Is it possible to use normal mode type editing in denite?

Question

denite seems to use the cmdline like ctrlp instead of a buffer like Unite. Is there a way to edit your query with normal mode commands?

Answer 1

Use C-o to jump to normal mode. This mode works in two ways: you can navigate the candidates buffer and you can issue some normal mode commands to modify your query.

You won't have a cursor when it's at the end and some commands don't work as expected (you can't dw to remove a word), but a bunch of functionality is there. It's always going to be a bit weird since the inputs are doing two things at once (should e to move to the end of a word or edit the selected file?).

You can customize the mode switching mapping like this:

    " Switch modes with C-l (like esc but won't quit)
    call denite#custom#map(
            \ 'normal',
            \ '<C-l>',
            \ '<denite:enter_mode:insert>',
            \ 'noremap'
            \)
    call denite#custom#map(
            \ 'insert',
            \ '<C-l>',
            \ '<denite:enter_mode:normal>',
            \ 'noremap'
            \)