Vim: write back my file on each key press

Question

I\'d like vim to automatically write my file as often as possible. The ideal would be every keystroke.

I need to save regularly so that my background build process wi

Answer 1

I suggest using the method I described in similar Save file after each edit in vim question:

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The CursorHold and CursorHoldI might help. According to docs:

|CursorHold|        the user doesn't press a key for a while
|CursorHoldI|       the user doesn't press a key for a while in Insert mode

Those events fire only once after inactivity and depend on updatetime variable (default: 4000ms). So you can:

:au CursorHold  :update

Which will update current buffer file (i.e. save only if modified) after default 4 seconds of inactivity in Normal mode.

Add autocommand for CursorHoldI if you want to get the same behavior in Insert mode.

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Setting CursorHold, CursorHoldI events along with very short updatetime will make vim save the file instantly after the edit.