Enable Vim/Helix keybindings when the base keymap is set to None

[profojak]

Hi! 👋 When base_keymap is set to None, it disables all the keybindings, even if vim_mode or helix_mode is enabled. However, I think the Vim/Helix keybindings should be applied on top of the empty base keymap.

My use case for this is to start with the minimal set of Vim/Helix key shortcuts and add other bindings on top of that, instead of flooding the keymap with hundreds of predefined shortcuts from some base keymap.

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[profojak]

@cla-bot check

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[NeelChotai]

Nice, thanks for the contribution!

[xab3r]

I haven't seen this coming. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to add another option like base_keymap: vim/helix or something if someone wants vim/helix keymap as default mapping, and keep base_keymap: None to behave exactly as it says - "no base map"?

@NeelChotai The "None" map was introduced on purpose in #9471 specifically to clear the map entirely. This change is breaking it. Can it be reverted?
cc @ConradIrwin

P.S. My situation is this: the Zed setup is based on a clean base map, and all my keybindings are non-standard. This change introduces many unwanted mappings and makes the setup much harder to maintain.

[ConradIrwin]

Sorry about that, revert is here: #55144

[profojak]

Thanks for your feedback @xab3r!

I submitted this pull request because it felt like a bug: you toggle the Vim/Helix mode while having base keymap set to None, and it does literally nothing. From the current UI, I would expect that to apply Vim/Helix key bindings on top of the emtpy base keymap. I did not realize that, in fact, Vim/Helix mode != Vim/Helix key bindings.

I agree a Vim/Helix base keymap is a good compromise, but I think the UI also has to change to communicate this effectively. Imagine you set the keymap to Vim/Helix, but do not really have Vim/Helix behavior, until you also toggle the Vim/Helix mode? To me, from a UI perspective, it makes much more sense to apply Vim/Helix key binds on top of empty base keymap.

I would propose something like Disable all default key binds override toggle instead of relying on the None base keymap to disable key binds, even when Vim/Helix mode is set. Should I open an Issue for this @ConradIrwin?

[ConradIrwin]

@profojak vim/helix mode rely on a number of keybindings from the default keymap; so I think that having none mean none is the right approach.

What are you trying to do?

(In hindsight, I think it was a mistake to allow none at all, but seems like that ship has sailed and people are relying on it).

[profojak]

@ConradIrwin I wanted to turn off all the key bindings and only enable in-editor Vim/Helix key shortcuts. Setting base keymap to None and enabling Vim/Helix mode kind of implied that to me, in my head. But I can work around this, I actually think having None base keymap is a good thing!