Vim editor mode turns the Claude Code prompt into a modal editor with familiar normal and insert mode bindings.

What it does

Enable vim mode and your prompt supports h j k l motion, w b e word jumps, dd line delete, yy yank, p paste, and insert mode via i, a, or o. Escape returns to normal mode. It works on single-line and multiline drafts alike, so you can compose long prompts the same way you'd compose code.

When to use it

You already live in vim or neovim and want consistent motions.
You draft long, complex prompts that benefit from modal editing.
You find yourself reaching for arrow keys too often.
You want . repeats and u undo in the prompt buffer.

Gotchas

Some readline shortcuts are disabled while vim mode is active. Check the keybindings doc for the full swap.
Visual mode selections don't integrate with system clipboard on every terminal.
If you toggle vim mode mid-session, the current draft keeps its previous mode behavior until you press a motion.

Official docs: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/interactive-mode.md#vim-editor-mode