which-key.nvim VS vim-which-key

There is a well known plugin for neovim to do this kind of behavior. You can even create your own hotkeys into that plugin and will help you navigate and memorize different hotkeys for the editor. The plugin is called whichkey, and this is their github https://github.com/folke/which-key.nvim

The menu most certainly comes from folke/which-key.nvim. Take a look into part of your config which sets it up.

By default, most of nvim packages have WhichKey plugin which shows popup with available commands. For instance, you press space or g and what for a second:

One of the recent innovations in the Vim space that I've appreciated a lot is which-key by folke for Neovim: https://github.com/folke/which-key.nvim

It makes keybindings in vim discoverable, it's quite magical. For example, press g and get a table of all the various commands that follow from there. Press mapleader and get a table of various commands from there, etc.

>The problem with that is that for some rarely used action one forgets...

Install https://github.com/folke/which-key.nvim and you will always have a popup that will tell you what keys to use next.

https://github.com/folke/which-key.nvim - it's like a cheat sheet in neovim!

folke/which-key.nvim will help with you with your key maps.

I recently started actively using which-key plugin that shows the contents of all registers when pressing ".

3) I'd recommend using Telescope, more specifically, :Telescope keympas. There's also which-key, which might be more intuitive, but I haven't used it.

The only Vim distro I'm aware of is SpaceVim (https://spacevim.org/). I just tested it for a short time but it couldn't compete with my hand crafted settings ;-) But I'm using some of the plugins of SpaceVim in my setup, eg. vim-which-key and vista.vim.

Sounds like you want vim-which-key and coc.nvim.

> even though I'm a terminal user ... I really like the discoverability of GUIs, and that's where a good GUI is unbeatable by CLI.

CLI has poor discoverability? Sure; but even on the terminal, discoverability can still be good:

A couple of nice examples of discoverability in keyboard-focused programs:

- emacs' which-key[0]; there's a vim port[1] too. This shows you (some) of the available keybindings for the next input, and a short label. So you don't have to remember what `SPC h p ...` or all the options under `SPC f...`.. but it still helps to recall that `SPC h` is for 'help' related commands, `SPC f` for file related commands.

- emacs' magit[2][3]. Magit is so good at discoverability, that I'd rate it as the best tool for using git with. I've learned more about git from using it.

[0] https://github.com/justbur/emacs-which-key

[1] https://github.com/liuchengxu/vim-which-key

[2] https://magit.vc/

[3] https://emacsair.me/2017/09/01/magit-walk-through/

Agreed, that's the only time I find missing Emacs' which-key. (Looks like there is https://github.com/liuchengxu/vim-which-key for this.)

I think you mean a plugin which shows available key bindings as you type, which is what vim-which-key does.

Just an extension.

It is https://github.com/liuchengxu/vim-which-key if you are interested.

>Were you also able to replicate the small popups that open when you press `m`, `g`, etc.?

Yes, although 'm' has a totally different meaning in vim (placing a mark), so there is no popup for that. But it works where there are actually sensible choices, even for marks it works and shows you every available one, which is pretty cool

But again, that's not a specifically vim issue, its endemic to TUIs (hence bash completions and all the other hacks to make discoverability accesible). As well, there are some projects to ameliorate this in vim like the which-key family of plugins01 and others like them.

__usability features__ Emacs has a lot of great ideas for usability, some of which have been copied to vim like which-key https://github.com/folke/which-key.nvim https://github.com/liuchengxu/vim-which-key

Printing cheat sheets is helpful. At some point, make your own. which-key.nvim (or vim-which-key) is a plugin I wish I had found years ago. It gives you hints of next keys available to press. It's great for beginners, and experts. It's like the ultimate real-time cheatsheet.