trigger vi mode key binding in normal mode only

Question

I've created some custom key bindings for bash vi mode. They trigger while I'm in insert mode and I want them instead to trigger when I'm in normal mode.

I'm using vi mode

set -o vi

in a terminal emulator on Ubuntu 14.04 server. So far I have remapped:

^ — Move to start of line

$ — Move to end of line

To the following:

<space>a — Move to start of line

<space>; — Move to end of line

Using the bash built-in command bind by editing .bashrc as follows:

bind " -a":beginning-of-line
bind " -;":end-of-line

These key bindings work - but they only trigger when I'm in insert mode. How do I get them only to fire only when I'm in normal mode and not in insert mode, instead?

tags: bash vi mode, bash vi mode remap keys, vi mode normal mode

Answer 1

This is how its done in .inputrc:

set editing-mode vi
$if mode=vi

# these are for vi-command mode
set keymap vi-command

# unbind space
" ": ""

# bind space-a, space-;
" a":beginning-of-line
" ;":"$" 

$endif