I begrudgingly gave up vim mode in vscode a few years ago, because that seemed to make it so much more sluggish.

Yeah it hooks into some blocking event that gets called on every keypress. At least that's how it worked last time I tried it many years ago. Very sluggish.

Fortunately standard editing shortcuts like Ctrl-D, Ctrl-left/right, etc. replace 99% of Vim "magic" and are way easier to remember and use.