kickstart.nvim

https://github.com/kdheepak/kickstart.nvim/assets/1813121/f3ff9a2b-c31f-44df-a4fa-8a0d7b17cf7b

Introduction

A starting point for Neovim that is:

• Small
• Single-file (with examples of moving to multi-file)
• Documented
• Modular

This repo is meant to be used by YOU to begin your Neovim journey; remove the things you don't use and add what you miss.

Kickstart.nvim targets only the latest 'stable' and latest 'nightly' of Neovim. If you are experiencing issues, please make sure you have the latest versions.

Distribution Alternatives:

• LazyVim: A delightful distribution maintained by @folke (the author of lazy.nvim, the package manager used here)

Installation

Note

Backup your previous configuration (if any exists)

Requirements:

• Make sure to review the readmes of the plugins if you are experiencing errors. In particular:
  • ripgrep is required for multiple telescope pickers.
• See Windows Installation if you have trouble with telescope-fzf-native

Neovim's configurations are located under the following paths, depending on your OS:

OS	PATH
Linux	$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/nvim, ~/.config/nvim
MacOS	$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/nvim, ~/.config/nvim
Windows (cmd)	%userprofile%\AppData\Local\nvim\
Windows (powershell)	$env:USERPROFILE\AppData\Local\nvim\

Clone kickstart.nvim:

• on Linux and Mac

git clone https://github.com/nvim-lua/kickstart.nvim.git "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}"/nvim

• on Windows (cmd)

git clone https://github.com/nvim-lua/kickstart.nvim.git %userprofile%\AppData\Local\nvim\ 

• on Windows (powershell)

git clone https://github.com/nvim-lua/kickstart.nvim.git $env:USERPROFILE\AppData\Local\nvim\ 

Post Installation

Start Neovim

nvim

The Lazy plugin manager will start automatically on the first run and install the configured plugins - as can be seen in the introduction video. After the installation is complete you can press q to close the Lazy UI and you are ready to go! Next time you run nvim Lazy will no longer show up.

If you would prefer to hide this step and run the plugin sync from the command line, you can use:

nvim --headless "+Lazy! sync" +qa

Getting Started

See Effective Neovim: Instant IDE, covering the previous version. Note: The install via init.lua is outdated, please follow the install instructions in this file instead. An updated video is coming soon.

Recommended Steps

Fork this repo (so that you have your own copy that you can modify) and then installing you can install to your machine using the methods above.

Note

Your fork's url will be something like this: https://github.com/<your_github_username>/kickstart.nvim.git

Configuration And Extension

• Inside of your copy, feel free to modify any file you like! It's your copy!
• Feel free to change any of the default options in init.lua to better suit your needs.
• For adding plugins, there are 3 primary options:
  • Add new configuration in lua/custom/plugins/* files, which will be auto sourced using lazy.nvim (uncomment the line importing the custom/plugins directory in the init.lua file to enable this)
  • Modify init.lua with additional plugins.
  • Include the lua/kickstart/plugins/* files in your configuration.

You can also merge updates/changes from the repo back into your fork, to keep up-to-date with any changes for the default configuration.

Example: Adding an autopairs plugin

In the file: lua/custom/plugins/autopairs.lua, add:

-- File: lua/custom/plugins/autopairs.lua

return {
  "windwp/nvim-autopairs",
  -- Optional dependency
  dependencies = { 'hrsh7th/nvim-cmp' },
  config = function()
    require("nvim-autopairs").setup {}
    -- If you want to automatically add `(` after selecting a function or method
    local cmp_autopairs = require('nvim-autopairs.completion.cmp')
    local cmp = require('cmp')
    cmp.event:on(
      'confirm_done',
      cmp_autopairs.on_confirm_done()
    )
  end,
}

This will automatically install windwp/nvim-autopairs and enable it on startup. For more information, see documentation for lazy.nvim.

Example: Adding a file tree plugin

In the file: lua/custom/plugins/filetree.lua, add:

-- Unless you are still migrating, remove the deprecated commands from v1.x
vim.cmd([[ let g:neo_tree_remove_legacy_commands = 1 ]])

return {
  "nvim-neo-tree/neo-tree.nvim",
  version = "*",
  dependencies = {
    "nvim-lua/plenary.nvim",
    "nvim-tree/nvim-web-devicons", -- not strictly required, but recommended
    "MunifTanjim/nui.nvim",
  },
  config = function ()
    require('neo-tree').setup {}
  end,
}

This will install the tree plugin and add the command :Neotree for you. You can explore the documentation at neo-tree.nvim for more information.

Contribution

Pull-requests are welcome. The goal of this repo is not to create a Neovim configuration framework, but to offer a starting template that shows, by example, available features in Neovim. Some things that will not be included:

• Custom language server configuration (null-ls templates)
• Theming beyond a default colorscheme necessary for LSP highlight groups

Each PR, especially those which increase the line count, should have a description as to why the PR is necessary.

FAQ

• What should I do if I already have a pre-existing neovim configuration?
  • You should back it up, then delete all files associated with it.
  • This includes your existing init.lua and the neovim files in ~/.local which can be deleted with rm -rf ~/.local/share/nvim/
  • You may also want to look at the migration guide for lazy.nvim
• Can I keep my existing configuration in parallel to kickstart?
  • Yes! You can use NVIM_APPNAME=nvim-NAME to maintain multiple configurations. For example you can install the kickstart configuration in ~/.config/nvim-kickstart and create an alias:

    alias nvim-kickstart='NVIM_APPNAME="nvim-kickstart" nvim'
    

    When you run Neovim using nvim-kickstart alias it will use the alternative config directory and the matching local directory ~/.local/share/nvim-kickstart. You can apply this approach to any Neovim distribution that you would like to try out.
• What if I want to "uninstall" this configuration:
  • See lazy.nvim uninstall information
• Why is the kickstart init.lua a single file? Wouldn't it make sense to split it into multiple files?
  • The main purpose of kickstart is to serve as a teaching tool and a reference configuration that someone can easily git clone as a basis for their own. As you progress in learning Neovim and Lua, you might consider splitting init.lua into smaller parts. A fork of kickstart that does this while maintaining the exact same functionality is available here:
    • kickstart-modular.nvim
  • Discussions on this topic can be found here:
    • Restructure the configuration
    • Reorganize init.lua into a multi-file setup

Windows Installation

Installation may require installing build tools, and updating the run command for telescope-fzf-native

See telescope-fzf-native documentation for more details

This requires:

• Install CMake, and the Microsoft C++ Build Tools on Windows

{'nvim-telescope/telescope-fzf-native.nvim', build = 'cmake -S. -Bbuild -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release && cmake --build build --config Release && cmake --install build --prefix build' }

Hints And Tips For New Neovimmers

Neovim is a very rich and powerful environment, but it can also feel a bit intimidating for new users trying to find their way around, especially if they're coming from other environments like Visual Studio Code or a traditional IDE.

There's no way this README can provide you with everything you need to know, but here are a few tips so you can learn how to learn.

Use The Help, Luke!

Neovim's help system is incredibly thorough and extensive. You should really take a moment to get comfortable navigating through help topics, going back and forth, navigating the menus, etc. This won't just help you read the help, it will empower you in the rest of your Neovim journey.

You can double click on a topic to drill down, and hit Ctrl-o (Hold down the Control key and the 'o' key) to go back.

Read the first page you get when you run :help carefully. it will serve you well.

You can also get help on a particular thing by typing ":help ".

Like, let's say we want to learn more about folding, just type ":help folding".

To The Telescope!

One of the more powerful features you get by installing this project is the brilliant Telescope plugin co-written by @tjdevries.

Take a minute to browse through ":help telescope" and get a sense for all the amazing superpowers you've gained.

In particular, there are two Telescope features that are incredible for helping you understand how to do a particular thing or how to configure a particular feature.

If you're not sure what to look for, try ":Telescope help_tags". Let's say we want to configure Neovim to automatically word wrap. We might type ":Telescope help_tags" and then type w, r, a, p. Notice how the list of results changes with each new letter you type? When you're done you've got a screen full of topics involving word wrap.

Another common question is "What keys do I hit to make a thing happen?". To get an answer, one way is to use ":Telescope keymaps". You'll get the same list of results that changes to adapt with each new key you press.

With these hints in mind you should be in good shape to get learning. Remember, you are on a journey of discovery here, adapting your programming environment to your needs. It will take effort, but the rewards are worth it! :)