zen-vim

Vim motions for Zen Browser tabs and splits. This mod also features:

• Transform the tab sidebar into a tree view - meaning tabs are grouped by a parent from which they were opened
• Command palette (ctrl-shift-:)

It's packaged for Sine with a manual fx-autoconfig option.

This works best when combined with vim motions extension for pages: https://github.com/philc/vimium

Unfortunately, vimium extension is great, but it works only with pages, so you can't really interact with the browser UI with it, that's why I needed this project to close that gap.

zen-vim-demo-zoom.mp4

Install

Sine

1. Install Sine and restart Zen.

2. Open Zen Settings >> Sine Mods and enable JavaScript from unofficial sources.

3. Install the repository:

   https://github.com/syozik/zen-vim/tree/master
   

4. Restart Zen.

Manual (without Sine, using fx-autoconfig)

1. Clone this repo as the chrome folder of your Zen profile (about:profiles shows the path):

   git clone https://github.com/Syozik/zen-vim.git ~/.config/zen/<profile>/chrome

2. Move the two loader files from program/ folder into the Zen install directory (e.g. /opt/zen-browser-bin):

   • config.js next to the zen-bin executable
   • config-prefs.js inside of the defaults/pref folder

3. Restart Zen. If scripts don't load, clear the startup cache from about:support ("Clear startup cache...").

Note: most likely (happened on my 2 machines) zen won't apply styles from userChrome.css if your toolkit.legacyUserProfileCustomizations.stylesheets is false. You may set it to true in about:config.

Keys

Key	Action
Ctrl-W	Close current tab (pinned tabs are reset instead)
Ctrl-W h/j/k/l	Focus split in that direction
Ctrl-W h (no split to the left)	Enter tab browsing mode
Ctrl-W c	Close current tab
Ctrl-W v	Open current tab in the split view
Ctrl-W m	Maximize current tab (if in the split view)
Ctrl-:	Open command palette

In tab browsing mode:

Key	Action
j / l	Next tab
k / h	Previous tab
g g	Go to the first tab
G	Go to the last tab
Enter	Select tab
r	Rename tab
d	Close tab (promoting its nested tabs)
D	Close tab (together with its nested tabs)
c	Promote tab's children
u	Reopen previously closed tab
y	Copy the tab's url
v	Split tab with current (or unsplit if already in a split)
space	Glance tab
z	Fold / unfold tab group
Escape	Exit
p	Move nested tab one level higher
t	Move nested tab to the top
q	Hide sidebar (toggle compact mode)

By default, the normal click to close a tab doesn't close its children. To close children as well - hold Shift while closing the tab.

Available commands in the palette:

Command	Description	Shortcut
Glance	Open a new glance	ctrl-w g
Split view	Open a new split view	ctrl-w v
Claude	Open a new claude chat with your question	ctrl-w a i
Preferences	Go to the settings
Translation	Toggle the page translation	ctrl-w t
Theme	Toggle the current theme
Compact mode	Toggle the sidebar mode	ctrl-w s
Essentials	Add current tab to essentials
Promote tab	Move current nested tab one level higher
Promote tab to root	Move current nested tab to the top
Promote tab's children	Move current nested tab to the top

To move between commands in the palette use arrows or ctrl-n/ctrl-p. Commands in the palette are ordered: you last used command is at the top.

Shortcuts when glance is open:

Command	Description
ctrl-w Escape	Closes the glance
ctrl-w Enter	Opens the glance as a new tab

More keybindings and commands to be added ...

Contributions, ideas, thoughts will be highly appreciated! Feel free to open an issue or a pull request.