Neovim

Neovim

Text Editor Application

Developer(s)	Neovim Core Team & Community
Latest release	Nvim 0.11.2 (May 30, 2025)
Status	Active
Operating System	Cross-platform (Linux, macOS, Windows)
Platform(s)	Desktop
Language(s)	C, Lua, Vim Script
License	Apache 2.0 (with parts under Vim license)
External links
Website	neovim.io
GitHub	neovim/neovim
Bug tracker	GitHub Issues
Documentation	Official Documentation

See also: Vim

Neovim is a highly extensible and open source text editor that aims to improve upon and modernize the popular Vim editor. It's designed to be a drop-in replacement for Vim, maintaining compatibility with most Vim plugins and configurations while offering additional features and improvements. Neovim focuses on extensibility, usability, and performance.

It introduces a powerful plugin architecture that allows for asynchronous plugin execution, which can significantly improve performance for certain operations. It also includes a built-in terminal emulator, allowing users to run shell commands directly within the editor. The project emphasizes code quality and maintainability, with a clean, well-documented codebase that makes it easier for developers to contribute.

Installation

Shell

To temporarily use Neovim in a shell environment without modifying your system configuration, you can run:

$ nix-shell -p neovim

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This makes the Neovim editor available in your current shell. You can then launch Neovim by typing neovim.

System setup

To install Neovim system-wide, making it available to all users, add the following to your configuration:

# Example for /etc/nixos/configuration.nix
environment.systemPackages = [
  pkgs.neovim
];

# User-specific installation (in ~/.config/nixpkgs/home.nix)
home.packages = [
  pkgs.neovim
];

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After rebuilding your system with nixos-rebuild switch or home-manager switch, Neovim will be installed and accessible.

Configuration

Basic

# Global Configuration
programs.neovim = {
   enable = true;
   defaultEditor = true;
};

# Home Configuration
programs.neovim = {
  enable = true;
  extraConfig = ''
    set number relativenumber
  '';
};

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Advanced

# Global Configuration
programs.neovim = {
  enable = true;
  defaultEditor = true;
  viAlias = true;
  vimAlias = true;
  configure = {
    customRC = ''
      set number
      set cc=80
      set list
      set listchars=tab:→\ ,space:·,nbsp:␣,trail:•,eol:¶,precedes:«,extends:»
      if &diff
        colorscheme blue
      endif
    '';
    packages.myVimPackage = with pkgs.vimPlugins; {
      start = [ ctrlp ];
    };
  };
};

# Home Configuration
# You have to add the line below to set it as the default editor:
environment.variables.EDITOR = "nvim";

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Tips and Tricks

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This article or section needs to be expanded. Further information may be found in the related discussion page. Please consult the pedia article metapage for guidelines on contributing.

Package Variations

Have a look at the Neovim Nightly Overlay to install the most recent current nightly version of Neovim. You can run the master version via the following command:

$ nix run "github:nix-community/neovim-nightly-overlay"

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Plugin Management

plugins = [
  # Example Plugin: nvim-tree-lua
  pkgs.vimPlugins.nvim-tree-lua

  # Example Plugin: vim-startify with configuration
  {
    plugin = pkgs.vimPlugins.vim-startify;
    config = "let g:startify_change_to_vcs_root = 0";
  }

  # Example Plugin: nvim-colorizer-lua with Lua config
  # Due to how the runtimepath for Lua modules is processed, your configuration may require
  # packadd! plugin-name to require a module. A home-manager example:
  {
    plugin = pkgs.vimPlugins.nvim-colorizer-lua;
    config = ''
      packadd! nvim-colorizer.lua
      lua << END
        require 'colorizer'.setup {
          '*'; -- Highlight all files, but customize some others.
          '!vim'; -- Exclude vim from highlighting.
        }
      END
    '';
  }

  # Example Plugin: nvim-treesitter with Lua config
  {
    plugin = pkgs.vimPlugins.nvim-treesitter;
    config = ''
      packadd! nvim-treesitter
      lua <<EOF
        require'nvim-treesitter.configs'.setup {
          highlight = {
            enable = true,              -- false will disable the whole extension
            disable = {},               -- list of languages that will be disabled
          },
          incremental_selection = {
            enable = true,
            keymaps = {
              init_selection = "gnn",
              node_incremental = "grn",
              scope_incremental = "grc",
              node_decremental = "grm",
            },
          },
          textobjects = {
            select = {
              enable = true,
              lookahead = true,
              keymaps = {
                ["af"] = "@function.outer",
                ["if"] = "@function.inner",
                ["ac"] = "@class.outer",
                ["ic"] = "@class.inner",
              },
            },
          },
        }
      EOF
    '';
  }

  # Installing grammars for tree-sitter
  # Option 1: Install all grammar packages
  pkgs.vimPlugins.nvim-treesitter.withAllGrammars
  
  # Option 2: Install specific grammar packages
  # (pkgs.vimPlugins.nvim-treesitter.withPlugins (p: [ p.c p.java ]))

  # Option 3: Installing grammars without Nix
  # Installing grammar packages through the built-in command can lead to errors.
  # The following Neovim command will install syntax highlighting for the C programming language: :TSInstall c
];

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Frameworks

If you prefer not to configure your system manually, NixOS offers several predefined configurations and community-supported options. Here are a few of them:

• LazyVim

• AstroVim

• NVChad

Another excellent option is LunarVim. The development community describes it as "an IDE layer for Neovim with sane defaults." LunarVim includes an installer/updater for LSP modules and other features. It can be installed via the lunarvim package from nixpkgs and is started with the lvim command.

The configuration for LunarVim is stored in ./config/lvim.

FHS wrapper

You can create a custom neovim FHS wrapper

{
  buildFHSEnv,
  writeShellScript,
  neovim,
}:
buildFHSEnv {
  name = "nvim-fhs";
  targetPkgs = pkgs: [ neovim ];

  runScript = writeShellScript "nvim-fhs.sh" ''
    exec ${neovim}/bin/nvim "$@"
  '';
}

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This FHS wrapper example is based on a contribution to nixpkgs. For an extended configuration that includes setting up `mason.nvim` with a similar FHS environment, see this NixOS/nixpkgs issue comment.

Troubleshooting

☶︎

This article or section needs to be expanded. Further information may be found in the related discussion page. Please consult the pedia article metapage for guidelines on contributing.

lua-language-server: Dynamically linked executable error

In your ~/.local/state/nvim/lsp.log, you have the following error:

[ERROR][2025-06-07 23:13:15] ...p/_transport.lua:36	"rpc"	"lua-language-server"	"stderr"	"Could not start dynamically linked executable: /home/incogshift/.local/share/nvim/mason/packages/lua-language-server/libexec/bin/lua-language-server\nNixOS cannot run dynamically linked executables intended for generic\nlinux environments out of the box. For more information, see:\nhttps://nix.dev/permalink/stub-ld\n"

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A solution for this issue can be found on Stack Overflow.

See also

• Home Manager – For declarative Neovim configuration at the user level: Neovim module in Home Manager
• Official Documentation – Official Neovim documentation.
• NixOS options for Neovim services – System-level Neovim configuration.
• Neovim discussions on NixOS Discourse – Community tips, troubleshooting, and use cases.
• Neovim Overlay on Nixpkgs – For nightly builds and additional Neovim packages.