Neovim 0.12+ Config (by drone)

A minimal, single-file init.lua setup for Neovim 0.12+, leveraging native package management (vim.pack) and a curated suite of modern plugins.

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📋 Requirements

• Neovim 0.12 or newer (required for vim.pack API)
• git installed and available in your PATH
• Nerd Font — for icons in lualine, oil.nvim, telescope
• ripgrep (rg) — for telescope live_grep functionality
• Node.js — for installing formatters (prettier, eslint) via Mason

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✨ Configuration Highlights

🗂 Architecture

Feature	Description
Native vim.pack	No external plugin managers (lazy/packer). Plugins registered via vim.pack.add() and auto-loaded
Single-file setup	Entire config lives in init.lua — easy to copy, version, and port
Deferred initialization	Heavy plugins (LSP, UI) initialize on VimEnter event for faster startup
Safe loading	pcall() guards for optional plugins (e.g., conform.nvim)
TypeScript/JS-first	Priority support for TS/JS/React via treesitter, LSP, and Prettier

⚙️ Behavior & Interface

-- Leader key: space
-- Arrow keys disabled in normal mode (encourages hjkl navigation)
-- relative number + cursorline for better navigation
-- Auto-write on focus loss (autowrite)
-- Color column at 80 characters
-- Tabs = 2 spaces, always expanded to spaces
-- True color support in terminal (termguicolors)

🎨 Visual Enhancements

• Gruvbox theme with transparent background (transparent_mode = true)
• Indent-blankline with │ character for visual indentation guides
• NoNeckPain — centers the editor (width: 160), reduces eye strain
• Lualine — minimal statusline showing current file path
• Treesitter-context — displays function/class context in top line

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🔌 Plugins Overview

🎨 UI / Navigation

Plugin	Purpose	Keybinding / Note
nvim-web-devicons	Filetype icons	Dependency for lualine/oil
lualine.nvim	Statusline	Auto-loaded after VimEnter
oil.nvim	File explorer (vim-style)	- — open current directory
no-neck-pain.nvim	Editor centering	<c-_> — toggle
indent-blankline.nvim	Indentation guides	Auto-configured via ibl
undotree	Undo history visualization	<leader>u — toggle
trouble.nvim	Diagnostics/errors list	<leader>d — show float diagnostic

🔀 Git

Plugin	Purpose
vim-fugitive	Full Git integration: :G, :Git, :Gdiff, etc.

🧠 Completion & LSP Stack

Plugin	Purpose
nvim-cmp	Completion engine
cmp-nvim-lsp	LSP source for cmp
mason.nvim	Package manager for LSP servers & tools
mason-lspconfig.nvim	Bridge between Mason and nvim-lspconfig
nvim-lspconfig	LSP client configurations
conform.nvim	Code formatting (Prettier, stylua)

Supported LSP servers (auto-installed via Mason):

lua_ls, basedpyright, rust_analyzer, emmet_ls, 
eslint, ts_ls, tailwindcss, gopls

Formatting rules (conform.nvim):

-- Auto-format on save + manual via <space>f
javascript, typescript, jsx, tsx → prettier
css, html, json, yaml, markdown    → prettier
lua                               → stylua (if installed)

🔍 Search & Navigation

Plugin	Purpose	Keybindings
telescope.nvim + plenary	Fuzzy finder for files, text, help	<Space><Space> — recent files <Space>ff — find files <Space>fg — live grep <Space>fh — help tags
harpoon (v2)	Quick bookmarks for 4 files	<leader>a — add file <C-e> — toggle menu <C-h/j/k/l> — jump to slot 1/2/3/4 <C-S-P>/<C-S-N> — prev/next

🌳 Syntax & Parsing

Plugin	Purpose
nvim-treesitter	Syntax highlighting, auto-install parsers
nvim-treesitter-context	Show function/class context in top line

Auto-installed language parsers:

javascript, typescript, python, c, lua, vim, vimdoc, query, go

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⌨️ Keybindings Reference

Navigation & Windows

<C-h/j/k/l>  — navigate between windows (splits)
<leader>a    — add file to Harpoon
<C-e>        — open Harpoon menu
<C-h/j/k/l>  — jump to Harpoon slot 1/2/3/4
<Space><Space> — recent files (Telescope)
<Space>ff    — find file
<Space>fg    — live grep content
-            — open oil.nvim (file explorer)

Editing & Search

<leader>h    — clear search highlight
n/N          — next/prev search result (centered)
<C-d>/<C-u>  — half-page down/up (centered)
<leader>s    — substitute word under cursor in file
<leader>x    — make file executable (!chmod +x %)
<Space>f     — format file (conform + lsp fallback)

LSP & Diagnostics

gd           — go to definition
gr           — find references
<leader>y    — show diagnostic in float window

Buffer & Selection

<C-c> (insert)  — exit to normal mode
<leader>p (visual) — paste without yanking to register
<leader>d (n/v)  — delete to black hole (don't pollute register)
<space>y - copy selection to system clipboard (middle mouse button to paste)
<space>Y - copy whole file to system clipboard (middle mouse button to paste)

Utilities

<leader>u    — toggle Undotree
<Space>fh    — search help tags

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🚀 Installation & First Run

1. Clone or create config:

   mkdir -p ~/.config/nvim
   cp init.lua ~/.config/nvim/

2. Launch Neovim:

   nvim

3. Wait for auto-install: Plugins clone to ~/.local/share/nvim/site/pack/ on first run

4. Install LSP servers & formatters via Mason:

   :MasonInstall lua_ls basedpyright gopls prettier stylua

5. Install Treesitter parsers:

   :TSInstall javascript typescript lua go python

💡 Tip: If plugins fail to load, verify git is in PATH and you have internet access on first launch.

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🔧 Customization Guide

Add a new plugin

vim.pack.add({
  { src = "https://github.com/username/plugin.nvim", main = "plugin" },
})

Modify LSP settings

Find the mason-lspconfig block inside VimEnter and extend:

gopls = function()
  vim.lsp.config("gopls", {
    capabilities = capabilities,
    settings = {
      gopls = {
        analyses = { unusedparams = true },
      },
    },
  })
end,

Disable auto-format on save

format_on_save = false,  -- in conform.setup()

Change colorscheme

Replace gruvbox with any other theme:

require("other_theme").setup()
vim.cmd("colorscheme other_theme")

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🐛 Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Plugins not loading	Check git --version and internet connectivity
Missing icons in statusline	Install & configure a Nerd Font in your terminal
LSP not working	Run :MasonInstall <server> and restart Neovim
Prettier not formatting	Ensure Prettier is globally installed: npm install -g prettier
Telescope can't find files	Install ripgrep: brew install ripgrep / sudo apt install ripgrep
Slow startup	Consider lazy-loading heavy plugins or reducing ensure_installed lists

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📦 Directory Structure (after first run)

~/.local/share/nvim/site/pack/
├── opt/          → plugins installed via vim.pack
└── start/        → auto-loaded plugins (if any)

~/.cache/nvim/    → treesitter cache, lsp logs
~/.state/nvim/    → session state, harpoon markers

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🧭 Philosophy

Minimalism. Control. Speed.

No heavy frameworks — only what you need, loaded only when you need it.

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🤝 Contributing

Found a bug? Have a suggestion? Feel free to open an issue or PR.

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📄 License

MIT — feel free to use, modify, and distribute.

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💡 Pro tip: Run :checkhealth and :messages for debugging.
This config requires Neovim 0.12+ — vim.pack is not available in earlier versions.