[Get our "beta" builds!][betas] These are updated with each commit to master on this repo. Your browser will automatically update from there once a day. If you want more frequent updates, you can change `extensions.update.interval` in `about:config` to whatever time you want, say, 15 minutes (900 seconds). Changelogs for the stable versions on the AMO can be found [here](https://github.com/cmcaine/tridactyl/blob/master/doc/changelog.md).
Remember that tridactyl cannot run on any page on addons.mozilla.org, about:\*, data:\*, view-source:\* and file:\*. We're sorry about that and we're working with Firefox to improve this situation by removing restrictions on existing APIs and developing a new API.
- Do not try to navigate to any about:\* pages using `:open` as it will fail silently.
- Firefox will not load Tridactyl on addons.mozilla.org, about:\*, some file:\* URIs, view-source:\*, or data:\*. On these pages Ctrl-L (or F6), Ctrl-Tab and Ctrl-W are your escape hatches.
- Tridactyl does not currently support changing/hiding the Firefox GUI, but you can do it yourself by changing your userChrome. We've developed [quite a good one](src/static/userChrome-minimal.css) that makes windowed Firefox behave more like full-screen mode, but it's well commented, so you can make your own.
Sort of: if you do `set storageloc local`, a JSON file will appear at `<your firefox profile>\browser-extension-data\tridactyl.vim@cmcaine.co.uk\storage.js`. You can find you profile folder by going to `about:support`.
You can edit this file to your heart's content. A more traditional rc file is planned but will require a native messenger. For more information, see [issue #79](https://github.com/cmcaine/tridactyl/issues/79).
One possible reason is that the site has a strict content security policy. We can rewrite these to make Tridactyl work, but we do not want to worsen the security of sensitive pages, so it is taking us a little while. See [#112](https://github.com/cmcaine/tridactyl/issues/112).
Each time package.json or package-lock.json change after you checkout or pull, you should run `npm install` again.
Addon is built in tridactyl/build. Load it as a temporary addon in firefox with `about:debugging` or see [Development loop](#Development-loop). The addon should work in Firefox 52+, but we're only deliberately supporting >=57.
If you want to install a local copy of the add-on into your developer or nightly build of firefox then you can enable installing unsigned add-ons and then build it like so:
If you want to build a signed copy (e.g. for the non-developer release), you can do that with `web-ext sign`. You'll need some keys for AMO and to edit the application id in `src/manifest.json`. There's a helper script in `scripts/sign` that's used by our build bot and for manual releases.
This will compile and deploy your files each time you save them.
### Committing
A pre-commit hook is added by `npm install` that simply runs `npm test`. If you know that your commit doesn't break the tests you can commit with `git commit -n` to ignore the hooks. If you're making a PR, travis will check your build anyway.
* ex mode should expose all the browser functionality anyone might want
* Arguable: most (all?) actions should have an ex mode version (departure from Vim?)
* users can map and define their own actions and commands
Other objectives:
* be fast - the whole point of a keyboard interface is to be more efficient, don't compromise that with slow code
* don't crash - we're the new UI and we shouldn't crash
* be maintainable - code should be well documented, reasoned about and tested.
Non-objectives for v1:
* insert mode (embedded (n)vim would be good for future)
* caret or visual mode - I'm not good enough at vim to find these easier than selecting with the mouse, and they require text motions, which I would prefer to delegate to vim.
cVim and vimium implement some kind of vim experience using webextensions. Neither allow you to modify the browser UI.
#### Common issues
1. can't operate on some URLs (chrome store, chrome://, view-source://)
2. can't escape location bar
3. can't hide chrome UI
4. can't suppress all chrome keybinds
5. can't override some browser shortcuts
6. bad js kills the UI (but the same bad js locks up the whole of firefox, so y'know...)
In conclusion, a privileged keyboard webextension will help with #1,2,4,5; #3,#1 (for visual changes) and maybe #2 need a ui API. #1 might not be applicable to ff content scripts.
#### Vimium
https://github.com/philc/vimium
Very lightweight, but what is there is actually really nice. Easily fixable issues: no command mode for the features they do have; some odd default maps; mappings are done by function name rather than key ('map b Vomnibar.activateTabSelection' rather than 'map b T'). Possibly fixable issues: plugin support (source), arbitrary js eval for mappings, marks are per tab, jumplist.
Missing:
* command mode
* jumplist
* :js
* lots more.
Improvements over vimperator:
* regex search
* buffer switch between windows
#### vrome
https://github.com/jinzhu/vrome
Vim mode chromium plugin written at least partly in coffeescript. Source is not documented, but it's not so bad either (at least it's in coffeescript). Default maps are not to my liking, but that's hardly surprising. I don't see how to make new maps, tho. UI appearance is poor, appears to be influenced by context's css.
Missing:
* map!
* sensible default maps
* UI style
* documentation for users or developers
* plugin/eval support
* jumplist, etc
May be worth taking code from, could consider forking it, but would need to review code more carefully for quality issues.
#### cVim
https://github.com/1995eaton/chromium-vim
Written in uncommented javascript. But user experience is pretty good. Autocompletion in command mode is very good and it has a decent chunk of the vimperator features implemented.
Missing:
* decent documentation
* can't map some characters that vimium can
* jumplist
Improvements over vimperator:
* autocompletion is much faster
* allegedly lets you edit with vim
## Architecture
*This is an early draft and may be entirely replaced.*
ex-commands as functions (typed and with helper functions in some other scope):
* open(url)
* scroll(x=+10)
* mark(<elem>)
* map(actions, keys)
* ...
helper functions for actions:
* scroll-x, scroll-y
* jumplist.get/getrelative/store
* undo-tab-deletion
Count and range:
* given as arguments?
* just repeat the call 'count' times?
for default actions, a mapping from key to helper function.
Generated parsers (command and normal mode):
* command mode pretty conventional. Include type checking.
* For auto-complete to work, need to be able to parse partial results sensibly.
* actions will be a slightly weirder grammar:
* More permissive
* Time sensitive
* In vim, actions compose as you write them (d takes a motion as an argument, for example), I can't think of any examples of this in vimperator: actions sometimes take a count or argument, but that argument is never an action.
* If actions did compose, we would have to give them types, as vim does for motions, and the parsing would be less trivial.
Autocomplete functions for commands:
* Split from implementation of command.
* Could perhaps be automatic from command's parameter types?
Some actions have their own interactive mini-mode:
