Stop waiting for the rest of a normal mode command and accept the command typed so far

Question

I have a mapping for m and a mapping for m/ in the same buffer, in Normal mode.

If I type m, is there a way to tell Vim to stop waiting for the 2nd character, and to just submit the current command as-typed?

I don't want to shorten the timeout or change any other "global" behavior. I just want to have the ability to tell Vim to stop waiting for more input and accept the current command.

Answer 1

The existence of the m/ mapping REQUIRES that the m mapping needs to wait for the possibility of hitting the / key before the timeout expires.

There's no way around it. If you want the m mapping to immediately execute, then it makes no sense to also expect m/ to do anything.

Vim will immediately accept whatever you already entered if what you've already entered is unambiguous. You need to eliminate the m/ mapping to make your m mapping unambiguous.

Another alternative is to change your m mapping to include a second character. Hitting two characters can faster than waiting for the timeout.

Answer 2

This appears to be impossible in general using standard key mappings. There is no functionality to tell Vim to "accept whatever I already entered" for an arbitrary sequence of inputs, at the user's discretion (i.e. without baking it into a key mapping with <nowait> or changing the timeout).