provider.txt Nvim NVIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Thiago de Arruda Providers provider Nvim delegates some features to dynamic "providers". This document describes the providers and how to install them. E319 Use of a feature requiring a missing provider is an error: E319: No "foo" provider found. Run ":checkhealth provider" Run the :checkhealth command, and review the sections below. Type gO to see the table of contents. ============================================================================== Python integration provider-python Nvim supports Python remote-plugins and the Vim legacy python3 and pythonx interfaces (which are implemented as remote-plugins). Note: Only the Vim 7.3 legacy interface is supported, not later features such as python-bindeval (Vim 7.4); use the Nvim API instead. Python 2 is not supported. PYTHON QUICKSTART To use Python plugins, you need the "pynvim" module. Run :checkhealth to see if you already have it (some package managers install the module with Nvim itself). For Python 3 plugins: 1. Make sure Python 3.4+ is available in your $PATH. 2. Install the module (try "python" if "python3" is missing): >bash python3 -m pip install --user --upgrade pynvim The pip --upgrade flag ensures that you get the latest version even if a previous version was already installed. See also python-virtualenv. Note: The old "neovim" module was renamed to "pynvim". https://github.com/neovim/neovim/wiki/Following-HEAD#20181118 If you run into problems, uninstall _both_ then install "pynvim" again: >bash python -m pip uninstall neovim pynvim python -m pip install --user --upgrade pynvim PYTHON PROVIDER CONFIGURATION g:python3_host_prog Command to start Python 3 (executable, not directory). Setting this makes startup faster. Useful for working with virtualenvs. Must be set before any check for has("python3"). let g:python3_host_prog = '/path/to/python3' g:loaded_python3_provider To disable Python 3 support: let g:loaded_python3_provider = 0 PYTHON VIRTUALENVS python-virtualenv If you plan to use per-project virtualenvs often, you should assign one virtualenv for Nvim and hard-code the interpreter path via g:python3_host_prog so that the "pynvim" package is not required for each virtualenv. Example using pyenv: >bash pyenv install 3.4.4 pyenv virtualenv 3.4.4 py3nvim pyenv activate py3nvim python3 -m pip install pynvim pyenv which python # Note the path The last command reports the interpreter path, add it to your init.vim: let g:python3_host_prog = '/path/to/py3nvim/bin/python' See also: https://github.com/zchee/deoplete-jedi/wiki/Setting-up-Python-for-Neovim ============================================================================== Ruby integration provider-ruby Nvim supports Ruby remote-plugins and the Vim legacy ruby-vim interface (which is itself implemented as a Nvim remote-plugin). RUBY QUICKSTART To use Ruby plugins with Nvim, install the latest "neovim" RubyGem: >bash gem install neovim Run :checkhealth to see if your system is up-to-date. RUBY PROVIDER CONFIGURATION g:loaded_ruby_provider To disable Ruby support: let g:loaded_ruby_provider = 0 g:ruby_host_prog Command to start the Ruby host. By default this is "neovim-ruby-host". With project-local Ruby versions (via tools like RVM or rbenv) setting this can avoid the need to install the "neovim" gem in every project. To use an absolute path (e.g. to an rbenv installation): let g:ruby_host_prog = '~/.rbenv/versions/2.4.1/bin/neovim-ruby-host' To use the RVM "system" Ruby installation: let g:ruby_host_prog = 'rvm system do neovim-ruby-host' ============================================================================== Perl integration provider-perl Nvim supports Perl remote-plugins on Unix platforms. Support for polling STDIN on MS-Windows is currently lacking from all known event loop implementations. The Vim legacy perl-vim interface is also supported (which is itself implemented as a Nvim remote-plugin). https://github.com/jacquesg/p5-Neovim-Ext Note: Only perl versions from 5.22 onward are supported. PERL QUICKSTART To use perl remote-plugins with Nvim, install the "Neovim::Ext" cpan package: >bash cpanm -n Neovim::Ext Run :checkhealth to see if your system is up-to-date. PERL PROVIDER CONFIGURATION g:loaded_perl_provider To disable Perl support: :let g:loaded_perl_provider = 0 g:perl_host_prog Command to start the Perl executable. Must be set before any check for has("perl"). let g:perl_host_prog = '/path/to/perl' ============================================================================== Node.js integration provider-nodejs Nvim supports Node.js remote-plugins. https://github.com/neovim/node-client/ NODEJS QUICKSTART To use javascript remote-plugins with Nvim, install the "neovim" npm package: >bash npm install -g neovim Run :checkhealth to see if your system is up-to-date. NODEJS PROVIDER CONFIGURATION g:loaded_node_provider To disable Node.js support: :let g:loaded_node_provider = 0 g:node_host_prog Command to start the Node.js host. Setting this makes startup faster. By default, Nvim searches for "neovim-node-host" using "npm root -g", which can be slow. To avoid this, set g:node_host_prog to the host path: let g:node_host_prog = '/usr/local/bin/neovim-node-host' ============================================================================== Clipboard integration provider-clipboard clipboard Nvim has no direct connection to the system clipboard. Instead it depends on a provider which transparently uses shell commands to communicate with the system clipboard or any other clipboard "backend". To ALWAYS use the clipboard for ALL operations (instead of interacting with the "+" and/or "*" registers explicitly): set clipboard+=unnamedplus See 'clipboard' for details and options. clipboard-tool The presence of a working clipboard tool implicitly enables the '+' and "*" registers. Nvim looks for these clipboard tools, in order of priority: - g:clipboard (unless unset or false) - pbcopy, pbpaste (macOS) - wl-copy, wl-paste (if $WAYLAND_DISPLAY is set) - waycopy, waypaste (if $WAYLAND_DISPLAY is set) - xsel (if $DISPLAY is set) - xclip (if $DISPLAY is set) - lemonade (for SSH) https://github.com/pocke/lemonade - doitclient (for SSH) https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/doit/ - win32yank (Windows) - termux (via termux-clipboard-set, termux-clipboard-set) - tmux (if $TMUX is set) g:clipboard To configure a custom clipboard tool, set g:clipboard to a dictionary. For example this configuration integrates the tmux clipboard: let g:clipboard = { \ 'name': 'myClipboard', \ 'copy': { \ '+': ['tmux', 'load-buffer', '-'], \ '*': ['tmux', 'load-buffer', '-'], \ }, \ 'paste': { \ '+': ['tmux', 'save-buffer', '-'], \ '*': ['tmux', 'save-buffer', '-'], \ }, \ 'cache_enabled': 1, \ } If "cache_enabled" is TRUE then when a selection is copied Nvim will cache the selection until the copy command process dies. When pasting, if the copy process has not died the cached selection is applied. g:clipboard can also use functions (see lambda) instead of strings. For example this configuration uses the g:foo variable as a fake clipboard: let g:clipboard = { \ 'name': 'myClipboard', \ 'copy': { \ '+': {lines, regtype -> extend(g:, {'foo': [lines, regtype]}) }, \ '*': {lines, regtype -> extend(g:, {'foo': [lines, regtype]}) }, \ }, \ 'paste': { \ '+': {-> get(g:, 'foo', [])}, \ '*': {-> get(g:, 'foo', [])}, \ }, \ } The "copy" function stores a list of lines and the register type. The "paste" function returns the clipboard as a `[lines, regtype]` list, where lines is a list of lines and regtype is a register type conforming to setreg(). clipboard-wsl For Windows WSL, try this g:clipboard definition: let g:clipboard = { \ 'name': 'WslClipboard', \ 'copy': { \ '+': 'clip.exe', \ '*': 'clip.exe', \ }, \ 'paste': { \ '+': 'powershell.exe -c [Console]::Out.Write($(Get-Clipboard -Raw).tostring().replace("`r", ""))', \ '*': 'powershell.exe -c [Console]::Out.Write($(Get-Clipboard -Raw).tostring().replace("`r", ""))', \ }, \ 'cache_enabled': 0, \ } clipboard-osc52 Nvim bundles a clipboard provider that allows copying to the system clipboard using OSC 52. OSC 52 is an Operating System Command control sequence that writes the copied text to the terminal emulator. If the terminal emulator supports OSC 52 then it will write the copied text into the system clipboard. Nvim will attempt to automatically determine if the host terminal emulator supports the OSC 52 sequence and enable the OSC 52 clipboard provider if it does as long as all of the following are true: • Nvim is running in the TUI • g:clipboard is unset • 'clipboard' is not set to "unnamed" or "unnamedplus" • $SSH_TTY is set If any of the above conditions are not met then the OSC 52 clipboard provider will not be used by default and Nvim will fall back to discovering a clipboard-tool through the usual process. To force Nvim to use the OSC 52 provider you can use the following g:clipboard definition: vim.g.clipboard = { name = 'OSC 52', copy = { ['+'] = require('vim.ui.clipboard.osc52').copy('+'), ['*'] = require('vim.ui.clipboard.osc52').copy('*'), }, paste = { ['+'] = require('vim.ui.clipboard.osc52').paste('+'), ['*'] = require('vim.ui.clipboard.osc52').paste('*'), }, } Note that not all terminal emulators support reading from the system clipboard (and even for those that do, users should be aware of the security implications), so using OSC 52 for pasting may not be possible (and not necessary, because you can paste instead using your system paste function). Users may need to configure their terminal emulator to allow reading from the clipboard. < ============================================================================== Paste provider-paste paste "Paste" is a separate concept from clipboard: paste means "dump a bunch of text to the editor", whereas clipboard provides features like quote+ to get and set the OS clipboard directly. For example, middle-click or CTRL-SHIFT-v (macOS: CMD-v) in your terminal is "paste", not "clipboard": the terminal application (Nvim) just gets a stream of text, it does not interact with the clipboard directly. bracketed-paste-mode Pasting in the TUI depends on the "bracketed paste" terminal capability, which allows terminal applications to distinguish between user input and pasted text. https://cirw.in/blog/bracketed-paste This works automatically if your terminal supports it. ui-paste GUIs can paste by calling nvim_paste(). PASTE BEHAVIOR Paste inserts text after the cursor. Lines break at <NL>, <CR>, and <CR><NL>. When pasting a huge amount of text, screen-updates are throttled and the message area shows a "..." pulse. In cmdline-mode only the first line is pasted, to avoid accidentally executing many commands. Use the cmdline-window if you really want to paste multiple lines to the cmdline. You can implement a custom paste handler by redefining vim.paste(). Example: vim.paste = (function(lines, phase) vim.api.nvim_put(lines, 'c', true, true) end) ============================================================================== X11 selection mechanism clipboard-x11 x11-selection X11 clipboard providers store text in "selections". Selections are owned by an application, so when the application gets closed, the selection text is lost. The contents of selections are held by the originating application (e.g., upon a copy), and only passed to another application when that other application requests them (e.g., upon a paste). primary-selection quotestar quoteplus quote+ There are three documented X11 selections: PRIMARY, SECONDARY, and CLIPBOARD. CLIPBOARD is typically used in X11 applications for copy/paste operations (CTRL-c/CTRL-v), while PRIMARY is used for the last selected text, which is generally inserted with the middle mouse button. Nvim's X11 clipboard providers only use the PRIMARY and CLIPBOARD selections, for the "*" and "+" registers, respectively. ============================================================================== vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: