Remap Esc in Command Line Mode for Vim

Question

I want to use <leader>e to return to normal mode from whatever mode I am in. For insert mode I use

inoremap <leader>e <esc>

I wanted the same thing to exit command line mode, so I wrote

cnoremap <leader>c <esc>

However, when it exits command line mode, it tries to execute whatever what written past the command line. However, when I just use <esc> normally, it exists command line mode without executing anything. I usually have to press <enter> to execute the command.

Can anyone help me understand what is going on here, and what I can do to get the behavior I want.

Thanks!

Answer 1

According to help:

CTRL-[                      *c_CTRL-[* *c_<Esc>* *c_Esc*
<Esc>       When typed and 'x' not present in 'cpoptions', quit
        Command-line mode without executing.  In macros or when 'x'
        present in 'cpoptions', start entered command.

It seems "in macros" applies to right-hand side of a mapping too (well, it's not "typed"). You can use CTRL-C instead as it will never execute the command:

                            *c_CTRL-C*
CTRL-C      quit command-line without executing

So just do:

cnoremap <leader>c <c-c>