kickstart.nvim

kickstart.nvim is a small, single-file, and completely documented starting point for Neovim configurations.

Note: It is explicitly NOT a Neovim distribution. It is designed to be a foundation that you can build upon and customize rather than a pre-packaged environment.

You can maintain multiple Neovim configurations (like kickstart.nvim alongside your existing one) by using the NVIM_APPNAME environment variable. This tells Neovim to look for configuration and data in directories named after the app name.

For example, if you install kickstart in ~/.config/nvim-kickstart, you can create an alias to run it specifically:

alias nvim-kickstart='NVIM_APPNAME="nvim-kickstart" nvim'

After cloning, start Neovim with nvim. The vim.pack system will automatically install all required plugins.

Use the following commands to manage your plugins:

• :lua vim.pack.update(nil, { offline = true }): Inspect current plugin state.
• :lua vim.pack.update(): Fetch updates. Use :write to apply them or :quit to cancel.

Kickstart.nvim requires several external tools to function correctly. Ensure the following are installed on your system:

• Basic utils: git, make, unzip, C Compiler (gcc)
• Search/Navigation: ripgrep, fd-find (or fd)
• Parsing: tree-sitter CLI
• Clipboard: xclip, xsel, or win32yank (platform dependent)
• Optional (Icons): A Nerd Font. If installed, set vim.g.have_nerd_font = true in your init.lua.
• Language Specific: npm (for TypeScript), go (for Golang), etc.

If your system package manager provides an outdated version of Neovim, use one of these tools to ensure you have the latest stable or nightly builds:

• Bob (Rust-based):

  rustup default stable
  rustup update stable
  cargo install bob-nvim
  bob use stable

• Homebrew (macOS/Linux): brew install neovim
• mise:

  mise plugins install neovim
  mise use neovim@stable

• asdf:

  asdf plugin add neovim
  asdf install neovim stable
  asdf set neovim stable --home
  asdf reshim neovim

To install kickstart.nvim, first back up any existing Neovim configuration. It is highly recommended to create your own GitHub repository using the 'Use this template' button before cloning, so you have a personal copy to modify.

Note: If you use your own repository, replace nvim-lua with your GitHub username in the commands below. You should also remove nvim-pack-lock.json from your .gitignore to track plugin state in version control.

# Linux and Mac
git clone https://github.com/nvim-lua/kickstart.nvim.git "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}"/nvim

# Windows (cmd.exe)
git clone https://github.com/nvim-lua/kickstart.nvim.git "%localappdata%\nvim"

# Windows (powershell.exe)
git clone https://github.com/nvim-lua/kickstart.nvim.git "${env:LOCALAPPDATA}\nvim"