Presets

SmartMotion ships with 13 presets containing 140+ keybindings. Each preset is a logical group of related motions. Enable what you need, disable what you don't.

Every preset can be customized. Want to make f single-char? Words bidirectional? Search line-constrained? See the Recipes guide for practical examples.

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Quick Reference

Preset	Keys	Description
words	w b e ge	Word navigation
lines	j k	Line navigation
search	s S f F t T ; , gs	Search and find
delete	d dt dT rdw rdl	Delete operations
yank	y yt yT ryw ryl	Yank operations
change	c ct cT	Change operations
paste	p P	Paste operations
treesitter	]] [[ ]c [c ]b [b af if ac ic aa ia fn saa gS R	Syntax-aware motions
diagnostics	]d [d ]e [e	LSP diagnostic navigation
git	]g [g	Git hunk navigation
quickfix	]q [q ]l [l	Quickfix/location list
marks	g' gm	Mark navigation and setting
misc	. g. g0 g1-g9 gp gp1-gp9 gP gA-gZ gmd gmy	Repeat, history, pins, global pins, and multi-cursor

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words

Navigate by words with home-row hints.

Key	Modes	What it does
w	n, v, o	Jump to start of word after cursor
b	n, v, o	Jump to start of word before cursor
e	n, v, o	Jump to end of word after cursor
ge	n, v, o	Jump to end of word before cursor

Example workflow:

Press w → labels appear on all words ahead → press 'f' → cursor jumps to that word

Works with operators:

>w     indent from cursor to labeled word
gUw    uppercase from cursor to labeled word
dw     delete from cursor to (but not including) labeled word — matches native vim

Native vim behavior: In operator-pending mode, w is an exclusive motion — the first character of the target word is not included in the operation. This matches what you'd expect from dw, yw, cw, etc. in stock neovim.

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lines

Navigate by lines.

Key	Modes	What it does
j	n, v, o	Jump to line after cursor
k	n, v, o	Jump to line before cursor

Example workflow:

Press j → labels appear on lines below → press 'a' → cursor jumps to that line

Works with operators:

=j     auto-indent from cursor to labeled line
gqj    format from cursor to labeled line

Count prefix support:

5j     jumps to the 5th line target below (no labels shown)
3k     jumps to the 3rd line target above

When a count precedes j or k, SmartMotion skips the label step and auto-selects the Nth target. This can be changed to native vim behavior via count_behavior = "native" in config. See Configuration.

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search

Powerful search with multiple modes.

Key	Modes	Multi-window	What it does
s	n, o	Yes	Live search: labels update as you type
S	n, o	Yes	Fuzzy search: type "fn" to match "function"
f	n, o	Yes	2-char find forward (like leap)
F	n, o	Yes	2-char find backward
t	n, o	Yes	Till character forward (cursor lands before match)
T	n, o	Yes	Till character backward (cursor lands after match)
;	n, v	Yes	Repeat last f/F/t/T (same direction)
,	n, v	Yes	Repeat last f/F/t/T (reversed direction)
gs	n	Yes	Visual select: pick two targets, enter visual mode

Live Search (s)

Press s → type "func" → labels appear on all "func" matches → press label → jump

Labels update in real-time. Backspace works. Press ESC to cancel.

Fuzzy Search (S)

Press S → type "fn" → labels appear on "function", "filename", "find", etc.

Fuzzy matching uses word boundaries, camelCase, and consecutive character scoring.

2-Char Find (f/F)

Press f → type "th" → labels appear on all "th" matches ahead → press label → jump

Like leap.nvim's 2-character search.

Till (t/T)

Press t → type ")" → cursor lands just BEFORE the ")" → perfect for dt)

Visual Select (gs)

Press gs → pick first word → pick second word → visual selection spans the range

Great for selecting arbitrary ranges without counting.

Label Conflict Avoidance

When searching, labels are chosen to avoid ambiguity. If you're searching for "fu" and there's a match followed by "n", the label won't be "n", because that could be continuing your search.

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delete

Delete operations with visual feedback.

Key	Modes	What it does
d	n	Composable delete: press d then any composable motion (jumps to target, deletes)
dt	n	Delete from cursor until character (forward)
dT	n	Delete from cursor until character (backward)
rdw	n	Remote delete word: delete a word without moving cursor
rdl	n	Remote delete line: delete a line without moving cursor

Composable Delete (d)

Press d → press w → labels appear on words → select target → cursor jumps there, word deleted
Press d → press ]] → labels appear on functions → select one → cursor jumps there, deleted
Press d → press s → live search → type text → labels appear → select → jump and delete

Works with ANY composable SmartMotion motion (w, b, e, j, k, s, S, f, F, t, T). Unknown keys fall through to native vim (d$, d0, dG work as expected).

Repeat Motion Key (Quick Action)

When labels appear, pressing the motion key again acts on the target under your cursor:

dww    delete the word under the cursor (repeat 'w')
djj    delete to the current line target (repeat 'j')
d]]]]  delete to the function at cursor (repeat ']]')

This gives you the best of both worlds: dw shows labels so you can pick any target, but dww is a fast shortcut for the common case of acting right where you are. The motion key is excluded from the label pool so there's never ambiguity.

Delete Until (dt/dT)

Press dt → type ")" → deletes from cursor to just before ")"

Like native dt) but with labels when multiple matches exist.

Remote Delete (rdw/rdl)

Press rdw → labels appear on words → select one → that word is deleted, cursor stays put
Press rdl → labels appear on lines → select one → that line is deleted, cursor stays put

Edit code without losing your place.

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yank

Yank (copy) operations.

Key	Modes	What it does
y	n	Composable yank: press y then any composable motion (jumps to target, yanks)
yt	n	Yank from cursor until character (forward)
yT	n	Yank from cursor until character (backward)
ryw	n	Remote yank word: yank a word without moving cursor
ryl	n	Remote yank line: yank a line without moving cursor

Same patterns as delete, but yanks to register instead. Cursor jumps to the target.

Repeat motion key works here too: yww yanks the word under cursor, yw + label yanks a specific word.

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change

Change (delete + insert) operations.

Key	Modes	What it does
c	n	Composable change: press c then any composable motion (jumps to target, deletes, enters insert)
ct	n	Change from cursor until character (forward)
cT	n	Change from cursor until character (backward)

Press c → press w → labels appear → select target → cursor jumps there, text deleted, insert mode

Repeat motion key works here too: cww changes the word under cursor, cw + label changes a specific word.

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paste

Paste at target location.

Key	Modes	What it does
p	n	Paste after: press p then a motion, jump to target, paste after it
P	n	Paste before: press P then a motion, jump to target, paste before it

Yank some text → press pw → select a word target → cursor jumps there, yanked text pastes after

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treesitter

Syntax-aware navigation and editing. Works across Lua, Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Rust, Go, C, C++, Java, C#, Ruby, and more.

Navigation

Key	Modes	Multi-window	What it does
]]	n, o	Yes	Jump to next function
[[	n, o	Yes	Jump to previous function
]c	n, o	Yes	Jump to next class/struct
[c	n, o	Yes	Jump to previous class/struct
]b	n, o	Yes	Jump to next block/scope (if, for, while, try)
[b	n, o	Yes	Jump to previous block/scope

Press ]] → labels appear on all function definitions → select one → jump there
Works in operator-pending: >]] indents to labeled function

Text Objects

Key	Modes	What it does
af	x, o	Around function: select entire function (works with any operator: daf, yaf, gqaf)
if	x, o	Inside function: select function body only
ac	x, o	Around class/struct: select entire class
ic	x, o	Inside class/struct: select class body only
aa	x, o	Around argument: includes comma/separator
ia	x, o	Inside argument: argument text only
fn	o	Function name: select function name (works with operators: dfn, cfn, yfn)
saa	n	Swap arguments: pick two, swap positions

In: calculate(first, second, third)
Press daa → labels appear on arguments → select "second" → becomes: calculate(first, third)
Press vaf → labels appear on functions → select one → entire function visually selected
Press daf → labels appear on functions → select one → entire function deleted
Press cfn → labels appear on function names → select one → name deleted, insert mode
Press gqaf → labels appear on functions → select one → function formatted

Text objects compose with any vim operator automatically. No explicit mappings needed. daf, yaf, cif, >af, =if, gqaf all work out of the box.

Multi-char infer (fn): When you type dfn quickly, the infer system resolves fn as a function name motion. If you type df and pause (up to timeoutlen), it falls through to find-char. This timeout-based resolution avoids conflicts between f (find-char) and fn (function name).

Selection

Key	Modes	What it does
gS	n, x	Incremental select: ; expands to parent, , shrinks to child
R	n, x, o	Treesitter search: search text, pick match, pick ancestor scope

Press gS → smallest node at cursor selected → press ; → expands to parent node → etc.
Shows node type in echo area. Enter confirms, ESC cancels.

Press R → type "error" → labels on matches → pick match → labels on ancestors → pick scope
Press dR → type "error" → pick match → pick ancestor → entire node deleted
Press yR → type "func" → pick match → pick ancestor → entire node yanked (with highlight flash)

Two-phase selection: SmartMotion's approach differs from Flash. Instead of labeling all ancestor nodes of all matches at once (which can flood the screen), you first pick which match location you care about, then pick how much of the syntax tree to select. See Advanced Features: Treesitter Search for details.

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diagnostics

Navigate LSP diagnostics with labels.

Key	Modes	Multi-window	What it does
]d	n, o	Yes	Jump to next diagnostic (any severity)
[d	n, o	Yes	Jump to previous diagnostic
]e	n, o	Yes	Jump to next error only
[e	n, o	Yes	Jump to previous error only

Press ]d → labels appear on all diagnostics ahead → select one → jump there
Press ]e → only errors shown

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git

Navigate git changed regions. Works best with gitsigns.nvim.

Key	Modes	Multi-window	What it does
]g	n, o	Yes	Jump to next git hunk (changed region)
[g	n, o	Yes	Jump to previous git hunk

Press ]g → labels appear on all changed regions → select one → jump there

Without gitsigns, falls back to parsing git diff output directly.

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quickfix

Navigate quickfix and location list entries.

Key	Modes	Multi-window	What it does
]q	n, o	Yes	Jump to next quickfix entry
[q	n, o	Yes	Jump to previous quickfix entry
]l	n, o	Yes	Jump to next location list entry
[l	n, o	Yes	Jump to previous location list entry

Quickfix entries come from :vimgrep, :make, :grep, LSP, etc.

:vimgrep /TODO/ **/*.lua
Press ]q → labels appear on all TODO matches → select one → jump there

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marks

Jump to marks or set marks remotely.

Key	Modes	Multi-window	What it does
g'	n, o	Yes	Show labels on all marks, jump to selected
gm	n	Yes	Set mark at labeled target (prompts for mark name)

Press g' → labels appear on all marks (a-z local, A-Z global) → select one → jump there

Press gm → labels appear on words → select target → type 'a' → mark 'a' set at that location

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misc

Repeat, history, pins, and multi-cursor operations.

Key	Modes	What it does
.	n	Repeat last SmartMotion
g.	n	History browser: browse pins and past targets with frecency ranking and action mode
g0	n	Jump to most recent: instant jump to your last location
g1-g9	n	Direct pin jump: jump to pin N without opening browser
gp	n	Toggle pin: bookmark/unbookmark the current cursor position
gp1-gp9	n	Set pin at slot: set current location as pin N
gP	n	Toggle global pin: cross-project bookmark (prompts A-Z)
gA-gZ	n	Jump to global pin: jump to cross-project pin (gP/gS reserved)
gPA-gPZ	n	Set global pin: set current location as global pin
gmd	n	Multi-cursor delete: toggle-select multiple words, delete all
gmy	n	Multi-cursor yank: toggle-select multiple words, yank all

History Browser (g.)

Press g. → floating window with pins at top, frecency-ranked entries below, help bar at bottom
→ j/k to navigate with live preview
→ / to search/filter entries
→ press number (1-9) to jump to a pin
→ press letter label to jump to an entry
→ d/y/c to enter action mode, then press label to act on that target remotely
→ Enter to select highlighted entry, Esc to cancel

The browser shows:

• Pins (numbered 1-9 with * marker)
• Entries (letter labels, sorted by frecency with █ bar indicators)
• Help bar (contextual hints that update based on mode)
• Preview window (appears when navigating with j/k, shows context around target)

Navigation: Use j/k to move through entries with a live preview window showing ~7 lines of context. Press Enter to jump to the highlighted entry.

Search: Press / to filter entries by target text, filename, or motion key. The list updates live as you type.

Action mode: Press d, y, or c. The title changes to [D]/[Y]/[C], then press a label to delete, yank, or change that target without navigating there.

History persists across Neovim sessions. Visit counts accumulate over time, pushing frequently-visited locations to the top. See Advanced Features: Motion History for full details.

Direct Pin Jumps (g1-g9)

gp at location A → "Pinned (1/9)"
gp at location B → "Pinned (2/9)"
g1 → instantly jumps to location A
g2 → instantly jumps to location B

Jump directly to numbered pins without opening the browser. Pure muscle memory.

Jump to Most Recent (g0)

Navigate around, use motions...
g0 → instantly jump back to your most recent location

Quick "go back" without opening the history browser.

Pins (gp)

Press gp → "Pinned (1/9)", current location bookmarked
Press gp again at same spot → "Unpinned"

Up to 9 pins. Pins persist across sessions and appear at the top of the history browser with number labels for instant access.

Pin Slot Assignment (gp1-gp9)

gp3 → "Pin 3 set (3/9)", current location becomes pin 3

Set current location at a specific pin slot, replacing any existing pin there. Useful for organizing your pins in a consistent order.

Global Pins (gP, gA-gZ)

Cross-project bookmarks that work across all your projects.

gP → prompts "Global pin letter (A-Z):" → type "A" → "Global pin A set"
gA → jumps to global pin A (even if it's in a different project)
gPA → directly sets global pin A at cursor (no prompt)

Global pins are stored separately from project pins and persist across all Neovim sessions. Use them for frequently-accessed files like your dotfiles, notes, or commonly-edited configs.

Note: gP (toggle global pin) and gS (treesitter incremental select) are reserved. Use gPA-gPZ to set/access pins at those slots, or use the history browser.

Multi-Cursor (gmd/gmy)

Press gmd → labels appear on all words → press labels to TOGGLE selection (turns green)
→ press more labels to select more → press Enter → all selected words deleted

Selection is toggle-based: press a label once to select, again to deselect. ESC cancels.

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Configuring Presets

Enable All

presets = {
  words = true,
  lines = true,
  search = true,
  delete = true,
  yank = true,
  change = true,
  paste = true,
  treesitter = true,
  diagnostics = true,
  git = true,
  quickfix = true,
  marks = true,
  misc = true,
}

Enable Selectively

presets = {
  search = true,
  treesitter = true,
  diagnostics = true,
  -- others are disabled
}

Exclude Specific Keys

presets = {
  words = {
    e = false,   -- don't override native 'e'
    ge = false,  -- don't override native 'ge'
  },
  search = {
    s = false,   -- keep native 's' (substitute)
  },
}

Override Motion Settings

presets = {
  words = {
    w = {
      map = false,  -- register but don't map (map manually later)
    },
  },
}

Then map manually:

require("smart-motion").map_motion("w")

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Mode Reference

Mode	Meaning
n	Normal mode
v	Visual mode
o	Operator-pending mode
x	Visual mode only (not select mode)

Motions in o mode work with any vim operator: >, <, gU, gu, =, gq, !, zf, etc.

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Multi-Window

Motions marked with Multi-window: Yes show labels across all visible (non-floating) windows.

• Current window gets label priority (closer targets get shorter labels)
• Selecting a label in another window switches to that window
• Disabled automatically in operator-pending mode

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Next Steps

→ Advanced Features: Flow state, operator-pending details, more

→ Build Your Own Motions: Create custom motions

→ Configuration: All settings explained