How do I make the % key jump between custom bracket pairs like < and >?

Explanation

By default, % jumps between matching (), {}, and [] pairs. The matchpairs option controls which delimiter pairs are recognised. Using += appends a new pair without removing the defaults, so you can add any ASCII delimiter pair you need.

How it works

• matchpairs is a comma-separated list of open:close pairs
• Default value: (:),{:},[:]
• :set matchpairs+=<:> appends <:> to the list
• After this, pressing % on < jumps to the matching > and vice versa

Each pair is written as open:close using any two distinct ASCII characters.

Example

With :set matchpairs+=<:> active, given:

<template v-for="item in items">

Placing the cursor on < and pressing % jumps to the closing > at the end of the tag.

Tips

• Add multiple pairs at once: :set matchpairs+=<:>,«:»
• For filetype-specific pairs, put the setting in ~/.vim/ftplugin/{filetype}.vim or use an autocmd:

  autocmd FileType html setlocal matchpairs+=<:>
  

• The built-in matchit plugin extends % further to handle multi-character pairs like if/end in Ruby or do/end in shell scripts: :packadd matchit
• To view your current pairs: :set matchpairs?