sneak.vim 👞

Sneak is a minimalist, versatile Vim motion plugin that enables you to move to any location specified by two characters. It works across multiple lines, with operators (including repeat . and surround), with keymaps, in visual mode, and in macros. Many small details have been carefully considered to minimize friction between intent and action.

The plugin chooses sane defaults, which are easily changed via <Plug> mappings (see :help sneak).

New Option: Use Sneak as an elegant, streamlined alternative to EasyMotion:

let g:sneak#streak = 1

Usage (Default)

Sneak is invoked with s followed by exactly two characters:

s{char}{char}

• Press sab to move the cursor immediately to the next instance of the text "ab".
  • Additional matches, if any, are highlighted until the cursor is moved.
• Press s or ; to go to the next match.
• Press 3s or 3; to skip to the third match from the current position.
• Press ctrl-o or `` to go back to the starting point.
  • This is a built-in Vim motion; Sneak adds to Vim's jumplist only on s invocation—not repeats—so you can abandon a trail of ; or , by a single ctrl-o or ``.
• Press s<Enter> at any time to repeat the last Sneak-search.
• Press S to search backwards.

Sneak can be scoped to a column of width 2×[number] by prefixing s with a number.

• Press 5sxy to go immediately to the next instance of "xy" within 5 columns of the cursor.
  • A highlight block indicates the vertical scope.

Sneak is invoked with operators via z (because s is taken by surround.vim).

• Press 3dzqt to delete up to the third instance of "qt".
  • Press . to repeat the 3dzqt operation.
  • Press 2. to repeat twice.
  • Press d; to delete up to the next match.
  • Press 4d; to delete up to the fourth next match.
• Press ysz))] to surround in brackets up to )).
  • Press s or ; to go to the next )).
• Press gUz\} to upper-case the text from the cursor until the next instance of the literal text \}
  • Press . to repeat the gUz\} operation.

Motivation

l  f  t  %  'm  }  ]m  ]]  M  L     /
                                 ^
                                 |
                               sneak

Vim's built-in motions cover many special cases, but it's not always easy to move across several lines to an arbitrary position: the f motion is restricted to the current line, and the / search is clunky for medium-distance motion.

Here's how Sneak differs from Vim's built-in / search and other plugins:

• minimum of 3 keystrokes
• Sneak supports multibyte language keymaps! (#47)
• move anywhere, even offscreen
• jump immediately to first match
• jump back to the point of s invocation via ctrl-o or ``
  • only the initial invocation adds to the jumplist, not repeat-motion
• repeat the motion
• does not break default behavior of f t F T ; ,
• does not add noise to / history
• vertical scope with [count]s{char}{char} restricts the search to 2× count size
• always literal: s\* jumps to the literal \*

Installation

To install Sneak manually, just place the files directly in your .vim directory (_vimfiles on Windows).

Or, use a plugin manager:

• Pathogen
  • cd ~/.vim/bundle && git clone git://github.com/justinmk/vim-sneak.git
• Vundle
  1. Add Bundle 'justinmk/vim-sneak' to .vimrc
  2. Run :BundleInstall
• NeoBundle
  1. Add NeoBundle 'justinmk/vim-sneak' to .vimrc
  2. Run :NeoBundleInstall
• vim-plug
  1. Add Plug 'justinmk/vim-sneak' to .vimrc
  2. Run :PlugInstall

If you want to be able to repeat Sneak operations (like dzab) with dot ., then repeat.vim is required. However, to repeat Sneak motions via ; and , you don't need to install anything except Sneak.

FAQ

Why not use /?

• /ab<cr> requires 33% more keystrokes than sab
  • f and t exist for a similar reason
  • common operations should use as few keystrokes as possible
• Sneak doesn't clutter your search history
• Sneak is always literal (no need to escape special characters)
• Sneak has smarter, subtler highlighting

This is why Vim has motions.

Why not use f?

• Sneak is fifty times (50×) more precise than f or t
• Sneak moves vertically
• Sneak remembers the initial position in the Vim jumplist
  • This allows you to explore a trail of matches via ;, then return to the initial position via ctrl-o or ``
• Sneak highlights matches only in the direction of your search

How dare you remap s?

You can specify any mapping for Sneak (see :help sneak).

How can I replace f with Sneak?

    nmap f <Plug>Sneak_s
    nmap F <Plug>Sneak_S
    xmap f <Plug>Sneak_s
    xmap F <Plug>Sneak_S
    omap f <Plug>Sneak_s
    omap F <Plug>Sneak_S

How can I replace f and/or t with one-character Sneak?

Sneak provides <Plug> convenience-mappings for "inclusive" (f) and "exclusive" (t) 1-character-sneak. These mappings do not invoke streak-mode, even if you have it enabled.

    "replace 'f' with inclusive 1-char Sneak
    nmap f <Plug>Sneak_f
    nmap F <Plug>Sneak_F
    xmap f <Plug>Sneak_f
    xmap F <Plug>Sneak_F
    omap f <Plug>Sneak_f
    omap F <Plug>Sneak_F
    "replace 't' with exclusive 1-char Sneak
    nmap t <Plug>Sneak_t
    nmap T <Plug>Sneak_T
    xmap t <Plug>Sneak_t
    xmap T <Plug>Sneak_T
    omap t <Plug>Sneak_t
    omap T <Plug>Sneak_T

I want to use an "f-enhancement" plugin simultaneously with Sneak

Sneak is intended to replace the so-called f-enhancement plugins. You can use both, but Sneak won't be able to "hook" into f, which means ; and , will always repeat the last Sneak.

Related

• Seek
• EasyMotion
• smalls
• improvedft
• clever-f
• vim-extended-ft
• Fanf,ingTastic;

Bugs

Sneak is built to be well-behaved and annoyance-free. If you find a bug, please report it, and perhaps include the output of:

:call sneak#debug#report()

Sneak is tested on a 10-MB, 400k-lines, syntax-highlighted file with Vim 7.2.330, 7.3, 7.4.

License

Copyright © Justin M. Keyes. Distributed under the MIT license.