The NeoVintageous toggle sidebar

Did you know that NeoVintageous has a side bar toggle command that you can map to? It's a great way to free up screen real estate when you need it. Let me show you a few examples.

If you want to toggle the side bar with the key m, create a mapping and reload your rc file:

nnoremap m :Neovintageous action=toggle_side_bar<CR>

Then add a key binding via Menu → Preferences → Key Bindings (this is for when the side bar has focus):

{
    "keys": ["m"],
    "command": "neovintageous",
    "args": {"action": "toggle_side_bar"},
    "context": [{"key": "control", "operand": "sidebar_tree"}]
},

Now you can toggle the side bar with m, but suppose instead you want to toggle with CTRL-d.

{% include note.html content="You will need ctrl keys enabled." %}

Create a mapping and reload your rc file:

nnoremap <C-d> :Neovintageous action=toggle_side_bar<CR>

Then add a key binding via Menu → Preferences → Key Bindings:

{
    "keys": ["ctrl+d"],
    "command": "neovintageous",
    "args": {"action": "toggle_side_bar"},
    "context": [{"key": "control", "operand": "sidebar_tree"}]
},

Now you can toggle with CTRL-d, but suppose you prefer to use your leader key e.g. <leader>d. This is the mapping I use. My leader is always set to , (comma) because it's my right hand and d is my left hand so it's a quick one-two key sequence. Create a mapping and reload your rc file:

let mapleader=,
nnoremap <leader>d :Neovintageous action=toggle_side_bar<CR>

{% include note.html content="The default mapleader is / (slash)." %}

Then add a key binding via Menu → Preferences → Key Bindings:

{
    "keys": [",", "d"],
    "command": "neovintageous",
    "args": {"action": "toggle_side_bar"},
    "context": [{"key": "control", "operand": "sidebar_tree"}]
},

Why a mapping AND key binding?

The reason you need both a mapping and a key binding is because the key binding is for when the side bar has focus. This is a special context that you don't need to worry about for regular mappings.

Wrapping up

A side bar toggle is a great way to free up screen real estate. Pair it with an Origami Toggle Zoom mapping for a great way to focus on immediate coding problems.

Further reading

• NeoVintageous documentation