A starting point for Neovim that is:
- Small
- Single-file
- Completely Documented
NOT a Neovim distribution, but instead a starting point for your configuration.
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.
External Requirements:
- Basic utils:
git
,make
,unzip
, C Compiler (gcc
) - ripgrep
- A Nerd Font: optional, provides various icons
- if you have it set
vim.g.have_nerd_font
ininit.lua
to true
- if you have it set
- Language Setup:
- If want to write Typescript, you need
npm
- If want to write Golang, you will need
go
- etc.
- If want to write Typescript, you need
NOTE See Install Recipes for additional Windows and Linux specific notes and quick install snippets
NOTE Backup your previous configuration (if any exists)
Neovim's configurations are located under the following paths, depending on your OS:
OS | PATH |
---|---|
Linux, MacOS | $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/nvim , ~/.config/nvim |
Windows (cmd) | %userprofile%\AppData\Local\nvim\ |
Windows (powershell) | $env:USERPROFILE\AppData\Local\nvim\ |
Fork this repo so that you have your own copy that you can modify, then install by cloning the fork to your machine using one of the commands below, depending on your OS.
NOTE Your fork's url will be something like this:
https://github.com/<your_github_username>/kickstart.nvim.git
NOTE If following the recommended step above (i.e., forking the repo), replace
nvim-lua
with<your_github_username>
in the commands below
Linux and Mac
git clone https://github.com/kelly-ry4n/kickstart.nvim.git "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}"/nvim
Windows
If you're using cmd.exe
:
git clone https://github.com/nvim-lua/kickstart.nvim.git %userprofile%\AppData\Local\nvim\
If you're using powershell.exe
git clone https://github.com/nvim-lua/kickstart.nvim.git $env:USERPROFILE\AppData\Local\nvim\
Start Neovim
nvim
That's it! Lazy will install all the plugins you have. Use :Lazy
to view
current plugin status. Hit q
to close the window.
Read through the init.lua
file in your configuration folder for more
information about extending and exploring Neovim.
NOTE: You'll need to uncomment the line in the init.lua that turns on loading custom plugins.
Adding autopairs
This will automatically install windwp/nvim-autopairs and enable it on startup. For more information, see documentation for lazy.nvim.
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,
}
Adding a file tree plugin
This will install the tree plugin and add the command :Neotree
for you.
For more information, see the documentation at
neo-tree.nvim.
In the file: lua/custom/plugins/filetree.lua
, add:
-- File: lua/custom/plugins/filetree.lua
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,
}
The Only Video You Need to Get Started with Neovim
- What should I do if I already have a pre-existing neovim configuration?
- You should back it up and then delete all associated files.
- This includes your existing init.lua and the neovim files in
~/.local
which can be deleted withrm -rf ~/.local/share/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:When you run Neovim usingalias nvim-kickstart='NVIM_APPNAME="nvim-kickstart" nvim'
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.
- Yes! You can use NVIM_APPNAME
- 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 use to
git clone
as a basis for their own. As you progress in learning Neovim and Lua, you might consider splittinginit.lua
into smaller parts. A fork of kickstart that does this while maintaining the same functionality is available here: - Discussions on this topic can be found here:
- The main purpose of kickstart is to serve as a teaching tool and a reference
configuration that someone can easily use to
Below you can find OS specific install instructions for Neovim and dependencies.
After installing all the dependencies continue with the Install Kickstart step.
Windows with Microsoft C++ Build Tools and CMake
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' }
Windows with gcc/make using chocolatey
Alternatively, one can install gcc and make which don't require changing the config, the easiest way is to use choco:- install chocolatey either follow the instructions on the page or use winget, run in cmd as admin:
winget install --accept-source-agreements chocolatey.chocolatey
- install all requirements using choco, exit previous cmd and open a new one so that choco path is set, and run in cmd as admin:
choco install -y neovim git ripgrep wget fd unzip gzip mingw make
WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux)
wsl --install
wsl
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:neovim-ppa/unstable -y
sudo apt update
sudo apt install make gcc ripgrep unzip neovim
Ubuntu Install Steps
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:neovim-ppa/unstable -y
sudo apt update
sudo apt install make gcc ripgrep unzip git neovim
Debian Install Steps
sudo apt update
sudo apt install make gcc ripgrep unzip git
echo "deb https://deb.debian.org/debian unstable main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -t unstable neovim
Fedora Install Steps
sudo dnf install -y gcc make git ripgrep fd-find neovim