Vim Mode Per Device

An Obsidian plugin that turns Vim key bindings on or off depending on the kind of device Obsidian is running on.

Vim key bindings are great with a hardware keyboard and painful on a phone's touch keyboard. Obsidian stores the setting in the vault's shared config (.obsidian/app.json), so with iCloud, Obsidian Sync, Git or any other sync, switching it on for your laptop switches it on for your phone too. This plugin sets it per device type each time Obsidian starts.

Features

• Vim key bindings on for desktop, off for mobile by default.
• Both choices are configurable, so you can do the opposite or turn it on everywhere.
• Writes the setting only when it differs, so synced devices don't keep rewriting app.json.
• No network access, no telemetry, and no files touched besides Obsidian's own config.

Installation

From Community plugins

1. Open Settings → Community plugins → Browse.
2. Search for Vim Mode Per Device and select Install, then Enable.

Manually

1. Download main.js and manifest.json from the latest release.
2. Copy them to <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/vim-mode-per-device/.
3. Reload Obsidian and enable the plugin in Settings → Community plugins.

Enable the plugin once: the list of enabled plugins syncs with the vault, so it becomes active on every device.

Settings

Settings → Vim Mode Per Device:

Setting	Default	Applies on
Vim key bindings on desktop	On	macOS, Windows, Linux
Vim key bindings on mobile	Off	iOS, iPadOS, Android (phones and tablets)

Changes apply immediately to the current device. Other devices pick them up the next time Obsidian starts there.

How it works

On load, the plugin checks Platform.isMobile and sets Obsidian's vimMode config to the matching setting. The plugin's own settings are stored in its data.json and sync with the vault like any other plugin data.

Caveats

• Toggling Settings → Editor → Vim key bindings by hand still works, but the plugin applies your per-device choice again the next time Obsidian starts. Change the plugin's settings instead.
• Tablets count as mobile, which is how Obsidian itself classifies them.
• Obsidian doesn't publish an API for its own editor settings. The plugin uses app.vault.getConfig / setConfig, the internal methods behind Obsidian's settings screens. Many plugins rely on them, but a future Obsidian release could change them.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup and the release process.

License

MIT