vim-plug

:hibiscus: Minimalist Vim Plugin Manager

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Repository: junegunn/vim-plug


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README.md

<h1 title="vim-plug">
<picture>
<source media="(prefers-color-scheme: dark)" srcset="./plug-dark.png">
<img src="./plug.png" height="75" alt="vim-plug">
</picture>
<a href="https://github.com/junegunn/vim-plug/actions/workflows/test.yml?query=branch%3Amaster">
<img src="https://img.shields.io/github/actions/workflow/status/junegunn/vim-plug/test.yml?branch=master">
</a>
</h1>

A minimalist Vim plugin manager.

<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junegunn/i/master/vim-plug/installer.gif" height="450">

Pros.

- Minimalist design
- Just one file with no dependencies. Super easy to set up.
- Concise, intuitive syntax that you can learn within minutes. No boilerplate code required.
- No feature bloat
- Extremely stable with flawless backward compatibility
- Works perfectly with all versions of Vim since 2006 and all versions of Neovim ever released
- [Super-fast][40/4] parallel installation/update
- Creates shallow clones to minimize disk space usage and download time
- On-demand loading for [faster startup time][startup-time]
- Can review and rollback updates
- Branch/tag/commit support
- Post-update hooks
- Support for externally managed plugins

[40/4]: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junegunn/i/master/vim-plug/40-in-4.gif
[startup-time]: https://github.com/junegunn/vim-startuptime-benchmark#result

Installation

Download plug.vim
and put it in the "autoload" directory.

<details>
<summary>Click to see the instructions</summary>

Vim

#### Unix

sh
curl -fLo ~/.vim/autoload/plug.vim --create-dirs \
    https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junegunn/vim-plug/master/plug.vim

You can automate the process by putting the command in your Vim configuration
file as suggested [here][auto].

[auto]: https://github.com/junegunn/vim-plug/wiki/tips#automatic-installation

#### Windows (PowerShell)

powershell
iwr -useb https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junegunn/vim-plug/master/plug.vim |
    ni $HOME/vimfiles/autoload/plug.vim -Force

Neovim

#### Unix, Linux

sh
sh -c 'curl -fLo "${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}"/nvim/site/autoload/plug.vim --create-dirs \
       https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junegunn/vim-plug/master/plug.vim'

#### Linux (Flatpak)

sh
curl -fLo ~/.var/app/io.neovim.nvim/data/nvim/site/autoload/plug.vim --create-dirs \
    https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junegunn/vim-plug/master/plug.vim

#### Windows (PowerShell)

powershell
iwr -useb https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junegunn/vim-plug/master/plug.vim |
    ni "$(@($env:XDG_DATA_HOME, $env:LOCALAPPDATA)[$null -eq $env:XDG_DATA_HOME])/nvim-data/site/autoload/plug.vim" -Force

</details>

Usage

Add a vim-plug section to your ~/.vimrc (or ~/.config/nvim/init.vim for Neovim)

1. Begin the section with call plug#begin()
1. List the plugins with Plug commands
1. End the section with call plug#end()

For example,

vim
call plug#begin()
" List your plugins here
Plug 'tpope/vim-sensible'
call plug#end()

Reload the file or restart Vim, then you can,

* :PlugInstall to install the plugins
* :PlugUpdate to install or update the plugins
* :PlugDiff to review the changes from the last update
* :PlugClean to remove plugins no longer in the list

NOTE

That's basically all you need to know to get started. The rest of the


document is for advanced users who want to know more about the features and

options.

TIP

plug#end() automatically executes filetype plugin indent on and syntax


enable. We believe this is a good default for most users, but if you don't

want this behavior, you can revert the settings after the call.

> ``vim

call plug#end()

filetype indent off " Disable file-type-specific indentation

syntax off " Disable syntax highlighting

`

Getting Help

- See [tutorial] page to learn more about the basics of vim-plug
- See [tips] and [FAQ] pages for common problems and questions

[tutorial]: https://github.com/junegunn/vim-plug/wiki/tutorial
[tips]: https://github.com/junegunn/vim-plug/wiki/tips
[FAQ]: https://github.com/junegunn/vim-plug/wiki/faq

Examples

The following examples demonstrate the additional features of vim-plug.

Vim script example

vim
call plug#begin()
" The default plugin directory will be as follows:
"   - Vim (Linux/macOS): '~/.vim/plugged'
"   - Vim (Windows): '~/vimfiles/plugged'
"   - Neovim (Linux/macOS/Windows): stdpath('data') . '/plugged'
" You can specify a custom plugin directory by passing it as the argument
"   - e.g. call plug#begin('~/.vim/plugged')
"   - Avoid using standard Vim directory names like 'plugin'
" Make sure you use single quotes
" Shorthand notation for GitHub; translates to https://github.com/junegunn/seoul256.vim.git
Plug 'junegunn/seoul256.vim'
" Any valid git URL is allowed
Plug 'https://github.com/junegunn/vim-easy-align.git'
" Using a tagged release; wildcard allowed (requires git 1.9.2 or above)
Plug 'fatih/vim-go', { 'tag': '*' }
" Using a non-default branch
Plug 'neoclide/coc.nvim', { 'branch': 'release' }
" Use 'dir' option to install plugin in a non-default directory
Plug 'junegunn/fzf', { 'dir': '~/.fzf' }
" Post-update hook: run a shell command after installing or updating the plugin
Plug 'junegunn/fzf', { 'dir': '~/.fzf', 'do': './install --all' }
" Post-update hook can be a lambda expression
Plug 'junegunn/fzf', { 'do': { -> fzf#install() } }
" If the vim plugin is in a subdirectory, use 'rtp' option to specify its path
Plug 'nsf/gocode', { 'rtp': 'vim' }
" On-demand loading: loaded when the specified command is executed
Plug 'preservim/nerdtree', { 'on': 'NERDTreeToggle' }
" On-demand loading: loaded when a file with a specific file type is opened
Plug 'tpope/vim-fireplace', { 'for': 'clojure' }
" Unmanaged plugin (manually installed and updated)
Plug '~/my-prototype-plugin'
" Call plug#end to update &runtimepath and initialize the plugin system.
" - It automatically executes filetype plugin indent on and syntax enable
call plug#end()
" You can revert the settings after the call like so:
"   filetype indent off   " Disable file-type-specific indentation
"   syntax off            " Disable syntax highlighting
" Color schemes should be loaded after plug#end().
" We prepend it with 'silent!' to ignore errors when it's not yet installed.
silent! colorscheme seoul256

Lua example for Neovim

In Neovim, you can write your configuration in a Lua script file named
init.lua. The following code is the Lua script equivalent to the Vim script
example above.

lua
local vim = vim
local Plug = vim.fn['plug#']
vim.call('plug#begin')
-- Shorthand notation for GitHub; translates to https://github.com/junegunn/seoul256.vim.git
Plug('junegunn/seoul256.vim')
-- Any valid git URL is allowed
Plug('https://github.com/junegunn/vim-easy-align.git')
-- Using a tagged release; wildcard allowed (requires git 1.9.2 or above)
Plug('fatih/vim-go', { ['tag'] = '*' })
-- Using a non-default branch
Plug('neoclide/coc.nvim', { ['branch'] = 'release' })
-- Use 'dir' option to install plugin in a non-default directory
Plug('junegunn/fzf', { ['dir'] = '~/.fzf' })
-- Post-update hook: run a shell command after installing or updating the plugin
Plug('junegunn/fzf', { ['dir'] = '~/.fzf', ['do'] = './install --all' })
-- Post-update hook can be a lambda expression
Plug('junegunn/fzf', { ['do'] = function()
  vim.fn['fzf#install']()
end })
-- If the vim plugin is in a subdirectory, use 'rtp' option to specify its path
Plug('nsf/gocode', { ['rtp'] = 'vim' })
-- On-demand loading: loaded when the specified command is executed
Plug('preservim/nerdtree', { ['on'] = 'NERDTreeToggle' })
-- On-demand loading: loaded when a file with a specific file type is opened
Plug('tpope/vim-fireplace', { ['for'] = 'clojure' })
-- Unmanaged plugin (manually installed and updated)
Plug('~/my-prototype-plugin')
vim.call('plug#end')
-- Color schemes should be loaded after plug#end().
-- We prepend it with 'silent!' to ignore errors when it's not yet installed.
vim.cmd('silent! colorscheme seoul256')

Commands

| Command | Description |
| ----------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| PlugInstall [name ...] [#threads] | Install plugins |
| PlugUpdate [name ...] [#threads] | Install or update plugins |
| PlugClean[!] | Remove unlisted plugins (bang version will clean without prompt) |
| PlugUpgrade | Upgrade vim-plug itself |
| PlugStatus | Check the status of plugins |
| PlugDiff | Examine changes from the previous update and the pending changes |
| PlugSnapshot[!] [output path] | Generate script for restoring the current snapshot of the plugins |

Plug options

| Option | Description |
| ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| branch/tag/commit | Branch/tag/commit of the repository to use |
| rtp | Subdirectory that contains Vim plugin |
| dir | Custom directory for the plugin |
| as | Use different name for the plugin |
| do | Post-update hook (string or funcref) |
| on | On-demand loading: Commands or <Plug>-mappings |
| for | On-demand loading: File types |
| frozen | Do not remove and do not update unless explicitly specified |

Global options

| Flag | Default | Description |
| ------------------- | --------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| g:plug_threads | 16 | Default number of threads to use |
| g:plug_timeout | 60 | Time limit of each task in seconds (Ruby & Python) |
| g:plug_retries | 2 | Number of retries in case of timeout (Ruby & Python) |
| g:plug_shallow | 1 | Use shallow clone |
| g:plug_window | -tabnew | Command to open plug window |
| g:plug_pwindow | vertical rightbelow new | Command to open preview window in PlugDiff |
| g:plug_url_format | https://git::@github.com/%s.git | printf format to build repo URL (Only applies to the subsequent Plug commands) |


Keybindings

- D - PlugDiff
- S - PlugStatus
- R - Retry failed update or installation tasks
- U - Update plugins in the selected range
- q - Abort the running tasks or close the window
- :PlugStatus
- L - Load plugin
- :PlugDiff
- X - Revert the update

Post-update hooks

There are some plugins that require extra steps after installation or update.
In that case, use the do option to describe the task to be performed.

vim
Plug 'Shougo/vimproc.vim', { 'do': 'make' }
Plug 'ycm-core/YouCompleteMe', { 'do': './install.py' }

If the value starts with :, it will be recognized as a Vim command.

vim
Plug 'fatih/vim-go', { 'do': ':GoInstallBinaries' }

To call a Vim function, you can pass a lambda expression like so:

vim
Plug 'junegunn/fzf', { 'do': { -> fzf#install() } }

If you need more control, you can pass a reference to a Vim function that
takes a dictionary argument.

vim
function! BuildYCM(info)
  " info is a dictionary with 3 fields
  " - name:   name of the plugin
  " - status: 'installed', 'updated', or 'unchanged'
  " - force:  set on PlugInstall! or PlugUpdate!
  if a:info.status == 'installed' || a:info.force
    !./install.py
  endif
endfunction
Plug 'ycm-core/YouCompleteMe', { 'do': function('BuildYCM') }

A post-update hook is executed inside the directory of the plugin and only run
when the repository has changed, but you can force it to run unconditionally
with the bang-versions of the commands: PlugInstall! and PlugUpdate!.

TIP

Make sure to escape BARs and double-quotes when you write the do option


inline as they are mistakenly recognized as command separator or the start of

the trailing comment.

> `vim

Plug 'junegunn/fzf', { 'do': 'yes \| ./install' }

`

> But you can avoid the escaping if you extract the inline specification using a

variable (or any Vim script expression) as follows:

> `vim

let g:fzf_install = 'yes | ./install'

Plug 'junegunn/fzf', { 'do': g:fzf_install }

`

PlugInstall! and PlugUpdate!

The installer takes the following steps when installing/updating a plugin:

1. git clone or git fetch from its origin
2. Check out branch, tag, or commit and optionally git merge remote branch
3. If the plugin was updated (or installed for the first time)
1. Update submodules
2. Execute post-update hooks

The commands with the ! suffix ensure that all steps are run unconditionally.

On-demand loading of plugins

vim
" NERD tree will be loaded on the first invocation of NERDTreeToggle command
Plug 'preservim/nerdtree', { 'on': 'NERDTreeToggle' }
" Multiple commands
Plug 'junegunn/vim-github-dashboard', { 'on': ['GHDashboard', 'GHActivity'] }
" Loaded when clojure file is opened
Plug 'tpope/vim-fireplace', { 'for': 'clojure' }
" Multiple file types
Plug 'kovisoft/paredit', { 'for': ['clojure', 'scheme'] }
" On-demand loading on both conditions
Plug 'junegunn/vader.vim',  { 'on': 'Vader', 'for': 'vader' }
" Code to execute when the plugin is lazily loaded on demand
Plug 'junegunn/goyo.vim', { 'for': 'markdown' }
autocmd! User goyo.vim echom 'Goyo is now loaded!'

NOTE

#### Should I set up on-demand loading?


> You probably don't need to.

> A properly implemented Vim plugin should already load lazily without any

help from a plugin manager (:help autoload). So there are few cases where

these options actually make much sense. Making a plugin load faster is

the responsibility of the plugin developer, not the user. If you find

a plugin that takes too long to load, consider opening an issue on the

plugin's issue tracker.

> Let me give you a perspective. The time it takes to load a plugin is usually

less than 2 or 3ms on modern computers. So unless you use a very large

number of plugins, you are unlikely to save more than 50ms. If you have

spent an hour carefully setting up the options to shave off 50ms, you

will have to start Vim 72,000 times just to break even. You should ask

yourself if that's a good investment of your time.

> Make sure that you're tackling the right problem by breaking down the

startup time of Vim using --startuptime.

> `sh

vim --startuptime /tmp/log

`

> On-demand loading should only be used as a last resort. It is basically

a hacky workaround and is not always guaranteed to work.

TIP

You can pass an empty list to on or for option to disable the loading


of the plugin. You can manually load the plugin using plug#load(NAMES...)`

function.

> See https://github.com/junegunn/vim-plug/wiki/tips#loading-plugins-manually


Collaborators

- Jan Edmund Lazo - Windows support
- Jeremy Pallats - Python installer

License

MIT