Struggle to keep your Neovim versions in check? Bob provides an easy way to install and switch versions on any system!
Bob is a cross-platform and easy-to-use Neovim version manager, allowing for easy switching between versions right from the command line.
-
2022-10-29: Moved bob's symbolic link and downloads folder on macos from
/Users/user/Library/Application Supportto~/.local/shareplease make sure to move all of your downloads to the new folder, runbob use <your desired version>and update your PATH -
2023-02-13: Bob has recently switched to using a proxy executable for running Neovim executables. To switch from the old method that Bob used, follow these steps:
- Remove the current Neovim path from your global $PATH environment variable.
- Delete the following directory:
On Unix:
~/.local/share/neovimOn Windows:C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\neovim
Secondly the name of the downloads directory property in the configuration file has changed. Please refer to the updated list of properties for the new name.
-
2024-03-04: Due to Neovim's recent MacOS binary changes, bob now supports arm completely, but unfortunately, it comes with some breaking changes specifically for bob's proxy executable. To fix that, follow these steps (which will not be necessary soon):
- Remove
nvimbinary fromnvim-binwhich is located in the same directory the same as the neovim binaries downloads folder. - Copy your newly downloaded bob binary and put the copy inside of
nvim-bin - Rename your bob binary inside
nvim-bintonvim.
- Remove
Make sure you don't have Neovim already installed via other ways e.g. a package manager.
Make sure rustup is installed.
(Optional) openssl if built with native-tls feature.
For further information refer to the Neovim wiki.
All platforms
- CMake
- Git
Windows
- Visual Studio Build Tools with C++ extension pack
- Download the bob release suitable for your platform: either
bob-{platform}-x86_64.zipfor the standard version orbob-{platform}-x86_64-openssl.zipfor the OpenSSL version. - Unzip it
- Run it with
bob
- On Arch Linux, you can install
bobfrom the extra repository using pacman:pacman -S bob - Run it with
bob
For the standard version:
cargo install --git https://github.com/MordechaiHadad/bob.git- Run Bob with
bob
For the OpenSSL version:
- To install, include the
--no-default-features --features native-tlsflags with your command:cargo install --git https://github.com/MordechaiHadad/bob.git --no-default-features --features native-tls - Run Bob with
bob
cargo install bob-nvim- Run bob with
bob
A version-string can either be vx.x.x or x.x.x examples: v0.6.1 and 0.6.0
bob use |nightly|stable|latest|<version-string>|<commit-hash>|
--no-install flag will prevent bob from auto invoking install command when using use
Switch to the specified version, by default will auto-invoke install command if the version is not installed already
bob install |nightly|stable|latest|<version-string>|<commit-hash>|
Install the specified version, can also be used to update out-of-date nightly version.
bob sync
If Config::version_sync_file_location is set, the version in that file will be parsed and installed.
bob uninstall [|nightly|stable|latest|<version-string>|<commit-hash>|]
Uninstall the specified version. If no version is specified a prompt is used to select all the versions to be uninstalled.
bob rollback
Rollback to an existing nightly rollback
bob erase
Erase any change bob ever made including Neovim installation, Neovim version downloads and registry changes.
bob list
List all installed and used versions.
bob complete bash|elvish|fish|powershell|zsh
Generate shell completion.
bob update |nightly|stable|--all|
Update existing version, can specify either a version or the flag --all
This section is a bit more advanced and thus the user will have to do the work himself since bob doesn't do that.
Bob's configuration file can be written in either JSON or TOML format. The file should be located at config_dir/bob/config.json or config_dir/bob/config.toml respectively. However, the location of the configuration file can be customized as explained below, to be more specific:
On Linux
/home/user/.config/bob/config.json|toml
On Windows
C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\bob\config.json|toml
On MacOS
/Users/user/Library/Application Support/bob/config.json|toml
It is possible to use GITHUB_TOKEN to prevent rate-limit for API calls. There are two ways to do it:
- You can prepend any of the
bobcommands withGITHUB_TOKEN=<your token>
GITHUB_TOKEN=<some token> bob update -a- perform
export GITHUB_TOKEN=<your token>and then runbobcommands.
export GITHUB_TOKEN=<some token>
bob update -aBob's config file location can be configured by using an environment variable called $BOB_CONFIG.
Example: export BOB_CONFIG=/path/to/config/config.json|toml
| Property | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
| enable_nightly_info | Will show new commits associated with new nightly release if enabled | true |
| enable_release_build | Compile neovim nightly or a certain hash version as a release build (slightly improved performance, no debug info) | false |
| downloads_location | The folder in which neovim versions will be downloaded to, bob will error if this option is specified but the folder doesn't exist | unix: /home/<username>/.local/share/bob, windows: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\bob |
| installation_location | The path in which the proxied neovim installation will be located in | unix: /home/<username>/.local/share/bob/nvim-bin, windows: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\bob\nvim-bin |
| version_sync_file_location | The path to a file that will hold the neovim version string, useful for config version tracking, bob will error if the specified file is not a valid file path | Disabled by default |
| rollback_limit | The amount of rollbacks before bob starts to delete older ones, can be up to 255 | 3 |
| github_mirror | Specify the github mirror to use instead of https://github.com, example: https://mirror.ghproxy.com |
Disabled by default |
// /home/user/.config/bob/config.json
{
"enable_nightly_info": true, // Will show new commits associated with new nightly release if enabled
"enable_release_build": false, // Compile neovim nightly or a certain hash version as a release build (slightly improved performance, no debug info)
"downloads_location": "$HOME/.local/share/bob", // The folder in which neovim versions will be installed too, bob will error if this option is specified but the folder doesn't exist
"installation_location": "/home/user/.local/share/bob/nvim-bin", // The path in which the used neovim version will be located in
"version_sync_file_location": "/home/user/.config/nvim/nvim.version", // The path to a file that will hold the neovim version string, useful for config version tracking, bob will error if the specified file is not a valid file path
"rollback_limit": 3, // The amount of rollbacks before bob starts to delete older ones, can be up to 225
"github_mirror": "https://github.com" // github or github mirror
}- Bash
Completion files are commonly stored in /etc/bash_completion.d/ for system-wide commands, but can be stored in ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions for user-specific commands. Run the command:
mkdir -p ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions
bob complete bash >> ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/bobThis installs the completion script. You may have to log out and log back in to your shell session for the changes to take effect.
- Bash (macOS/Homebrew)
Homebrew stores bash completion files within the Homebrew directory. With the bash-completion brew formula installed, run the command:
mkdir -p $(brew --prefix)/etc/bash_completion.d
bob complete bash > $(brew --prefix)/etc/bash_completion.d/bob.bash-completion- Fish
Fish completion files are commonly stored in $HOME/.config/fish/completions. Run the command:
mkdir -p ~/.config/fish/completions
bob complete fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/bob.fishThis installs the completion script. You may have to log out and log back in to your shell session for the changes to take effect.
- Zsh
Zsh completions are commonly stored in any directory listed in your $fpath variable. To use these completions, you must either add the generated script to one of those directories, or add your own to this list.
Adding a custom directory is often the safest bet if you are unsure of which directory to use. First create the directory; for this example we'll create a hidden directory inside our $HOME directory:
mkdir ~/.zfuncThen add the following lines to your .zshrc just before compinit:
fpath+=~/.zfuncNow you can install the completions script using the following command:
bob complete zsh > ~/.zfunc/_bobYou must then either log out and log back in, or simply run
exec zshfor the new completions to take effect.
- PowerShell
The PowerShell completion scripts require PowerShell v5.0+ (which comes with Windows 10, but can be downloaded separately for windows 7 or 8.1).
First, check if a profile has already been set
Test-Path $profileIf the above command returns False run the following
New-Item -path $profile -type file -forceNow open the file provided by $profile (if you used the New-Item command it will be ${env:USERPROFILE}\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1
Next, we either save the completions file into our profile, or into a separate file and source it inside our profile. To save the completions into our profile simply use
bob complete powershell >> ${env:USERPROFILE}\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1sudo: nvim: command not found
This error can be caused when secure_path is enabled in /etc/sudoers like in distros such as Fedora Workstation 37, possible workarounds:
- disable
secure_path - run
sudo env "PATH=$PATH" nvim - set
$SUDO_USERto location of bob nvim binary:SUDO_EDITOR='/home/user/.local/share/bob/nvim-bin/nvim
These workarounds were devised by @nfejzic, thanks to him.
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