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From my .vimrc:

nmap s <Plug>(easymotion-overwin-f)

This sets up an nmap which invokes the EasyMotion plugin when I type ,s.

And that nmap works just fine, and is indeed triggered by ,s.

However, if I do :nmap ,s or :nmap <Leader>s nvim prints "No mapping found."

Why?

EDIT

Some output from :filter /easy/ nmap:

filter

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    You are mapping nmap s and querying maps via :nmap ,s. Those are not the same mappings. Maybe you can do :filter /easy/ nmap to find your mapping
    – Peter Rincker
    Apr 30, 2018 at 19:04
  • @PeterRincker but s is not the mapping. I believe that easymotion-overwin-f takes the argument s and creates the mapping <Leader>s which in my case is ,s. In any case, one way or another ,s gets setup as the mapping... so I don't see why it wouldn't be listed. I've edited the OP with the output from :filter /easy/ nmap.
    – Jonah
    Apr 30, 2018 at 19:12

1 Answer 1

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However, if I do :nmap ,s or :nmap s nvim prints "No mapping found."

Why?

:map (and variants) will return the mappings that Vim/NeoVim is currently using. In your setup you have:

nmap ,, <Plug>(easymotion-prefix)

There are a few more that easymotion looks to map. Specifically ones that look like:

<Plug>(easymotion-prefix)N <Plug>(easymotion-N)
<Plug>(easymotion-prefix)n <Plug>(easymotion-n)
<Plug>(easymotion-prefix)j <Plug>(easymotion-j)
" So on and so forth

None of the mappings you have a * ahead of the Right-hand-side. See :h map-listing. This means the mappings will trigger other mappings (aka recursive mappings). This mean you can trigger <Plug>(easymotion-N) via <Plug>(easymotion-prefix)N which is also equivalent to ,,N. There is no ,,N mapping, but due to the maps being recursive and chording <Plug>(easymotion-N) can still be executed.

So when you execute, ,,s the ,, maps to <Plug>(easymotion-prefix) then waits for another possible letter to find another mapping. In this case a s. When the s is pressed it expands fully to <Plug>(easymotion-s).

For more help see:

:h mapping
:h map-listing
:h :filter
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  • Thanks Peter. That all makes sense. At the end of the day, I wanted to check if ,s was free before I used it for something else. It is not free. However, as your post demonstrates, I cannot rely on nmap ,s to determine that (since it falsely reports that it is free). Is there any method by which I can determine if a mapping is actually free?
    – Jonah
    Apr 30, 2018 at 20:03
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    Easy motion is relying on recursive mappings to simplify customization. It really feels like they are trying to create a new mode. Typically most mappings will use noremap and this will not be an issue. Sadly, this type of mapping will always be annoying to chase down. The best I can say is you can use <nowait> to force a mapping if you want. See :h :map-nowait. This also highlights one of the reasons some Vimmers are wary of plugins.
    – Peter Rincker
    Apr 30, 2018 at 20:11
  • Thanks again. I certainly share those reservations about anything that makes debugging difficult. That said, EasyMotion is so damn useful that I'll put up with it in this case.
    – Jonah
    Apr 30, 2018 at 20:15

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