vim-herdr-navigation

Navigate herdr panes and Vim/Neovim splits as if they were one app. Ctrl+h/j/k/l moves between Vim splits while you're in Vim, and falls through to move between herdr panes when Vim hits an edge — and the same keys move between herdr panes everywhere else. It's vim-tmux-navigator, ported to herdr's CLI.

How it works

Two cooperating sides, like vim-tmux-navigator:

• herdr side (navigate.sh): a herdr keybind binds Ctrl+h/j/k/l to a plugin action. On each press the action checks the focused pane's foreground process via herdr pane process-info. If it's Vim/Neovim it forwards the key into that pane with herdr pane send-keys; otherwise it moves herdr's focus with herdr pane focus --direction.
• editor side (editor/nvim.lua, editor/vim.vim): maps the same keys to wincmd h/j/k/l. If the window didn't change (Vim is at an edge), it calls herdr pane focus --direction to cross into the neighbouring herdr pane. Vim finds its own pane through the $HERDR_PANE_ID herdr injects into every pane.

Requirements

• herdr >= 0.7.0
• jq (used by navigate.sh to detect Vim; without it the keys still move herdr panes, just without Vim awareness)
• Tested on Linux or macOS

Install

herdr plugin link /path/to/vim-herdr-navigation   # local checkout
herdr plugin action list --plugin vim-herdr-navigation

1. Bind the keys in herdr

Add to ~/.config/herdr/config.toml:

[[keys.command]]
key = "ctrl+h"
type = "plugin_action"
command = "vim-herdr-navigation.left"
description = "navigate left (vim/herdr)"

[[keys.command]]
key = "ctrl+j"
type = "plugin_action"
command = "vim-herdr-navigation.down"
description = "navigate down (vim/herdr)"

[[keys.command]]
key = "ctrl+k"
type = "plugin_action"
command = "vim-herdr-navigation.up"
description = "navigate up (vim/herdr)"

[[keys.command]]
key = "ctrl+l"
type = "plugin_action"
command = "vim-herdr-navigation.right"
description = "navigate right (vim/herdr)"

Reload herdr's config (prefix+shift+r) or restart.

2. Wire up your editor

Neovim — load editor/nvim.lua after your plugins so it wins over any other <C-h/j/k/l> mapping. With lazy.nvim, fold it into the vim-tmux-navigator spec (disable its mappings, then load this one — single source of truth):

{
  "christoomey/vim-tmux-navigator",
  lazy = false,
  init = function()
    vim.g.tmux_navigator_no_mappings = 1
  end,
  config = function()
    dofile(vim.fn.expand("~/src/personal/vim-herdr-navigation/editor/nvim.lua"))
  end,
}

No plugin manager? Drop it in after/plugin instead: cp editor/nvim.lua ~/.config/nvim/after/plugin/herdr_nav.lua.

It falls back to tmux (if $TMUX is set) or plain wincmd when you're not in a herdr pane, so an existing tmux setup keeps working — no need to remove vim-tmux-navigator.

Vim — from your vimrc:

source /path/to/vim-herdr-navigation/editor/vim.vim

or, simply copy and pasta.

Notes & tradeoffs

• Other TUIs that use Ctrl+h/j/k/l (vi-sql, lazygit, k9s). By default every non-Vim pane just moves herdr focus. To let one of these handle the chord itself, name it in HERDR_NAV_PASSTHROUGH_RE — a regex on the lower-cased process name, anchored (^…$) for an exact match. Set it where you launch herdr:

  export HERDR_NAV_PASSTHROUGH_RE='^(vi-sql|lazygit)$'

  Unlike Vim, these apps don't cross out at an edge — use prefix+h/j/k/l to leave the pane.

• Ctrl+l / Ctrl+k in shells. Binding these globally shadows readline's Ctrl+L (clear screen) and Ctrl+K (kill line) inside non-Vim panes. This is the same tradeoff as vim-tmux-navigator. If you want them back, bind clear to something like prefix+l or pick alt+h/j/k/l for navigation instead.

• Ctrl+H vs Backspace. Ctrl+H and Backspace share a byte (0x08) unless the kitty keyboard protocol is active. Neovim ≥ 0.10 enables it automatically in herdr panes, keeping <C-h> distinct. On older Vim you may need to map <BS> separately if it starts navigating.

• The editor maps are normal-mode only. Add t/i modes yourself if you want to navigate out of terminal/insert mode.