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
- Clipboard tool (xclip/xsel/win32yank or other depending on platform)
- A Nerd Font: optional, provides various icons
- if you have it set
vim.g.have_nerd_fontininit.luato true
- if you have it set
- Language Setup:
- If you want to write Typescript, you need
npm - If you want to write Golang, you will need
go - etc.
- If you 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) | %localappdata%\nvim\ |
| Windows (powershell) | $env:LOCALAPPDATA\nvim\ |
Fork this repo so that you have your own copy that y 8000 ou can modify, then install by cloning the fork to your machine using one of the commands below, depending on your OS.
NOTE Your fork's url will be something like this:
https://github.com/<your_github_username>/kickstart.nvim.git
You likely want to remove lazy-lock.json from your fork's .gitignore file
too - it's ignored in the kickstart repo to make maintenance easier, but it's
recommmended to track it in version control.
NOTE If following the recommended step above (i.e., forking the repo), replace
nvim-luawith<your_github_username>in the commands below
Linux and Mac
git clone https://github.com/nvim-lua/kickstart.nvim.git "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}"/nvimWindows
If you're using cmd.exe:
git clone https://github.com/nvim-lua/kickstart.nvim.git "%localappdata%\nvim"
If you're using powershell.exe
git clone https://github.com/nvim-lua/kickstart.nvim.git "${env:LOCALAPPDATA}\nvim"
Start Neovim
nvimThat'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. That also includes
examples of adding popularly requested plugins.
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
~/.localwhich 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-NAMEto maintain multiple configurations. For example, you can install the kickstart configuration in~/.config/nvim-kickstartand create an alias:When you run Neovim usingalias nvim-kickstart='NVIM_APPNAME="nvim-kickstart" nvim'nvim-kickstartalias 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.luaa 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 cloneas a basis for their own. As you progress in learning Neovim and Lua, you might consider splittinginit.luainto 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 git xclip neovim
Ubuntu Install Steps
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:neovim-ppa/unstable -y
sudo apt update
sudo apt install make gcc ripgrep unzip git xclip neovim
Debian Install Steps
sudo apt update
sudo apt install make gcc ripgrep unzip git xclip curl
# Now we install nvim
curl -LO https://github.com/neovim/neovim/releases/latest/download/nvim-linux64.tar.gz
sudo rm -rf /opt/nvim-linux64
sudo mkdir -p /opt/nvim-linux64
sudo chmod a+rX /opt/nvim-linux64
sudo tar -C /opt -xzf nvim-linux64.tar.gz
# make it available in /usr/local/bin, distro installs to /usr/bin
sudo ln -sf /opt/nvim-linux64/bin/nvim /usr/local/bin/
Fedora Install Steps
sudo dnf install -y gcc make git ripgrep fd-find unzip neovim
Arch Install Steps
sudo pacman -S --noconfirm --needed gcc make git ripgrep fd unzip neovim