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Marian Ignev
Marian Ignev

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How I Built a Cursor Alternative That Runs in the Terminal

#vim #coding #claude #opensource

Vimsor - Vim with Claude AI integration and Sublime-like keybindings

A guide to Vimsor - Vim with Claude AI integration and Sublime-like keybindings

The Problem

I've been using Cursor for AI-assisted coding, and it's genuinely excellent. The AI chat, the code explanations, the refactoring suggestions - it all works beautifully.

But there were a few things bothering me:

  1. It's another Electron app - My laptop was already running VS Code, Slack, Discord, and now Cursor. The RAM usage was getting out of hand.

  2. It doesn't work over SSH - I frequently work on remote servers. Cursor can't help me there.

  3. I missed Vim - After years of muscle memory, I found myself reaching for Vim keybindings that didn't exist.

  4. I wanted Claude - Cursor uses GPT, but I've found Claude to be better for coding tasks.

So I asked myself: What if I could have Cursor's features in Vim?

The Solution: Vimsor

Vimsor is a Vim configuration that brings Cursor-like AI features to the terminal. It combines:

  • Claude AI integration - Chat, explain, fix, and refactor code
  • Sublime-like keybindings - Ctrl+P, Ctrl+B, Ctrl+N work as expected
  • Modern plugins - Fuzzy finding, multi-cursor, git integration
  • Beautiful UI - Ayu theme with a custom status line

Let me show you how it works.

AI Features

Chat with Claude

Press ,cc to open Claude Code in a side panel:

┌─────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┐
│                             │                              │
│   Your Code                 │   Claude Chat                │
│                             │                              │
│   def fibonacci(n):         │   > How can I optimize       │
│       if n <= 1:            │     this function?           │
│           return n          │                              │
│       return fibonacci(n-1) │   You could use memoization  │
│            + fibonacci(n-2) │   or convert to iterative... │
│                             │                              │
└─────────────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────┘
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Explain Code

Select some code and press ,ce to get an explanation:

# Select this code and press ,ce
def quicksort(arr):
    if len(arr) <= 1:
        return arr
    pivot = arr[len(arr) // 2]
    left = [x for x in arr if x < pivot]
    middle = [x for x in arr if x == pivot]
    right = [x for x in arr if x > pivot]
    return quicksort(left) + middle + quicksort(right)
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Claude responds with a clear explanation in a new split.

Fix Bugs

Found a bug? Select the code and press ,cf:

# Before (buggy)
def divide(a, b):
    return a / b  # Crashes on b=0

# After (Claude's fix)
def divide(a, b):
    if b == 0:
        raise ValueError("Cannot divide by zero")
    return a / b
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Refactor Code

Select code and press ,cr, then describe what you want:

Edit instruction: Convert to async/await
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Claude rewrites the selection for you.

Sublime-like Keybindings

If you've used Sublime Text or VS Code, these will feel familiar:

Key Action
Ctrl+P Fuzzy file finder
Ctrl+B Toggle sidebar
Ctrl+N Multi-cursor (select next match)
Ctrl+/ Toggle comment
Ctrl+S Save
Alt+↑/↓ Move line up/down

The leader key is , for additional commands:

Key Action
,cc Claude chat
,ce Claude explain
,cf Claude fix
,cr Claude refactor
,f Search in project
,d Duplicate line

The Status Line

One thing I love about modern editors is the informative status line. Vimsor includes a custom one:

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ NORMAL │ ⑂ master │ » app.py ● │ ◆ python │ ↕ 50% │ ☰ 42:15    │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
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  • ⑂ master - Git branch (in red)
  • » app.py - Current file
  • ● - Modified (unsaved changes)
  • ◆ python - File type
  • ↕ 50% - Position in file
  • ☰ 42:15 - Line and column

Installation

One command for macOS or Linux:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mignev/vimsor/main/install.sh | bash
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The script:

  1. Installs dependencies (vim, fzf, ripgrep)
  2. Sets up vim-plug
  3. Installs all plugins
  4. Creates the vimrc symlink

For Claude AI features, you'll also need Claude Code installed.

What's Under the Hood

Vimsor uses these excellent plugins:

Plugin Purpose
fzf.vim Fuzzy file finder
NERDTree File sidebar
vim-visual-multi Multi-cursor
vim-commentary Comment toggle
vim-fugitive Git integration
vim-gitgutter Git diff in gutter
lightline.vim Status line
ayu-vim Color scheme

The Claude integration is custom VimScript that shells out to the Claude Code CLI:

function! ClaudeChat()
  vertical botright terminal ++cols=80 claude
endfunction

function! ClaudeFix()
  let l:tmpfile = tempname()
  '<,'>write! `=l:tmpfile`
  let l:cmd = 'claude -p "Fix any bugs. Output ONLY code." < ' . l:tmpfile
  let l:result = system(l:cmd)
  " ... replace selection with result
endfunction
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Why Not Just Use Cursor?

Cursor is great! Use it if:

  • You prefer a full GUI
  • You're always on a local machine
  • You like the GPT integration

Use Vimsor if:

  • You live in the terminal
  • You work over SSH frequently
  • You prefer Claude over GPT
  • You want something lighter
  • You love Vim but want AI assistance

Customization

Change the theme 

let ayucolor="mirage"  " Options: light, mirage, dark
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Change the leader key 

let mapleader = ","  " Change to space, backslash, etc.
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Add your own keybindings 

" Example: Map F5 to run Python
autocmd FileType python nnoremap <F5> :!python %<CR>
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Try It Out

The project is open source and MIT licensed:

GitHub: https://github.com/mignev/vimsor

Star it if you find it useful, and feel free to open issues or PRs!

What's Next

Some features I'm considering:

  • [ ] Neovim support with native LSP
  • [ ] Code completion with Claude
  • [ ] Image support for multi-modal prompts
  • [ ] Session persistence for Claude chat

Let me know what features you'd like to see!

Thanks for reading! Follow me for more developer tools and terminal workflows.

Tags: #vim #ai #claude #opensource #terminal #productivity #coding

About the Author

Marian Ignev is a software developer who spends too much time configuring his terminal. Find him on GitHub, Twitter, SashiDo and Contentship.

Top comments (1)

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gustavosis profile image
GUSTAVOSIS •

Interesting approach. I went in a similar direction with Airuncode, but instead of tying the workflow to one model I separated the runtime from the provider layer. So the same coding environment can work with different cloud models or local ones depending on the task.

I think this is becoming more important as coding models change so quickly. The tool shouldn't have to change every time the best model changes.

I'm building it here if you want to compare approaches: airuncode.com

I'd actually be curious how you handle model/provider abstraction in Vimsor.