Neovim Editor Mastery

Master Neovim’s full editing power. From readline muscle memory to advanced motions, text objects, registers, and macros.

Training Philosophy

  1. Terminal DNA first - Your readline/vi-mode muscle memory transfers directly

  2. Motions are verbs - Operators + motions = composable editing language

  3. Depth over breadth - Master each category before moving on

  4. Hands on keys - You type every command, building muscle memory

The Iceberg

What most users know:

  • h j k l - basic movement

  • i a - insert mode

  • dd yy p - delete/yank/paste lines

What power users know (this curriculum):

  • Insert mode controls (Ctrl-w, Ctrl-u, Ctrl-o)

  • WORD vs word (W B E vs w b e)

  • Operator pending mode (d, c, y + any motion)

  • Character search (f, t, ;, ,)

  • Marks and jump lists (m, ', Ctrl-o, Ctrl-i)

  • Registers ("a, "0, "+, Ctrl-r)

  • Text objects (iw, a", it, iB)

  • Visual block mode (Ctrl-v)

  • Macros (q, @, @@)

  • Ex commands (:g, :s, ranges)

Sessions (Curriculum)

Session Focus Duration Status

01

Insert Mode Controls - readline DNA, Ctrl-w/u/o/r/a/t/d

30 min

[ ] Planned

02

WORD Motions & Operators - W B E, operator pending, counts

45 min

[ ] Planned

03

Line & Character Motions - 0 ^ $ g_, f t F T ; ,

45 min

[ ] Planned

04

Search Motions - /, ?, *, #, n, N, search + operator

45 min

[ ] Planned

05

Marks & Jump Lists - m, ', ` , Ctrl-o/i, g;, g,

45 min

[ ] Planned

06

Registers Deep Dive - named, numbered, special ("0, "+, "_)

45 min

[ ] Planned

07

Visual Mode Mastery - v, V, Ctrl-v, gv, visual + operators

45 min

[ ] Planned

08

Text Objects Complete - iw aw, i" a", it at, iB aB, custom

60 min

[ ] Planned

09

Command-line Mode - : commands, ranges, :g, :s, :!

60 min

[ ] Planned

10

Macros & Repeat - q, @, @@, ., recursive macros

45 min

[ ] Planned

Drills (Practice)

Drill Focus Environment

01

Insert mode controls, readline patterns

Neovim

02

WORD/word navigation, operator combinations

Neovim

03

Line positions, character search, repeat

Neovim

04

Pattern search, word search, search + delete

Neovim

05

Mark setting, jump navigation, change list

Neovim

06

Register operations, system clipboard, macros

Neovim

07

Visual selection, block mode, visual operators

Neovim

08

All text objects, nested objects, custom

Neovim

09

Ex commands, global, substitute, ranges

Neovim

10

Recording, playback, editing, recursive

Neovim

Quick Reference: Terminal to Neovim

Commands you already know from readline/zsh vi-mode:

Terminal Neovim Insert Mode Effect

Ctrl-w

Ctrl-w

Delete word backward

Ctrl-u

Ctrl-u

Delete to line start

Ctrl-h

Ctrl-h

Backspace

Ctrl-a

Ctrl-a

Insert last inserted text

Ctrl-e

(different)

Scroll down (normal mode)

Ctrl-k

Ctrl-k {digraph}

Insert digraph (not kill-line)

Readline vs Neovim Differences

Action Readline Neovim

Delete to end

Ctrl-k

Ctrl-o D (escape + D)

Move to end

Ctrl-e

Ctrl-o $ or End

Move to start

Ctrl-a

Ctrl-o 0 or Home

Transpose chars

Ctrl-t

Ctrl-t (indent in Neovim)

Prerequisites

  • Basic Neovim usage (opening files, saving, quitting)

  • Familiarity with terminal and vi-mode (helps but not required)

  • domus-nvim installed (NVIM_APPNAME=nvim-domus)

Read the Manual

The built-in :help is the authoritative source. Read the Manual track - 31 chapters, 6 weeks.

:help usr_toc             " Table of contents
:help usr_03              " Chapter 3: Moving around

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