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Tridactyl (Firefox Vim Keybindings)

Vim-style keyboard navigation for Firefox, with Colemak-DH remappings.

Overview

Tridactyl adds Vim-like keybindings to Firefox. Because this setup uses a Colemak-DH keyboard layout, the default hjkl navigation is remapped to mnei (same physical positions on Colemak-DH). Displaced keys are relocated to nearby positions.

Config location: ~/.config/tridactyl/tridactylrc

Setup

  1. Install the extension from Firefox Add-ons

  2. Install the native messenger — required for Tridactyl to read the local config file. Open Firefox and run:

    :installnative

    Without this, Tridactyl can't access the filesystem and won't load your tridactylrc.

  3. Load the config (happens automatically on browser start, or manually):

    :source

The native messenger also enables other features like opening an external editor with Ctrl+i in text fields.

Colemak-DH Navigation

The core navigation remapping — hjkl becomes mnei:

Key Action Replaces
m Scroll left h
n Scroll down j
e Scroll up k
i Scroll right l
N Half-page down Ctrl+d
E Half-page up Ctrl+u
M Previous tab —
I Next tab —

Displaced Keys

Keys displaced by the navigation remapping are relocated:

Original New Key Action
n/N (search next/prev) k/K Find next/previous
i (focus input) l Focus input field
m (mark) a Add mark
gi (last input) gl Focus last input field

Quick Reference

General

Key Action
o Open URL in current tab
O Open URL in new tab
B Switch tab (buffer list)
f Follow link (hint mode)
F Follow link in new tab
x Close tab
X Undo close tab
d Scroll half-page down
/ Start search
? Start reverse search
Escape Clear search highlighting

Tab Management

Key Action
M Previous tab
I Next tab
g< Move tab left
g> Move tab right
gp Pin/unpin tab
yd Duplicate tab
gd Detach tab to new window
g1–g9 Jump to tab by index

History

Key Action
Alt+m Back
Alt+i Forward

Zoom

Key Action
zi Zoom in
zo Zoom out
zz Reset zoom (100%)

Visual/Caret Mode

Enter with v. Navigation uses the same mnei scheme:

Key Action
m Extend selection left
n Extend selection down
e Extend selection up
i Extend selection right
w Extend selection forward by word
b Extend selection backward by word

Hint Characters

Hint mode uses Colemak-DH home row characters: arstgmneiowfpluy

Ignored Sites

Tridactyl automatically enters ignore mode (passes all keys through) on:

  • Gmail (mail.google.com)
  • Google Docs (docs.google.com)
  • Google Sheets (sheets.google.com)
  • Google Slides (slides.google.com)

To toggle ignore mode manually: Shift+Insert or :mode ignore

Utility

Key Action
gf View page source
;h Open help
;r Reload config
]] Follow "next" link
[[ Follow "prev" link
;t Hint open in new tab
;b Hint open in background tab

Troubleshooting

Config not loading on startup:

  • Verify the native messenger is installed: :native
  • Reinstall if needed: :installnative
  • Check config path: :source should load ~/.config/tridactyl/tridactylrc

Keys not working on a site:

  • Some sites (like Google Docs) are in the ignore list — this is intentional
  • Firefox's internal pages (about:*, addons.mozilla.org) block extensions entirely — Tridactyl can't work there

Native messenger issues on macOS:

  • If :installnative fails, ensure Python 3 is available
  • Check that ~/.local/share/tridactyl/native_main exists after install