Skink vs Neovim

Open a folder, quick open, type, multiple cursors, save.

Neovim is a modal, endlessly configurable editor with a huge plugin ecosystem. Skink is a modeless terminal editor that ships the IDE parts built in: language servers, tree-sitter, git, a terminal tab and AI agents, with Micro / VS Code style keys and full mouse support.

If you like modes and enjoy building your own setup, stay on Neovim. If you want the terminal workflow without modes or a config project, try Skink.

Who should pick Neovim

Vim motions. You think in motions and text objects (ciw, dap, .) and do not want to give them up.
Plugins. Neovim’s Lua ecosystem covers almost anything: debuggers through nvim-dap, fuzzy finders, note systems, language-specific tooling. Skink has no plugins or scripting yet.
A mature debugger. nvim-dap has years of adapters and UI plugins behind it. Skink’s built-in debugger is new.
Maturity. Neovim has been in daily use by a large community for over a decade. Skink is alpha.

Who should pick Skink

No modes. You want to work in the terminal, over SSH, keyboard-driven, without switching between Normal and Insert mode.
A GUI-like mouse. Click to place the cursor, drag to select, Alt+click for more cursors, click tabs, drag split dividers, scroll sideways with Shift+wheel or a trackpad swipe.
IDE features on first start. LSP, completion, rename, code actions, git hunks and blame, project search and an AI agent panel, without assembling them from plugins.
One binary. One small static binary you can drop on any server.

Feature comparison

	Skink	Neovim
Editing model	Modeless (Micro / VS Code keys)	Modal (Vim)
Mouse	On, always; click, drag, multi-cursor, tabs, dividers	On by default since 0.8 (`mouse=nvi`)
LSP	Built in, servers start on first use	Built-in client; servers configured by you (or a plugin)
tree-sitter	Built in, 19 languages compiled in	Built in; parsers installed per language
Built-in terminal	Yes, as tabs and a bottom dock	Yes, `:terminal`
AI agents	ACP client, agent panel, prompt box with inline diff review	Through plugins
Plugins	None yet	Large Lua and Vimscript ecosystem
Debugger (DAP)	Built in	nvim-dap plugin
Works over plain SSH	Yes	Yes
Footprint	Small (one static binary)	Small core; grows with plugins
Maturity	Alpha	Mature

What you give up, honestly

Neovim’s strength is that it becomes exactly your editor. Every key, every panel and every workflow can be changed with Lua.

Skink’s keys and settings are configurable in JSON, but you cannot add new behaviour yet. If you rely on a specific plugin (a test runner UI, a REPL bridge, org-mode style notes), check that Skink covers it before switching.

Skink also has no Vim emulation and no plan for one. If you want modal editing with built-in IDE features, look at Helix.

What you get without configuring anything

Language servers for Rust, TypeScript/JavaScript, Python, Go, Dart and Zig start when you open a file of that language, if the server is installed. You get completion, hover (Alt+K), go to definition (Alt+G), references (Alt+R), code actions (Alt+Enter) and rename across files through a preview with checkboxes.
Git: gutter marks, stage or revert a hunk, inline blame, a git panel (Alt+Shift+C or :gitpanel), side-by-side diff and clickable merge-conflict resolution.
Terminal tabs: F12 flips between your file and a shell, Shift+F12 opens another. They are real terminal emulators, so htop, lazygit or claude run unchanged.
AI agents over the Agent Client Protocol: Claude Code, Gemini CLI, opencode, Goose, Codex and others. See AI agents.

Neovim keys and their Skink equivalents

The keys follow Micro, which follows common desktop editors. The ones you will reach for first:

You did in Neovim	In Skink
`:w`	`Ctrl`+`S` (or `:w`)
`:q`	`Ctrl`+`Q` (or `:q`)
`u` / `Ctrl-r`	`Ctrl`+`Z` / `Ctrl`+`Y`
`/pattern`, `n` / `N`	`Ctrl`+`F`, then `Ctrl`+`N` / `Ctrl`+`P` for next / previous match
`v`, `V`	`Shift`+arrows, or drag with the mouse
`gd`	`Alt`+`G` (or `:def`)
`K`	`Alt`+`K`
`Ctrl-o` (jump back)	`Alt`+`U` (or `:back`)
Telescope find files	`Alt`+`P` (or `:recent`)
live grep	`Alt`+`S` or `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`F` (or `:grep`)
`:vsplit` / `:split`	`Ctrl`+`\` / `Alt`+`\` (or `:vsplit` / `:split`)
`q` / `@` macros	`Ctrl`+`U` records, `Ctrl`+`J` replays
`:terminal`	`Shift`+`F12` or `:term`

Vim names in the command line

Press Ctrl+E for the command line; it shows the colon for you, so you type just w or q. Many commands keep their Vim names: :w, :q, :e FILE, :vs, :sp, :only, :goto.

Every key also has a typed command, such as :comment or :dotfiles. See typed commands and the full list in shortcuts.

Add your own bindings

If you miss a binding, add it to ~/.config/skink/bindings.json:

{
  "Alt-w": "Save",
  "Ctrl-5": "JumpToMatchingBrace"
}

Try it

curl -fsSL https://skink.cc/install.sh | sh
skink .

It installs to ~/.local/bin without sudo, and you can keep Neovim installed side by side.

Next: quick start, or read a Neovim-style editor without modes.