Getting started

Vim Motions is an Obsidian community plugin that enhances Vim mode with features tailored for Markdown editing. It bridges the gap between Neovim’s capabilities and Obsidian’s editor, giving you a polished Vim experience without leaving your vault.

Who is it for?

Vim Motions is designed for experienced Vim users who use Obsidian as their primary editor. It assumes familiarity with Vim motions, operators, text objects, and ex commands. If you’re new to Vim, consider learning the basics first — Obsidian’s built-in Vim mode is a good starting point.

What does it add?

Obsidian’s built-in Vim mode provides basic motions and operators, but lacks Markdown-aware features. Vim Motions fills these gaps:

• Markdown text objects — i*, il, iC, iB, io, i| and more — operate on bold, links, code blocks, blockquotes, callouts, and table cells
• Structural navigation — ]h/[h for headings, ]l/[l for lists, ]n/[n for links, ]b/[b for buffers
• Table editing — cell navigation, text objects, manipulation commands, auto-formatting, and a cursor-aware table widget
• Hard-wrap formatting — gq/gw operators with Markdown-aware prefix preservation
• EasyMotion — jump to any visible position with two keystrokes, with operator-pending support
• Hint mode — Vimium-style keyboard navigation for the entire Obsidian UI
• Workspace navigation — <C-w> splits, gt/gT tabs, :sp/:vs ex commands
• Surround — vim-surround with Markdown delimiter support (count-prefix for **bold**, ~~strike~~)
• 60+ ex commands — file, buffer, window, table, and navigation commands
• Lua configuration — .obsidian.init.lua with vim.keymap.set, vim.opt, vim.api, vim.tbl_*, autocommands, timers, highlight groups, and vim.obsidian namespace
• Built-in vimrc — .obsidian.vimrc loader compatible with obsidian-vimrc-support syntax

Requirements

• Obsidian v1.4.10 or later
• Desktop and mobile (physical keyboard recommended on mobile — see mobile limitations)

Next steps

1. installation — install from the community directory or manually
2. recommended-setup — configure Obsidian for the best Vim Motions experience