How to :imap jk <Esc> Everywhere Outside VIM

Feb 2021

It is impossible for me to write code without vim mode and this mapping. This post is a reminder on how do this mapping in: bash, jupyter notebook, joplin, and vscode.

Bash*

Put this in your ~/.bashrc:

set -o vi
bind '"jk":vi-movement-mode'  # map jk to <esc>

Git Bash (Windows)*

Put this in your ~/.bashrc:

set -o vi
bind '"jk":vi-movement-mode'  # map jk to <esc>

This is the same as bash on unix or mac.

To find where your ~ (home) directory is, simpley open Git Bash and run:

$ cd
$ pwd
<your home directory will be printed here>

Visual Studio Code*

In VS Code, open the Command Palette and search for "Preferences: Open Settings (JSON)".

Enter the following:

{
  "vim.insertModeKeyBindings": [
    {
      "before": ["j", "k"],
      "after": ["<Esc>"]
    }
  ]
}

You may also enjoy turning on relative line numbering:

{
  "vim.smartRelativeLine": true
}

Jupyter notebook*

See https://github.com/gshiba/jupyter-notebook-extension

Joplin (Mac Desktop app)*

I switched from Evernote to Joplin near the end of 2020, because Evernote stopped supporting local-only notebooks.

After enabling vim mode in the settings, type this while in the markdown editor:

:imap jk <Esc>

Note that you will need to do this manually everytime you open the Joplin app.