Neovim
- See also: Vim
Neovim[1] is a highly extensible and open source text editor that aims to improve upon and modernize the popular Vim[2] 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
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
];
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
'';
};
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";
Tips and Tricks
Package Variations
Have a look at the Neovim Nightly Overlay[3] 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"
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
];
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:
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 ${neovim}/bin/nvim "$@"
'';
}
This FHS wrapper example is based on a contribution to nixpkgs[7]. For an extended configuration that includes setting up `mason.nvim` with a similar FHS environment, see this NixOS/nixpkgs issue comment.
Troubleshooting
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"
A solution for this issue can be found on Stack Overflow[8].
References
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 – 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.
References
- ↑ Neovim Team, "Home - Neovim", Neovim Official Website, Last updated March 2025, Accessed June 2025. https://neovim.io/
- ↑ NixOS Wiki Community, "Vim", NixOS Wiki, Last edited 24 February 2025, Accessed June 2025. https://wiki.nixos.org/wiki/Vim
- ↑ Nix Community, "neovim-nightly-overlay", GitHub, Last updated June 2025, Accessed June 2025. https://github.com/nix-community/neovim-nightly-overlay
- ↑ LazyVim Team, "Getting Started", LazyVim Official Website, © 2025, Accessed June 2025. https://www.lazyvim.org/
- ↑ AstroNvim Team, "AstroNvim", AstroNvim Official Website, N/A, Accessed June 2025. https://astronvim.com/
- ↑ Siduck, "NvChad", NvChad Official Website, © 2025, Accessed June 2025. https://nvchad.com/
- ↑ NixOS, "Feature: Custom Neovim FHS Wrapper" (Pull Request #334032), GitHub, 2025, Accessed June 2025. https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/334032
- ↑ Stack Overflow Contributor, "Answer to 'Could not start dynamically linked executable... on NixOS'", Stack Overflow, 2025, Accessed June 2025. https://stackoverflow.com/a/78215911/27134695