IdeaVim is a Vim emulation plug-in for IDEs based on the IntelliJ platform. IdeaVim can be used with IntelliJ IDEA, RubyMine, PyCharm, PhpStorm, WebStorm and AppCode.

Resources:

• Plugin homepage
• Changelog
• Bug tracker
• Continuous integration builds
• @IdeaVim in Twitter

Use the IDE's plugin manager to install the latest version of the plugin. Start the IDE normally and enable the Vim emulation using "Tools | VIM Emulator" menu item. At this point you must use Vim keystrokes in all editors.

If you wish to disable the plugin, select the "Tools | VIM Emulator" menu so it is unchecked. At this point IDE will work with it's regular keyboard shortcuts.

Supported:

• Motion keys
• Deletion/Changing
• Insert mode commands
• Marks
• Registers
• Undo/redo
• Visual mode commands
• Some Ex commands
• Some :set options
• Full Vim regexps for search and search/replace
• Macros
• Digraphs
• Command line and search history
• Vim web help

Not supported (yet):

• Key mappings
• Various less used commands
• Jump lists
• Window commands

Please see the file index.txt for a list of commands covered with tests.

The IdeaVim plugin uses the undo/redo functionality of the IntelliJ platform, so the behaviour of the u and <C-R> commands may differ from the original Vim. Vim compatibility of undo/redo may be improved in the future releases.

In the IDE, the <Esc> key is used during editing to cancel code completion windows, dialog windows, and parameter tooltips. While in the Vim insert mode, <Esc> is used to return back to the normal mode. If you are typing in the insert mode and a code completion window is popped up, pressing <Esc> cancel the window without exiting the insert mode.

Using <Esc> in dialog windows remains problematic. For most dialog windows the Vim emulator is put into the insert mode without the possibility to switch to the normal mode. In some dialog windows the normal mode is on by default. The usage of the Vim emulator in dialog windows is an area for improvements.

In order to emulate the keystrokes used by Vim, several of the default hotkeys used by the IDE had to be changed. Below is a list of IDE menus, their default keyboard shortcuts, and their new VIM keystrokes.

File
 Save All Ctrl-S :w
Edit
 Undo Ctrl-Z u
 Redo Ctrl-Shift-Z Ctrl-R
 Cut Ctrl-X "+x
 Copy Ctrl-C "+y
 Paste Ctrl-V "+P
 Select All Ctrl-A ggVG
Search
 Find Ctrl-F /
 Replace Ctrl-R :s
 Find Next F3 n
 Find Previous Shift-F3 N
View
 Quick JavaDoc Ctrl-Q K
 Parameter Info Ctrl-P Ctrl-Shift-P
 Swap Panels Ctrl-U <None>
 Recent Files... Ctrl-E <None>
 Type Hierarchy Ctrl-H Ctrl-Alt-Shift-H
Goto
 Class... Ctrl-N Alt-Shift-N
 Line... Ctrl-G G
 Declaration Ctrl-B gd
 Super Method Ctrl-U Ctrl-Shift-U
Code
 Override Methods... Ctrl-O Ctrl-Shift-O
 Implement Methods... Ctrl-I Ctrl-Shift-I
 Complete Code (Only in Insert mode)
 Basic Ctrl-Space Ctrl-Space or Ctrl-N or Ctrl-P
 Smart Type Ctrl-Shift-Space Ctrl-Shift-Space
 Class Name Ctrl-Alt-Space Ctrl-Alt-Space
 Insert Live Template Ctrl-J Ctrl-]
Tools
 Version Control
 Check In Project Ctrl-K <None>

1. Fork IdeaVim on GitHub and clone the repository on your local machine.

2. Open the project in IntelliJ IDEA 11+ (Community or Ultimate) using "File | Open... | /path/to/ideavim".

3. Set up a JDK if you haven't got it yet. Use "File | Project Structure | SDKs | Add new JDK".

4. Set up an IntelliJ plugin SDK using "File | Project Structure | SDKs | Add new IntelliJ IDEA Plugin SDK". The correct path to your current installation of IntelliJ will be suggested automatically. You will be prompted to select a JDK for your plugin SDK. Select the JDK from the previous step. You should name your plugin SDK IntelliJ Plugin SDK in order to match the name in the project settings stored in the Git repository.

5. Select a project SDK for your project using "File | Project Structure | Project | Project SDK". Choose the plugin SDK you have created at the previous step.

6. Build IdeaVim and run IntelliJ with IdeaVim enabled using the "IdeaVim" run configuration (use "Run | Run... | IdeaVim").

7. In order to be able to run tests in your IntelliJ edition uncomment the appropriate lines in the constructor of the VimTestCase class.

See AUTHORS.md for a list of authors and contributors.

IdeaVim is licensed under the terms of the GNU Public license version 2.