saberzero1_motions/docs/features/marks.md

title	description	tags
Marks	Visual mark indicators in the gutter, global mark persistence across files and sessions, and a grouped marks picker.	features keybindings

Vim marks work out of the box via the codemirror-vim engine. Vim Motions adds three enhancements: gutter indicators that show where marks are set, persistence for global marks across files and restarts, and a grouped picker for quick navigation.

Gutter indicators

When you set a mark with m{a-z} or m{A-Z}, the mark letter appears in a dedicated gutter column to the left of line numbers. Multiple marks on the same line are shown together (e.g., ab); if more than three marks share a line, the display truncates with an ellipsis (e.g., abc…). The indicators update automatically when marks are moved, deleted, or when text edits shift line positions.

Mark labels use a fixed font size regardless of the content line — heading lines won't inflate the mark indicators. Global marks (A–Z) render in a distinct color from local marks (a–z).

Clicking a mark label in the sign column moves the cursor to that line.

The sign column has three modes, with optional width control:

Mode	Vimrc	Lua	Behavior
Auto	set signcolumn=auto	vim.opt.signcolumn = "auto"	Show the gutter column when marks exist, hide when empty
Auto:N	set signcolumn=auto:3	vim.opt.signcolumn = "auto:3"	Same as auto, but reserve N character slots (1–4)
Always	set signcolumn=yes	vim.opt.signcolumn = "yes"	Always reserve gutter space, even with no marks
Yes:N	set signcolumn=yes:2	vim.opt.signcolumn = "yes:2"	Always reserve N character slots
Off	set signcolumn=no	vim.opt.signcolumn = "no"	Never show mark indicators

Toggle via Settings → Vim Motions → Vim features → Sign column. set markgutter / set nomarkgutter remain as backward-compatible aliases.

Mark indicators also appear in the statuscolumn unified gutter when %s is included in the format string (e.g., vim.opt.statuscolumn = "%s %l %r %C").

The gutter layout from left to right is: sign column → line numbers → fold column → content, matching Neovim's default arrangement.

Global mark persistence

Standard vim marks a–z are buffer-local and exist only while the file is open. Global marks A–Z are persisted across files and plugin restarts:

• Set mark A with mA in any file — it stores the file path and cursor position
• Navigate to mark A from any file with 'A or `A — opens the target file and jumps to the saved position
• Global marks survive closing files, switching tabs, and restarting Obsidian
• File renames automatically update all global marks pointing to the renamed file
• File deletes automatically remove global marks pointing to the deleted file

Tip

Use global marks to bookmark locations you return to frequently. mA for your daily note, mB for your current project — then 'A and 'B jump there from anywhere.

Marks picker

Open the marks picker with :marks or <leader>fm. Marks are grouped by category:

• Buffer marks (a–z) — local to the current file, showing line number and content preview
• Global marks (A–Z) — showing the target file path and line number

Select a buffer mark to jump to its position. Select a global mark to open the target file and navigate to the saved position. If a global mark points to a file that no longer exists, a notice is shown.

The picker supports fuzzy search across mark names, file paths, and line content.

Keybindings

Key	Action
m{a-z}	Set buffer-local mark
m{A-Z}	Set global mark (persisted)
'{a-z}	Jump to buffer mark (line)
`{a-z}	Jump to buffer mark (exact position)
'{A-Z}	Jump to global mark (opens file)
`{A-Z}	Jump to global mark (opens file, exact position)
<leader>fm	Open marks picker
:marks	Open marks picker
:delmarks {marks}	Delete specified marks