Vim mode

If you live in vim, Consistent Notes can meet you there — in the lists, in the editor, or both. Both live in Settings → General → Vim Mode and both are off by default.

Vim motions in the lists

With Vim motions in tabs on, the Notes and ToDos lists respond to the shortcuts below. Works everywhere the arrow keys work — which, if you enable hardcore mode (below), is nowhere: the point is to force the habit.

Notes list

Shortcut	Action
⎵	Open today’s entry
j	Move down the list
k	Move up the list
g g	Top of list
G	Start of month
o	Open the selected day
⏎	Open the selected day
↑	Move up the list
↓	Move down the list
⌘N	Go to Notes List
⌘Y	Go to Year View
⌘T	Go to ToDos
⌘,	Settings
⌘⇧F	Search every entry
Hold ⌘	Shortcuts overlay

ToDos list

Shortcut	Action
⎵	Open today’s entry
j	Move down the list
k	Move up the list
g g	First todo
G	Last todo
o	Open the most recent entry for a todo
⏎	Open the most recent entry for a todo
O	Open the original entry
⌘⇧⏎	Toggle the selected todo
↑	Move up the list
↓	Move down the list
⌘N	Go to Notes List
⌘Y	Go to Year View
⌘T	Go to ToDos
⌘,	Settings
Hold ⌘	Shortcuts overlay

Vim mode in the editor

With Vim mode in editor on, the editor is fully modal. You start in Normal mode, where letters are commands; i a A o O enter Insert mode to type, v V select in visual modes, and / finds. ⎋ returns to Normal mode, ? shows this whole reference in place. Operators take counts and text objects, so 3dd, 2w, and ci" all work.

Entering modes

Shortcut	Action
i	Insert mode
a	Append (insert after cursor)
A	Append at end of line
g A	Append at end of visual (wrapped) line
o	New line below
O	New line above
v	Visual mode
V	Visual line mode
⎋	Return to Normal mode

Navigation

Shortcut	Action
h	Move left
j	Move down
k	Move up
l	Move right
w	Next word
b	Previous word
e	End of word
W	Next WORD (whitespace only)
B	Previous WORD
E	End of WORD
0	Start of line
^	First non-blank
$	End of line
g 0	Start of visual (wrapped) line
g ^	First non-blank of visual line
g $	End of visual (wrapped) line
g j	Down one visual line
g k	Up one visual line
g g	Start of doc
G	End of doc
{	Previous paragraph
}	Next paragraph
f	Find char forward on line
F	Find char backward on line
t	Till char forward on line
T	Till char backward on line
%	Jump to matching bracket
;	Repeat last f/t find
,	Repeat last f/t find (reverse)

Delete

Shortcut	Action
x	Delete char
d d	Delete line
d w	Delete word
d i w	Delete inner word
d a w	Delete around word
d i [	Delete inside brackets
d i ”	Delete inside quotes
d a [	Delete around brackets
d a ”	Delete around quotes
d i p	Delete inner paragraph
d a p	Delete around paragraph
D	Delete to end of line

Change

Shortcut	Action
c c	Change line
c w	Change word
c i w	Change inner word
c a w	Change around word
c i [	Change inside brackets
c i ”	Change inside quotes
c a [	Change around brackets
c a ”	Change around quotes
c i p	Change inner paragraph
c a p	Change around paragraph
C	Change to end of line
S	Substitute line

Yank

Shortcut	Action
y y	Yank line
y w	Yank word
y i w	Yank inner word
y a w	Yank around word
y i [	Yank inside brackets
y i ”	Yank inside quotes
y a [	Yank around brackets
y a ”	Yank around quotes
y i p	Yank inner paragraph
y a p	Yank around paragraph

Indent and other commands

Shortcut	Action
> >	Indent line
< <	Dedent line
r	Replace character
J	Join lines

Paste, undo, and redo

Shortcut	Action
p	Paste after cursor
P	Paste before cursor
u	Undo
⌃r	Redo

Find

Shortcut	Action
/	Find
*	Search word under cursor forward
#	Search word under cursor backward
n	Next match
N	Previous match

Scroll

Shortcut	Action
z z	Scroll cursor to center
z t	Scroll cursor to top
z b	Scroll cursor to bottom
q	Close editor
⎋	Close editor
?	Show this help

A couple of options tune it:

• Move up and down by visual lines (on by default) — j/k follow wrapped lines; counts like 5j always use logical lines.
• Escape sequence — record two keystrokes (classic: jk) that exit Insert mode without reaching for ⎋.
• Show vim indicator — the little mode badge (N / I / VISUAL) in the editor header.

Hardcore mode

Hardcore mode disables arrow-key navigation in the Notes and ToDos lists, filtered from the shortcut hints too. The editor is unaffected — arrows still move the cursor while you’re typing. It exists to build the muscle memory; it does not exist to punish edits.

Hold ⌘ anywhere to see the shortcuts that apply where you are, vim or not.