What does mode 'x' mean in NeoVim?

Question

As title. What does the abbreviation 'x' mean in NeoVim? I just saw people setting up keymap.set with this abbreviation.

Answer 1

There are two modes often confused as one:

• :h Visual-mode
• :h Select-mode

The indicator or prefix used in keymaps for these modes are:

• :h mapmode-x: activated only in visual mode
• :h mapmode-s: activated only in select mode
• :h mapmode-v: activated in both visual and select mode

The difference between select-mode and visual-mode can be found in :h Select-mode. As for the keymap distinction, vim suggests the following in :h mapmode-x:

NOTE: Mapping a printable character in Select mode [mapmode-v] may confuse the user. It's better to explicitly use :xmap and :smap for printable characters.

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TL;DR: When in doubt, use strictly visual-mode and mapmode-x.