Bringing EasyMotion back to NeoVim!

Published: Dec 7, 2024

I found a way to make [hop.nvim](https://github.com/smoka7/hop.nvim] emulate EasyMotion for my most used EasyMotion features (easymotion-overwin-f and easymotion-bd-f).

This is my lazy.nvim hop configuration, with the custom command:

{
  "smoka7/hop.nvim",
  version = "*",
  opts = { keys = target_keys, quit_key = "q" },
  config = function(_, opts)
    local hop = require("hop")
    hop.setup(opts)

    -- Create custom command for hopping to character/word matches
    vim.api.nvim_create_user_command("HopEasyMotion", function()
      local char = vim.fn.getchar()
      -- Convert numeric char code to string
      char = type(char) == "number" and vim.fn.nr2char(char) or char

      -- Create pattern based on input character type
      local pattern
      if char:match("%a") then
        -- For letters: match words starting with that letter
        -- Uppercase letters match exactly
        -- Lowercase letters match case insensitive only when the setting is enabled
        local case_flag = (opts.case_insensitive and char:match("%l")) and "\\c" or ""
        pattern = "\\v" .. case_flag .. "(<|_@<=)" .. char
      elseif char:match("[%p%s]") then
        -- For punctuation and whitespace: match them literally
        pattern = [[\V]] .. vim.fn.escape(char, "\\")
      else
        -- For other characters: match them literally
        pattern = char
      end

      ---@diagnostic disable-next-line: missing-fields
      hop.hint_patterns({
        current_line_only = false,
        multi_windows = true,
        hint_position = require("hop.hint").HintPosition.BEGIN,
      }, pattern)
    end, { desc = "Hop to words starting with input character" })
  end,
  keys = {
    { "<leader><leader>", "<cmd>HopEasyMotion<cr>", desc = "Hop to word", mode = { "v", "n" } },
    { ";b", "<cmd>HopWordBC<cr>", desc = "Hop to word before cursor", mode = { "v", "n" } },
    { ";w", "<cmd>HopWord<cr>", desc = "Hop to word in current buffer", mode = { "v", "n" } },
    { ";a", "<cmd>HopWordAC<cr>", desc = "Hop to word after cursor", mode = { "v", "n" } },
    { ";c", "<cmd>HopCamelCaseMW<cr>", desc = "Hop to camelCase word", mode = { "v", "n" } },
    { ";d", "<cmd>HopLine<cr>", desc = "Hop to line", mode = { "v", "n" } },
    { ";f", "<cmd>HopNodes<cr>", desc = "Hop to node", mode = { "v", "n" } },
    { ";s", "<cmd>HopPatternMW<cr>", desc = "Hop to pattern", mode = { "v", "n" } },
    { ";j", "<cmd>HopVertical<cr>", desc = "Hop to location vertically", mode = { "v", "n" } },
  },
}

With this, the command HopEasyMotion does what EasyMotion does . I have it bound to the <leader><leader>, (I have <leader> bound to the space key).

So, I can type <space><space> followed by either a character that is the start of a word in any visible window, OR a single non-letter character (like parentheses, period, braces, etc) and hop will label each match in all windows. I then type the label, and hop will take the cursor right to it.

This means that, without using the mouse, I can nearly instantly jump to any location that I can see, even across windows. Of course, hop has all kinds of other ways to move around, you can see I've bound most of them to chords that start with ;. Hop is pretty cool, check it out!

Filed Under:

VIM,
NeoVim