| *faq.txt* Nvim |
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| NVIM REFERENCE MANUAL |
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| Frequently asked Questions *faq* |
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| Type |gO| to see the table of contents. |
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| ============================================================================== |
| General Questions *faq-general* |
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| WHERE SHOULD I PUT MY CONFIG (VIMRC)? ~ |
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| See |config|; you can copy (or symlink) your existing vimrc. |nvim-from-vim| |
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| HOW STABLE IS THE DEVELOPMENT (PRE-RELEASE) VERSION? ~ |
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| The unstable (pre-release) |
| https://github.com/neovim/neovim/releases/tag/nightly version of Nvim |
| ("HEAD", i.e. the `master` branch) is used to aggressively stage new features |
| and changes. It's usually stable, but will occasionally break your workflow. |
| We depend on HEAD users to report "blind spots" that were not caught by |
| automated tests. |
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| Use the stable (release) https://github.com/neovim/neovim/releases/latest |
| version for a more predictable experience. |
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| CAN I USE LUA-BASED VIM PLUGINS (E.G. NEOCOMPLETE)? ~ |
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| No. Starting with Nvim 0.2 PR #4411 |
| https://github.com/neovim/neovim/pull/4411 Lua is built-in, but the legacy |
| Vim `if_lua` interface is not supported. |
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| HOW CAN I USE "TRUE COLOR" IN THE TERMINAL? ~ |
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| Truecolor (24bit colors) are enabled by default if a supporting terminal is |
| detected. If your terminal is not detected but you are sure it supports |
| truecolor, add this to your |init.vim|: |
| >vim |
| set termguicolors |
| < |
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| NVIM SHOWS WEIRD SYMBOLS (`�[2 q`) WHEN CHANGING MODES ~ |
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| This is a bug in your terminal emulator. It happens because Nvim sends |
| cursor-shape termcodes by default, if the terminal appears to be |
| xterm-compatible (`TERM=xterm-256color`). |
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| To workaround the issue, you can: |
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| - Use a different terminal emulator |
| - Disable 'guicursor' in your Nvim config: >vim |
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| :set guicursor= |
| " Workaround some broken plugins which set guicursor indiscriminately. |
| :autocmd OptionSet guicursor noautocmd set guicursor= |
| < |
| See also |$TERM| for recommended values of `$TERM`. |
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| HOW TO CHANGE CURSOR SHAPE IN THE TERMINAL? ~ |
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| - For Nvim 0.1.7 or older: see the note about `NVIM_TUI_ENABLE_CURSOR_SHAPE` in `man nvim`. |
| - For Nvim 0.2 or newer: cursor styling is controlled by the 'guicursor' option. |
| - To _disable_ cursor-styling, set 'guicursor' to empty: >vim |
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| :set guicursor= |
| " Workaround some broken plugins which set guicursor indiscriminately. |
| :autocmd OptionSet guicursor noautocmd set guicursor= |
| < |
| - If you want a non-blinking cursor, use `blinkon0`. See 'guicursor'. |
| - 'guicursor' is enabled by default, unless Nvim thinks your terminal doesn't |
| support it. If you're sure that your terminal supports cursor-shaping, set |
| 'guicursor' in your |init.vim|, as described in 'guicursor'. |
| - The Vim terminal options |t_SI| and `t_EI` are ignored, like all other |t_xx| options. |
| - Old versions of libvte (gnome-terminal, roxterm, terminator, ...) do not |
| support cursor style control codes. #2537 |
| https://github.com/neovim/neovim/issues/2537 |
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| HOW TO CHANGE CURSOR COLOR IN THE TERMINAL? ~ |
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| Cursor styling (shape, color, behavior) is controlled by 'guicursor', even in |
| the terminal. Cursor color (as opposed to shape) only works if |
| 'termguicolors' is set. |
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| 'guicursor' gives an example, but here's a more complicated example |
| which sets different colors in insert-mode and normal-mode: |
| >vim |
| :set termguicolors |
| :hi Cursor guifg=green guibg=green |
| :hi Cursor2 guifg=red guibg=red |
| :set guicursor=n-v-c:block-Cursor/lCursor,i-ci-ve:ver25-Cursor2/lCursor2,r-cr:hor20,o:hor50 |
| < |
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| CURSOR STYLE ISN'T RESTORED AFTER EXITING OR SUSPENDING AND RESUMING NVIM ~ |
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| Terminals do not provide a way to query the cursor style. Use autocommands to |
| manage the cursor style: |
| >vim |
| au VimEnter,VimResume * set guicursor=n-v-c:block,i-ci-ve:ver25,r-cr:hor20,o:hor50 |
| \,a:blinkwait700-blinkoff400-blinkon250-Cursor/lCursor |
| \,sm:block-blinkwait175-blinkoff150-blinkon175 |
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| au VimLeave,VimSuspend * set guicursor=a:block-blinkon0 |
| < |
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| CURSOR SHAPE DOESN'T CHANGE IN TMUX ~ |
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| tmux decides that, not Nvim. See |tui-cursor-shape| for a fix. |
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| See #3165 https://github.com/neovim/neovim/pull/3165 for discussion. |
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| CURSOR FLICKER IN TMUX? ~ |
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| If cursor `_` appears and disappears very quickly when opening nvim without a |
| document under tmux, and you set |ctermbg| in `EndOfBuffer` and `Normal`, try |
| setting these to `NONE`: |
| >vim |
| hi EndOfBuffer ctermbg=NONE ctermfg=200 cterm=NONE |
| hi Normal ctermbg=NONE ctermfg=200 cterm=NONE |
| < |
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| WHAT HAPPENED TO --remote AND FRIENDS? ~ |
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| |--remote| is partly supported. |clientserver| |
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| If you require flags from Vim that are missing in Nvim, you can use |
| https://github.com/mhinz/neovim-remote instead. |
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| ============================================================================== |
| Runtime issues *faq-runtime* |
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| COPYING TO X11 PRIMARY SELECTION WITH THE MOUSE DOESN'T WORK ~ |
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| `clipboard=autoselect` is not implemented yet |
| https://github.com/neovim/neovim/issues/2325. You may find this workaround to |
| be useful: |
| >vim |
| vnoremap <LeftRelease> "*ygv |
| vnoremap <2-LeftRelease> "*ygv |
| < |
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| MY CTRL-H MAPPING DOESN'T WORK ~ |
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| This was fixed in Nvim 0.2. If you are running Nvim 0.1.7 or older, |
| adjust your terminal's "kbs" (key_backspace) terminfo entry: |
| >vim |
| infocmp $TERM | sed 's/kbs=^[hH]/kbs=\\177/' > $TERM.ti |
| tic $TERM.ti |
| < |
| (Feel free to delete the temporary `*.ti` file created after running the above |
| commands). |
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| <HOME> OR SOME OTHER "SPECIAL" KEY DOESN'T WORK ~ |
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| Make sure |$TERM| is set correctly. |
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| - For screen or tmux, `$TERM` should be `screen-256color` (not `xterm-256color`!) |
| - In other cases if "256" does not appear in the string it's probably wrong. |
| Try `TERM=xterm-256color`. |
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| :! AND SYSTEM() DO WEIRD THINGS WITH INTERACTIVE PROCESSES ~ |
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| Interactive commands are supported by |:terminal| in Nvim. But |:!| and |
| |system()| do not support interactive commands, primarily because Nvim UIs use |
| stdio for msgpack communication, but also for performance, reliability, and |
| consistency across platforms (see |
| https://vimhelp.org/gui_x11.txt.html#gui-pty). |
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| See also #1496 https://github.com/neovim/neovim/issues/1496 and #8217 |
| https://github.com/neovim/neovim/issues/8217#issuecomment-402152307. |
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| PYTHON SUPPORT ISN'T WORKING ~ |
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| Run |:checkhealth| in Nvim for automatic diagnosis. |
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| Other hints: |
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| - Read |provider-python| to learn how to install `pynvim`. |
| - Be sure you have the latest version of the `pynvim` Python module: >bash |
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| uv tool install --upgrade pynvim |
| < |
| See |provider-python| for other installation options. |
| - If you're manually creating a Python virtual environment for the `pynvim` module |
| https://pypi.org/project/pynvim/, you must set `g:python3_host_prog` to |
| the virtualenv's interpreter path. |
| - Try with `nvim -u NORC` to make sure your config (|init.vim|) isn't causing a |
| problem. If you get `E117: Unknown function`, that means there's a runtime |
| issue: |faq-runtime|. |
| - The python `neovim` module was renamed to `pynvim` (long ago). |
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| :CHECKHEALTH REPORTS E5009: INVALID $VIMRUNTIME ~ |
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| This means |$VIMRUNTIME| or 'runtimepath' is broken. |
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| - |$VIMRUNTIME| must point to Nvim's runtime files, not Vim's. |
| - The |$VIMRUNTIME| directory contents should be readable by the current user. |
| - Verify that `:echo &runtimepath` contains the $VIMRUNTIME path. |
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| NEOVIM CAN'T FIND ITS RUNTIME ~ |
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| This is the case if `:help nvim` shows `E149: Sorry, no help for nvim`. |
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| Make sure that |$VIM| and |$VIMRUNTIME| point to Nvim's (as opposed to |
| Vim's) runtime by checking `:echo $VIM` and `:echo $VIMRUNTIME`. This should |
| give something like `/usr/share/nvim` resp. `/usr/share/nvim/runtime`. |
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| Also make sure that you don't accidentally overwrite your runtimepath |
| (`:set runtimepath?`), which includes the above |$VIMRUNTIME| by default (see |
| 'runtimepath'). |
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| NEOVIM IS SLOW ~ |
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| Use a fast terminal emulator: |
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| - kitty https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty |
| - alacritty https://github.com/jwilm/alacritty |
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| Use an optimized build: |
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| `:checkhealth nvim` should report one of these "build types": |
| > |
| Build type: RelWithDebInfo |
| Build type: MinSizeRel |
| Build type: Release |
| < |
| If it reports `Build type: Debug` and you're building Nvim from source, see |
| https://github.com/neovim/neovim/blob/master/BUILD.md. |
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| COLORS AREN'T DISPLAYED CORRECTLY ~ |
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| Ensure that |$TERM| is set correctly. |
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| From a shell, run `TERM=xterm-256color nvim`. If colors are displayed |
| correctly, then export that value of `TERM` in your user profile (usually |
| `~/.profile`): |
| >bash |
| export TERM=xterm-256color |
| < |
| If you're using `tmux`, instead add this to your `tmux.conf`: |
| >bash |
| set -g default-terminal "tmux-256color" |
| < |
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| For GNU `screen`, configure your `.screenrc` |
| <https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GNU_Screen#Use_256_colors>: |
| > |
| term screen-256color |
| < |
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| NOTE: Nvim ignores `t_Co` and other |t_xx| terminal codes. |
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| NEOVIM CAN'T READ UTF-8 CHARACTERS ~ |
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| Run the following from the command line: |
| >bash |
| locale | grep -E '(LANG|LC_CTYPE|LC_ALL)=(.*\.)?(UTF|utf)-?8' |
| < |
| If there's no results, you might not be using a UTF-8 locale. See these issues: |
| - https://github.com/neovim/neovim/issues/1601 |
| - https://github.com/neovim/neovim/issues/1858 |
| - https://github.com/neovim/neovim/issues/2386 |
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| ESC IN TMUX OR GNU SCREEN IS DELAYED ~ |
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| This is a common problem |
| https://www.google.com/?q=tmux%20vim%20escape%20delay in `tmux` / `screen` |
| (see also https://github.com/tmux/tmux/issues/131#issuecomment-145853211). The |
| corresponding timeout needs to be tweaked to a low value (10-20ms). |
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| `.tmux.conf`: |
| > |
| set -g escape-time 10 |
| # Or for tmux >= 2.6 |
| set -sg escape-time 10 |
| < |
| `.screenrc`: |
| > |
| maptimeout 10 |
| < |
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| "WHY DOESN'T THIS HAPPEN IN VIM?" |
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| It does happen (try `vim -N -u NONE`), but if you hit a key quickly after |
| ESC then Vim interprets the ESC as ESC instead of ALT (META). You won't |
| notice the delay unless you closely observe the cursor. The tradeoff is that |
| Vim won't understand ALT (META) key-chords, so for example `nnoremap <M-a>` |
| won't work. ALT (META) key-chords always work in Nvim. |
| See also `:help xterm-cursor-keys` in Vim. |
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| Nvim 0.3 mimics the Vim behavior while still fully supporting ALT mappings. See |
| |i_ALT|. |
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| ESC IN GNU SCREEN IS LOST WHEN MOUSE MODE IS ENABLED ~ |
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| This happens because of a bug in screen https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?60196 : |
| in mouse mode, screen assumes that `ESC` is part of a mouse sequence and will |
| wait an unlimited time for the rest of the sequence, regardless of |
| `maptimeout`. Until it's fixed in screen, there's no known workaround for |
| this other than double-pressing escape, which causes a single escape to be |
| passed through to Nvim. |
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| CALLING INPUTLIST(), ECHOMSG, ... IN FILETYPE PLUGINS AND AUTOCMD DOES NOT WORK ~ |
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| - https://github.com/neovim/neovim/issues/10008 |
| - https://github.com/neovim/neovim/issues/10116 |
| - https://github.com/neovim/neovim/issues/12288 |
| - https://github.com/vim/vim/issues/4379 |
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| This is because Nvim sets `shortmess+=F` by default. Vim behaves the same way |
| with `set shortmes+=F`. There are plans to improve this, but meanwhile as a |
| workaround, use `set shortmess-=F` or use `unsilent` as follows. |
| >vim |
| unsilent let var = inputlist(['1. item1', '2. item2']) |
| autocmd BufNewFile * unsilent echomsg 'The autocmd has been fired.' |
| < |
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| G:CLIPBOARD SETTINGS ARE NOT USED. ~ |
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| If the clipboard provider is already loaded, you will need to reload it after |
| configuration. Use the following configuration. |
| >vim |
| let g:clipboard = { 'name' : ... } |
| if exists('g:loaded_clipboard_provider') |
| unlet g:loaded_clipboard_provider |
| runtime autoload/provider/clipboard.vim |
| endif |
| < |
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| Or, if you want automatic reloading when assigning to |g:clipboard|, set |
| |init.vim| as follows. |
| >vim |
| function! s:clipboard_changed(...) abort |
| if exists('g:loaded_clipboard_provider') |
| unlet g:loaded_clipboard_provider |
| endif |
| runtime autoload/provider/clipboard.vim |
| endfunction |
|
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| if !exists('s:loaded") |
| call dictwatcheradd(g:, 'clipboard', function('s:clipboard_changed')) |
| endif |
| let s:loaded = v:true |
| < |
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| ============================================================================== |
| Build issues *faq-build* |
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| GENERAL BUILD ISSUES ~ |
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| Run `make distclean && make` to rule out a stale build environment causing the |
| failure. |
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| SETTINGS IN LOCAL.MK DON'T TAKE EFFECT ~ |
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| CMake caches build settings, so you might need to run `rm -r build && make` |
| after modifying `local.mk`. |
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| CMAKE ERRORS ~ |
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| `configure_file Problem configuring file` |
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| This is probably a permissions issue, which can happen if you run `make` as the |
| root user, then later run an unprivileged `make`. To fix this, run |
| `rm -rf build` and try again. |
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| GENERATING HELPTAGS FAILED ~ |
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| If re-installation fails with "Generating helptags failed", try removing the |
| previously installed runtime directory (if `CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX` is not set |
| during building, the default is `/usr/local/share/nvim`): |
| >bash |
| rm -r /usr/local/share/nvim |
| < |
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| ============================================================================== |
| Design *faq-design* |
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| WHY NOT USE JSON FOR RPC? ~ |
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| - JSON cannot easily/efficiently handle binary data |
| - JSON specification is ambiguous: https://seriot.ch/parsing_json.php |
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| WHY EMBED LUA INSTEAD OF X? ~ |
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| - Lua is a very small language, ideal for embedding. The biggest advantage of |
| Python/Ruby/etc is their huge collection of libraries, but that isn't |
| relevant for Nvim, where Nvim is the "batteries included" library: |
| introducing another stdlib would be redundant. |
| - Lua 5.1 is a complete language: the syntax is frozen. This is great for |
| backwards compatibility. |
| - Nvim also uses Lua internally as an alternative to C. Extra performance is |
| useful there, as opposed to a slow language like Python or Vim9script. |
| - LuaJIT is one of the fastest runtimes on the planet, 10x faster than Python |
| and "Vim9script" https://vimhelp.org/vim9.txt.html , 100x faster than |
| Vimscript. |
| - Python/JS cost more than Lua in terms of size and portability, and there are |
| already numerous Python/JS-based editors. So Python/JS would make Nvim |
| bigger and less portable, in exchange for a non-differentiating feature. |
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| See also: |
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| - Why Lua https://web.archive.org/web/20150219224654/https://blog.datamules.com/blog/2012/01/30/why-lua/ |
| - The Design of Lua https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2018/11/232214-a-look-at-the-design-of-lua/fulltext |
| - Scripting architecture considerations http://oldblog.antirez.com/post/redis-and-scripting.html |
| - LuaJIT performance https://julialang.org/benchmarks/ |
| - Discussion of JavaScript vs Lua https://github.com/vim/vim/pull/5198#issuecomment-554693754 |
| - Discussion Python embedding https://lobste.rs/s/pnuak4/mercurial_s_journey_reflections_on#c_zshdwy |
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| WHY LUA 5.1 INSTEAD OF LUA 5.3+? ~ |
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| Lua 5.1 is a different language than 5.3. The Lua org makes breaking changes |
| with every new version, so even if we switched (not upgraded, but switched) to |
| 5.3 we gain nothing when they create the next new language in 5.4, 5.5, etc. |
| And we would lose LuaJIT, which is far more valuable than Lua 5.3+. |
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| Lua 5.1 is a complete language. To "upgrade" it, add libraries, not syntax. |
| Nvim itself already is a pretty good "stdlib" for Lua, and we will continue to |
| grow and enhance it. Changing the rules of Lua gains nothing in this context. |
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| WILL NEOVIM TRANSLATE VIMSCRIPT TO LUA, INSTEAD OF EXECUTING VIMSCRIPT DIRECTLY? ~ |
|
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| - We are experimenting with vim9jit https://github.com/tjdevries/vim9jit to |
| transpile Vim9script (Vim9's Vimscript variant) to Lua and have used this to |
| port Vim9 plugins https://github.com/neovim/neovim/pull/21662 to Nvim Lua. |
| - We have no plans for transpiling legacy Vimscript. |
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| ARE PLUGIN AUTHORS ENCOURAGED TO PORT THEIR PLUGINS FROM VIMSCRIPT TO LUA? DO YOU PLAN ON SUPPORTING VIMSCRIPT INDEFINITELY? (#1152) ~ |
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| We don't anticipate any reason to deprecate Vimscript, which is a valuable DSL |
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain-specific_language for text-editing tasks. |
| Maintaining Vimscript compatibility is less costly than a mass migration of |
| existing Vim plugins. |
|
|
| Porting from Vimscript to Lua just for the heck of it gains nothing. Nvim is |
| emphatically a fork of Vim in order to leverage the work already spent on |
| thousands of Vim plugins, while enabling new types of plugins and |
| integrations. |
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| vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: |
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|
