search for text in current project
SPC p k kill all buffers of current project
SPC p p list all projects

SPC p p will list all the projects history cross vim sessions. By default only 20 projects will be listed. To increase it, you can change the value of projects_cache_num.

To disable the cross session cache, change enable_projects_cache to false.

[options]
    enable_projects_cache = true
    projects_cache_num = 20

Custom alternate file

To manage the alternate file of the project, you need to create a .project_alt.json file in the root of your project. Then you can use the command :A to jump to the alternate file of current file. You can also specific the type of alternate file, for example :A doc. With a bang :A!, SpaceVim will parse the configuration file additionally. If no type is specified, the default type alternate will be used.

here is an example of .project_alt.json:

{
  "autoload/SpaceVim/layers/lang/*.vim": {
    "doc": "docs/layers/lang/{}.md",
    "test": "test/layer/lang/{}.vader"
  }
}

instead of using .project_alt.json, b:alternate_file_config can be used in bootstrap function, for example:

augroup myspacevim
    autocmd!
    autocmd BufNewFile,BufEnter *.c let b:alternate_file_config = {
        \ "src/*.c" : {
            \ "doc" : "docs/{}.md",
            \ "alternate" : "include/{}.h",
            \ }
        \ }
    autocmd BufNewFile,BufEnter *.h let b:alternate_file_config = {
        \ "include/*.h" : {
            \ "alternate" : "scr/{}.c",
            \ }
        \ }
augroup END

Bookmarks management

Bookmarks manager is included in tools layer, to use the following key bindings, you need to enable the tools layer:

[[layers]]
    name = "tools"
Key Bindings Descriptions
m a Show list of all bookmarks
m c Removes bookmarks for current buffer
m m Toggle bookmark in current line
m n Jump to next bookmark
m p Jump to previous bookmark
m i Annotate bookmark

As SpaceVim uses the above mappings, you cannot use the a, c, m, n, p or i registers to mark the current position, but other registers should work well. If you really need to use these registers, you can map <Leader> m to m in your bootstrap function, then you can use the registers via <Leader> m <register>.

function! myspacevim#before() abort
    nnoremap <silent><Leader>m m
endfunction

Tasks

To integrate with external tools, SpaceVim introduced a task manager system, which is similar to VSCode's tasks-manager. There are two kinds of task configurations file:

  • ~/.SpaceVim.d/tasks.toml: global tasks configuration
  • .SpaceVim.d/tasks.toml: project local tasks configuration

The tasks defined in the global tasks configuration can be overrided by project local tasks configuration.

Key Bindings Descriptions
SPC p t e edit tasks configuration file
SPC p t r select task to run
SPC p t l list all available tasks

task_manager

Custom tasks

This is a basic task configuration for running echo hello world, and print the results to the runner window.

[my-task]
    command = 'echo'
    args = ['hello world']

task hello world

To run the task in the background, you need to set isBackground to true:

[my-task]
    command = 'echo'
    args = ['hello world']
    isBackground = true

The following task properties are available:

Name Description
command The actual command to execute.
args The arguments passed to the command, it should be a list of strings and may be omitted.
options Override the defaults for cwd,env or shell.
isBackground Specifies whether the task should run in the background. by default, it is false.
description Short description of the task
problemMatcher Problems matcher of the task

Note: When a new task is executed, it will kill the previous task. If you want to keep the task, run it in background by setting isBackground to true.

SpaceVim supports variable substitution in the task properties, The following predefined variables are supported:

Name Description
${workspaceFolder} The project's root directory
${workspaceFolderBasename} The name of current project's root directory
${file} The path of current file
${relativeFile} The current file relative to project root
${relativeFileDirname} The current file's dirname relative to workspaceFolder
${fileBasename} The current file's basename
${fileBasenameNoExtension} The current file's basename without file extension
${fileDirname} The current file's dirname
${fileExtname} The current file's extension
${cwd} The task runner's current working directory on startup
${lineNumber} The current selected line number in the active file

For example: Supposing that you have the following requirements:

A file located at /home/your-username/your-project/folder/file.ext opened in your editor; The directory /home/your-username/your-project opened as your root workspace. So you will have the following values for each variable:

Name Value
${workspaceFolder} /home/your-username/your-project/
${workspaceFolderBasename} your-project
${file} /home/your-username/your-project/folder/file.ext
${relativeFile} folder/file.ext
${relativeFileDirname} folder/
${fileBasename} file.ext
${fileBasenameNoExtension} file
${fileDirname} /home/your-username/your-project/folder/
${fileExtname} .ext
${lineNumber} line number of the cursor

Task Problems Matcher

Problem matcher is used to capture the message in the task output and show a corresponding problem in quickfix windows.

problemMatcher supports errorformat and pattern properties.

If the errorformat property is not defined, the &errorformat option will be used.

[test_problemMatcher]
    command = "echo"
    args = ['.SpaceVim.d/tasks.toml:6:1 test error message']
    isBackground = true
[test_problemMatcher.problemMatcher]
    useStdout = true
    errorformat = '%f:%l:%c\ %m'

If pattern is defined, the errorformat option will be ignored. Here is an example:

[test_regexp]
    command = "echo"
    args = ['.SpaceVim.d/tasks.toml:12:1 test error message']
    isBackground = true
[test_regexp.problemMatcher]
    useStdout = true
[test_regexp.problemMatcher.pattern]
      regexp = '\(.*\):\(\d\+\):\(\d\+\)\s\(\S.*\)'
      file = 1
      line = 2
      column = 3
      #severity = 4
      message = 4

Task auto-detection

Currently, SpaceVim can auto-detect tasks for npm. the tasks manager will parse the package.json file for npm packages. If you have cloned the eslint-starter. for example, pressing SPC p t r shows the following list:

task-auto-detection

Task provider

Some tasks can be automatically detected by the task provider. For example, a Task Provider could check if there is a specific build file, such as package.json, and create npm tasks.

To build a task provider, you need to use the Bootstrap function. The task provider should be a vim function that returns a task object.

here is an example for building a task provider.

function! s:make_tasks() abort
    if filereadable('Makefile')
        let subcmds = filter(readfile('Makefile', ''), "v:val=~#'^.PHONY'")
        let conf = {}
        for subcmd in subcmds
            let commands = split(subcmd)[1:]
            for cmd in commands
                call extend(conf, {
                            \ cmd : {
                            \ 'command': 'make',
                            \ 'args' : [cmd],
                            \ 'isDetected' : 1,
                            \ 'detectedName' : 'make:'
                            \ }
                            \ })
            endfor
        endfor
        return conf
    else
        return {}
    endif
endfunction
call SpaceVim#plugins#tasks#reg_provider(function('s:make_tasks'))

With the above configuration, you will see the following tasks in the SpaceVim repo:

task-make

Todo manager

The todo manager plugin will run rg asynchronously, the results will be displayed on todo manager windows. The key binding is SPC a o.

The default tags is: '@fixme', '@question', '@todo', '@idea'.

todo manager

Replace text with iedit

SpaceVim uses a powerful iedit mode to quickly edit multiple occurrences of a symbol or selection.

Two new modes: iedit-Normal/iedit-Insert

The default color for iedit is red/green which is based on the current colorscheme.

iedit states key bindings

State transitions:

Key Bindings From to
SPC s e normal or visual iedit-Normal

In iedit-Normal mode:

iedit-Normal mode inherits from Normal mode, the following key bindings are specific to iedit-Normal mode.

Key Binding Descriptions
<Esc> go back to Normal mode
i switch to iedit-Insert mode, same as i in Normal model
a switch to iedit-Insert mode, same as a in Normal model
I go to the beginning of the current occurrence and switch to iedit-Insert mode, same as I in Normal model
A go to the end of the current occurrence and switch to iedit-Insert mode, same as A in Normal model
<Left>/h Move cursor to left, same as h in Normal model
<Right>/l Move cursor to right, same as l in Normal model
0/<Home> go to the beginning of the current occurrence, same as 0 in Normal model
$/<End> go to the end of the current occurrence, same as $ in Normal model
C delete the characters from the cursor to the end in all occurrences and switch to iedit-Insert mode, same as C in Normal model
D delete the occurrences, same as D in Normal model
s delete the character under cursor and switch to iedit-Insert mode, same as s in Normal model
S delete the occurrences and switch to iedit-Insert mode, same as S in Normal model
x delete the character under cursor in all the occurrences, same as x in Normal model
X delete the character before cursor in all the occurrences, same as X in Normal model
gg go to first occurrence, same as gg in Normal model
G go to last occurrence, same as G in Normal model
f{char} Move the cursor to the right where the {char} first appears in all the occurrences
n go to next occurrence
N go to previous occurrence
p replace occurrences with last yanked (copied) text
<Tab> toggle current occurrence

In iedit-Insert mode:

Key Bindings Descriptions
Ctrl-g / <Esc> go back to iedit-Normal mode
Ctrl-b / <Left> move cursor to left
Ctrl-f / <Right> move cursor to right
Ctrl-a / <Home> moves the cursor to the beginning of the current occurrence
Ctrl-e / <End> moves the cursor to the end of the current occurrence
Ctrl-w delete word before cursor
Ctrl-k delete all words after cursor
Ctrl-u delete all characters before cursor
Ctrl-h / <Backspace> delete character before cursor
<Delete> delete character after cursor

Code runner and REPL

SpaceVim provides an asynchronous code runner plugin. In most language layers, the key binding SPC l r is defined for running the current buffer. If you need to add new commands, you can use the bootstrap function. For example: Use F5 to build the project asynchronously.

nnoremap <silent> <F5> :call SpaceVim#plugins#runner#open('make')

The following features have been added to the runner and repl plugins:

  • Run the current file with the default command
  • Run code file through system file explorer, only supported in gvim.
  • Run code per Shebang
  • Stop code running
  • View output in the Output Window
  • Set default language to run
  • Select language to run
  • REPL support
  • Run selected code snippet

Highlight current symbol

SpaceVim supports highlighting of the current symbol on demand and add a transient state to easily navigate and rename these symbols.

It is also possible to change the range of the navigation on the fly to:

  • buffer
  • function
  • visible area

To Highlight the current symbol under the cursor press SPC s h.

Navigation between the highlighted symbols can be done with the commands:

Key Bindings Descriptions
* initiate navigation transient state on current symbol and jump forwards
# initiate navigation transient state on current symbol and jump backwards
SPC s e edit all occurrences of the current symbol
SPC s h highlight the current symbol and all its occurrence within the current range
SPC s H go to the last searched occurrence of the last highlighted symbol

In highlight symbol transient state:

Key Bindings Descriptions
e edit occurrences (*)
n go to next occurrence
N / p go to previous occurrence
b search occurrence in all buffers
/ search occurrence in whole project
<Tab> toggle highlight current occurrence
r change range (function, display area, whole buffer)
R go to home occurrence (reset position to starting occurrence)
Any other key leave the navigation transient state

Error handling

SpaceVim uses neomake to give error feedback on the fly. The checks are only performed at save time by default.

Error management mappings (start with e):

Mappings Descriptions
SPC t s toggle syntax checker
SPC e c clear all errors
SPC e h describe a syntax checker
SPC e l toggle the display of the list of errors/warnings
SPC e n go to the next error
SPC e p go to the previous error
SPC e v verify syntax checker setup (useful to debug 3rd party tools configuration)
SPC e . error transient state

The next/previous error mappings and the error transient state can be used to browse errors from syntax checkers as well as errors from location list buffers, and indeed anything that supports Vim's location list. This includes for example search results that have been saved to a location list buffer.

Custom sign symbol:

Symbol Descriptions Custom options
✖ Error error_symbol
➤ warning warning_symbol
ⓘ Info info_symbol

quickfix list navigation:

Mappings Descriptions
<Leader> q l Open quickfix list window
<Leader> q c clear quickfix list
<Leader> q n jump to next item in quickfix list
<Leader> q p jump to previous item in quickfix list

EditorConfig

SpaceVim supports EditorConfig, a configuration file to “define and maintain consistent coding styles between different editors and IDEs.”

To customize your editorconfig experience, read the editorconfig-vim package’s documentation.

Vim Server

SpaceVim starts a server at launch. This server is killed whenever you close your Vim windows.

Connecting to the Vim server

If you are using Neovim, you need to install neovim-remote, then add this to your bashrc.

export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/.SpaceVim/bin

Use svc to open a file in the existing Vim server, or use nsvc to open a file in the existing Neovim server.

server-and-client

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