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Readline vi Mode

While the Readline library does not have a full set of vi editing functions, it does contain enough to allow simple editing of the line.

In order to switch interactively between GNU Emacs and vi editing modes, use the command M-C-J (toggle-editing-mode). When you enter a line in vi mode, you are already placed in ‘insertion’ mode, as if you had typed an ‘i’. Using Esc switches you into ‘edit’ mode, where you can edit the text of the line with the standard vi movement keys, move to previous history lines with ‘k’, and following lines with ‘j’, and so forth.