Kakoune

A modular suite bringing Kakoune's selection-first modal editing paradigm to CodeMirror 6, CodeMirror 5, Obsidian, and web browsers.

Ecosystem & Packages

Quick Start

CodeMirror 6

npm install codemirror-kakoune @codemirror/state @codemirror/view

import { basicSetup, EditorView } from "codemirror";
import { EditorState } from "@codemirror/state";
import { kakoune } from "codemirror-kakoune";

const view = new EditorView({
  state: EditorState.create({
    doc: "Hello, Kakoune!",
    extensions: [
      basicSetup,
      kakoune({
        initialMode: "select", // "select" (normal) or "insert"
        onWhichKey: (pending, items) => {
          // Optional hook for which-key UI
        }
      })
    ]
  }),
  parent: document.querySelector("#editor")
});

CodeMirror 5

npm install codemirror-kakoune-cm5 codemirror@^5.65.0

import CodeMirror from "codemirror";
import { kakoune } from "codemirror-kakoune-cm5";

const editor = CodeMirror(document.querySelector("#editor"));
kakoune(editor);

Browser Extension (browser-kakoune)

Build and load the extension into any Chromium or Firefox browser:

pnpm --filter browser-kakoune build
# Load unpacked from apps/browser-extension/dist

Keybindings Specification Reference

Custom kakrc Scripting Support

kakoune-core-js includes a built-in kakrc parser (parseKakrc) and key processor remapping engine supporting:

# Custom key mappings
map global normal <space> ,
map global insert jk <esc>

# User-defined modes
declare-user-mode mytools
map global normal <a-m> ':enter-user-mode mytools<ret>'
map global mytools d 'xyd'

# Registers & options
set-register a 'custom macro'
set-option global tabstop 4

Development & Monorepo Workflows

# Install all dependencies
pnpm install

# Run tests across all packages
pnpm test

# Typecheck workspace
pnpm typecheck

# Build all libraries and apps
pnpm build

# Run interactive CM6 playground dev server
pnpm dev

# Build browser extension
pnpm build:extension

References & Credits

This project builds upon ideas and patterns from:

• mawww/kakoune - The Kakoune editor by Maxime Coste
• replit/codemirror-vim - CodeMirror Vim keymap
• 71/dance - Kakoune-inspired modal editing for VS Code