My experiment with a modal text editing system. This is config-ware, not a real package.
Basic top-level keybindings are given in the layout.txt file.
Movement commands also move the mark, which has its own cursor
Similar to editors like Kakoune movement commands mark the things (as in thingatpt) over which they move. The built in commands that operate on the region can then be used on that region to to achieve a noun->verb modal style.
Often times a verb->noun style makes more sense than noun->verb. For example narrowing to the current function in a noun->verb fashion would require selected the surrounding function, narrowing to region and then jumping back to the point where you started. Using a verb->noun style the jump back to the original point becomes unnecessary. Conn also provides functions to allow commands to read thing movement commands in their interactive form and use them to determine the region over which they should act, allow verb->noun style commands as well.
By convention noun->verb command names have a -region or -in-region suffix while verb->noun command names have a -thing or -in-thing suffix.
Kapply to consult-grep candidates with embark
Conn implements a system to apply keyboard macros at regions, designed to be easy to extend with new types of regions and different options for how to do the application. It can apply to isearch matches, consult location/grep/xref candidates (via embark), string and regexp matches similar to replace-string/regexp (optionally querying, as in query-replace, for the location to record the macro at so that, together with kbd-macro-query, you can have an interface like query-replace), hi-lock highlights, things (as in thingatpt, e.g. apply to the next 3 defuns) and things in region (e.g. apply to all s-expressions in region), arbitrary text properties, occur/grep/compilation-mode matches, and continuing until an error (effectively calling execute-kbd-macro with count of 0). It can preserve state between iterations (excursions and marks, restrictions), it can merge undo either per buffer, per buffer atomically (so changes are undone on error), per iteration, or not at all. Previous keyboard macros can be used instead of recording a new one, either by just using the macro, or kmacro-step-edit-macro or appending to the macro first. It handles invisible regions either by opening them with the isearch open invisible machinery or always skipping them depending on the command and the value of search-invisible (which makes filtering occur/grep-mode matches to execute on much easier using consult-focus-lines or similar).
The system is controlled with transient.
Ad-hoc avy-like dispatch action using kapply
Labels preserve line width when possible
Conn provides an avy-like system jumping to or acting on visible locations. The dispatch command reads actions (optional) and a thing (the noun->verb style), finds all of the things in visible windows (possibly prompting for a prefix character or a string contained within the thing to help reduce the initial results), and then displays labels at each thing for the user to select from.
Window labels
Conn provides conn-wincontrol-mode, a mode similar to hyperbole’s hycontrol for efficiently using window, tab and frame related commands. Conn uses its labeling system to provide window labels similar to ace-window, allowing commands to read a window selected by the user as one of their arguments. If conn-posframe is enabled a posframe display will be added to various buffer and tab commands showing the cycling list of buffers/tabs the command is moving through (e.g. next-buffer, bury-buffer, tab-next, tab-close, etc).