Vim Mode

vi-sql has two keybinding profiles: vim (default) and normal. Vim mode uses hjkl navigation, sequence motions like gg, and vim-style copy/delete. Normal mode uses arrow keys and familiar terminal shortcuts.

Switch profiles by setting ui.vimMode in ~/.config/vi-sql/config.yaml:

yaml

ui:
  vimMode: true   # true = vim, false = normal

tip

Currently only 2-key sequences are supported in vim mode (e.g. gg, dd). Longer sequences are on the roadmap.

Action	Vim mode	Normal mode
Move up	`k`	`↑`
Move down	`j`	`↓`
Move left	`h`	`←`
Move right	`l`	`→`
Go to first item	`gg`	`Ctrl+Home`
Go to last item	`G`	`Ctrl+End`
Focus panel up	`Ctrl+k`	`Alt+↑`
Focus panel down	`Ctrl+j`	`Alt+↓`
Focus panel left	`Ctrl+h`	`Alt+←`
Focus panel right	`Ctrl+l`	`Alt+→`

Common actions

Action	Vim mode	Normal mode
Delete	`dd`	`Ctrl+d`
Copy	`yy`	`c`
Paste	`Ctrl+v`	`Ctrl+v`
Confirm	`Ctrl+s`	`Ctrl+Enter`
Filter	`/`	`/`
Refresh	`Ctrl+r`	`Ctrl+r`
Close / cancel	`Esc`	`Esc`

Global

Key	Action
`Ctrl+c`	Quit
`F1`	Full-screen help
`Ctrl+o`	Open connection dialog
`Alt+t`	Change theme
`Alt+f`	Expand / collapse footer

Main view

Key	Action
`:` (vim) / `Ctrl+Space` (normal)	Actions palette
`gt` (vim) / `Ctrl+g` (normal)	Go to table
`Ctrl+t`	New tab
`Ctrl+x`	Close tab
`F2`	Rename tab
`\|`	Hide / show schema panel
`Alt+s`	Server info
`Alt+i`	Import CSV
`ge` (vim) / `Ctrl+/` (normal)	Focus schema tree

Schema tree

Key	Action
`e`	Expand table
`E`	Expand all
`W`	Collapse all
`s`	Open structure
`i`	Open indexes
`R`	Rename table

Data view

Key	Action
Key	Action
-----	--------
`o` / `Enter`	Peek row
`O`	Full-page peek
`E`	Edit row
`D`	Duplicate row
`yc` (vim) / `c` (normal)	Copy cell
`yy` (vim) / `C` (normal)	Copy row
`V`	Multi-select
`Esc`	Clear selection
`s`	Toggle sort bar
`S`	Sort by column
`H`	Hide column
`r`	Reset hidden columns
`Alt+e`	Explain query
`Alt+m`	Export data
`gd` (vim) / `Ctrl+b` (normal)	Follow foreign key
`gr` (vim) / `Alt+r` (normal)	Find references

Row viewer (peeker)

Key	Action
`Enter`	Expand field
`v`	Open value viewer
`f`	Toggle full screen
`C`	Copy highlighted text

Structure view

Key	Action
`R`	Rename column
`p`	Toggle DDL pane

Explain viewer

Key	Action
`t`	Toggle ANALYZE mode

History

Key	Action
`c`	Copy query
`Alt+d`	Purge history

Index form

Key	Action
`Ctrl+e`	Toggle SQL editor
`Ctrl+a`	Add column

SQL editor

Key	Action
`Alt+z`	Toggle fullscreen editor
`Alt+r`	Query history
`Ctrl+e`	Open query in `$EDITOR`

Customizing keybindings

Edit ~/.config/vi-sql/keybindings-vim.yaml (vim mode) or ~/.config/vi-sql/keybindings-normal.yaml (normal mode) to remap any action. Both files are created with defaults on first launch.