AWDCS

Philosophy

Traditional modal editor keymaps typically organize bindings by tool or function.

But I noticed a pattern in my thinking: I always consider the scope first.

• I want to toggle the App keymaps.
• I want to search the entire Workspace for...
• I want to look in this Document for...
• I want to do something with this Change...
• I want to rename that Symbol...

That's when I decided to adapt my modal editor to this mental model.

This system takes a different approach by organizing mappings based on their scope of operation:

<Scope><?Group?><Operation>

• [A]pp (<leader>a) - Application-level operations
• [W]orkspace (<leader>w) - Operations affecting the entire workspace
• [D]ocument (<leader>d) - Operations on the current document
• [C]hange (<leader>c) - Operations on a change (Hunk)
• [S]ymbol (<leader>s) - Operations on code symbols

Design Principles

• Scope First
  • Every operation must clearly belong to a specific scope (workspace, document, symbol)
  • The scope should be immediately obvious from the operation's nature
• Semantic Operations
  • Mappings should represent clear, meaningful operations
  • Focus on frequently used operations that benefit from quick access
  • Focus on what the operation means, not how it's implemented
• Clear & Specific Naming:
  • Use clear, specific terms that accurately describe operations
  • Be pragmatic with tool names: use "Git" for version control, "LSP" for language features
  • While tool-agnostic design is ideal, explicit names prevent confusion when operations are inherently tied to specific tools
  • Implementation details are still left to the user's configuration
• Preserve Editor Defaults:
  • Don't replace basic editor operations with custom mappings
  • Focus on operations that enhance rather than replace core functionality
  • Leave common editor commands in their traditional form
• Consistent Patterns:
  • Second key should relate to the action within the scope
  • Related operations should share the same scope
  • Maintain predictable patterns across all mappings
• Single Source:
  • Each operation should have exactly one mapping
  • Avoid duplicate mappings across different key combinations
  • Choose the most appropriate and efficient mapping location

Leader Key

I personally use (and recommend) , as my leader key, but you can use any key you like. This way we use both hands in combination when typing the keymaps, which reduces strain by balancing the workload on the fingers. Also I find that the the middle finger is faster than the thumb, which is generally a good thing, but also very nice to quickly double tap the leader key, to reach the command mode.

Keymap

Alphabetical Order

All keybindings in each scope are listed alphabetically for easier reference and maintenance, not by frequency of use or importance.

Ergonomic Design

When using , as the leader key, the system naturally creates efficient left-hand finger patterns. The scope key (first key after leader) and the operation key (second key) are often adjacent or nearby on the keyboard (e.g., sa, we, wd), minimizing finger travel and creating comfortable rolling motions for the left hand. This ergonomic benefit is a fortunate consequence of the alphabetical organization combined with the QWERTY layout's letter placement.

Capital Letter Pattern (Variants)

When an operation has multiple UI implementations (e.g., transient picker vs. persistent panel), capital letters distinguish the variants:

• Lowercase: Transient/picker-based UI (e.g., <leader>wgh - Git history picker)
• Uppercase: Static/persistent UI (e.g., <leader>wgH - Git history in LazyGit, <leader>dP - Problems in Trouble panel)

This pattern applies consistently across similar operations where both quick-access (picker) and deep-dive (persistent) interfaces are available.

<leader>a - [A]pp

Keybinding	Mnemonic	Description	Notes
<leader>aa	App Actions	Show available app actions / commands
<leader>ad	App Document	Open document from any workspace	If available. (e.g. file-surfer.nvim)
<leader>af	App Focus	Focus Mode
<leader>ag	App Git	Show git interface	e.g. LazyGit
<leader>ah	App Help	Show help submenu	Submenu for documentation, manuals, and help resources
<leader>ahh	App Help Highlights	Show syntax highlights
<leader>ahk	App Help Keybindings	Show keybindings
<leader>ahm	App Help Manuals	Show man pages
<leader>ahp	App Help Pages	Show help pages
<leader>ai	App Intelligence	Show AI tools	If available.
<leader>aj	App Jumps	Show application jump list	If available.
<leader>al	App Languages	Show language servers submenu	Submenu for LSP and language server management
<leader>ali	App Languages Info	Show LSP information
<leader>all	App Languages Log	Open LSP log
<leader>als	App Languages Server	Open Mason (server manager)
<leader>an	App Notifications	Show notifications
<leader>ao	App Options	Toggle app options like Background, Line numbers, etc.
<leader>ap	App Plugins	Manage plugins
<leader>ar	App Recent	Open recently visited documents accross all workspace	If available.
<leader>a,	App ,Settings	Toggle app settings	Mirrors macOS cmd-, convention. In Neovim: fuzzy find config files. In GUI apps: settings.json.
<leader>as	App Session	Session submenu	Submenu for session management
<leader>asc	App Session Clean	Clean old sessions
<leader>asd	App Session Delete	Delete session
<leader>asl	App Session List	List sessions
<leader>ass	App Session Save	Save session
<leader>at	App Themes	Switch theme or colorscheme
<leader>aw	App Workspace	Open workspace
<leader>az	App Zoom	Zoom Mode

<leader>w - [W]orkspace

Keybinding	Mnemonic	Description	Notes
<leader>wc	Workspace Changes	Show changes/hunks in workspace	Picker for individual hunks/changes (git diff)
<leader>wd	Workspace Document	Find document in workspace
<leader>we	Workspace Explorer	Open file explorer
<leader>wf	Workspace Find	Find and replace in workspace	Optional: Maybe not needed, if the editor offers a replace field under <leader>wt.
<leader>wj	Workspace Jumps	Show workspace jumps	Jump list for workspace-level navigation
<leader>wm	Workspace Modified	Show modified documents	List of modified files (git status)
<leader>wp	Workspace Problems	Show workspace diagnostics
<leader>wr	Workspace Recent	Show recently visited documents	Optional: Maybe not needed, if editor merges recently opend documents in <leader>wd.
<leader>ws	Workspace Symbol	Find symbol in workspace
<leader>wt	Workspace Text	Find text in workspace
<leader>wg	Workspace Git	Show git submenu	Submenu for all git operations
<leader>wgb	Workspace Git Branches	Show git branches
<leader>wgB	Workspace Git Branch compare	Compare against branch (side-by-side)	If available (e.g., CodeDiff)
<leader>wgD	Workspace Git Diff	Show git diff (side-by-side)	If available (e.g., CodeDiff)
<leader>wgh	Workspace Git History	Show git history (picker)
<leader>wgH	Workspace Git History	Show git history (interactive)	If available (e.g., LazyGit)
<leader>wgi	Workspace Git Issues	Show issues submenu	If available (GitHub integration). Namespace for issue operations.
<leader>wgib	Workspace Git Issues Browse	Browse GitHub issues	If available (GitHub integration)
<leader>wgM	Workspace Git Merge	Resolve merge conflicts	If available (e.g., CodeDiff)
<leader>wgp	Workspace Git Pull Requests	Show pull requests submenu	If available (GitHub integration). Namespace for PR operations.
<leader>wgpb	Workspace Git Pull Requests Browse	Browse pull requests	If available (GitHub integration)
<leader>wgpc	Workspace Git Pull Requests Changes	Show current PR changes	If available (GitHub integration)
<leader>wgpd	Workspace Git Pull Requests Description	Show current PR description	If available (GitHub integration)
<leader>wgr	Workspace Git Remote	Open remote repository
<leader>wgs	Workspace Git Status	Show git status (interactive)	If available (e.g., LazyGit)
<leader>ww	Workspace Word	Find word under cursor in workspace	Optional: Maybe not needed if the editor uses the selection under the cursor when using <leader>wt.

<leader>d - [D]ocument

Shortcut	Mnemonic	Description	Notes
<leader>da	Document Associated	Find associated documents
<leader>dc	Document Changes	Show document changes (if available)
<leader>df	Document Find	Find and replace in document
<leader>dl	Document Last	Switch to last document	<C-^> in Neovim
<leader>dp	Document Problems	Show document diagnostics
<leader>ds	Document Symbol	Find symbol in document
<leader>dt	Document Text	Find text in document
<leader>du	Document Undo	Open undo tree	If available.
<leader>dg	Document Git	Show git submenu	Submenu for document-level git operations
<leader>dgD	Document Git Diff	Show document diff (side-by-side)	If available (e.g., CodeDiff)
<leader>dgh	Document Git History	Show document git history (picker)
<leader>dgH	Document Git History	Show document git history (interactive)	If available (e.g., LazyGit)
<leader>dgr	Document Git Revert	Revert changes
<leader>dgs	Document Git Stage	Stage changes
<leader>dw	Document Word	Find word under cursor in document
<leader>dya	Document Yank All	Copy whole document
<leader>dyp	Document Yank Path	Copy path of document	e.g. absolute, relative path, filename etc.
<leader>dyr	Document Yank Remote	Copy remote path of document	e.g. GitHub Perma link

<leader>c - [C]hange

Shortcut	Mnemonic	Description	Notes
<leader>ca	Change All	Show all changes	If available. (e.g. Snacks.picker.git_diff)
<leader>cd	Change Diff	Show hunk diff
<leader>cg	Change Git	Show hunk preview	Toggle overlay/preview
<leader>cr	Change Revert	Revert current hunk
<leader>cs	Change Stage	Stage current hunk
<leader>cu	Change Undo	Undo staged hunk

<leader>s - [S]ymbol

Shortcut	Mnemonic	Description	Notes
<leader>sI	Symbol Inspect	Inspect symbol under cursor
<leader>sa	Symbol Actions	Show symbol actions
<leader>sc	Symbol Calls	Show calls submenu	Submenu for incoming/outgoing calls
<leader>sci	Symbol Calls Incoming	Show incoming calls
<leader>sco	Symbol Calls Outgoing	Show outgoing calls
<leader>sd	Symbol Definition	Go to symbol definition
<leader>si	Symbol Info	Show symbol information	Hover Information
<leader>sl	Symbol Log	Insert log for symbol	If available. (e.g. Programmatically log symbol under cursor)
<leader>sn	Symbol Name	Rename symbol
<leader>sr	Symbol References	Show symbol references
<leader>st	Symbol Type	Go to type definition
<leader>sg	Symbol Git	Show git submenu	Submenu for symbol-level git operations
<leader>sgb	Symbol Git Blame	Show git blame for line
<leader>sgh	Symbol Git History	Show git history for line

Contributing

Feel free to:

• Suggest improvements to the scope organization
• Propose new scopes for uncovered contexts
• Share your adaptations for different editors

License

MIT License - Feel free to adapt and use in your own configurations.