Api
Nvim :help pages, generated
from source
using the tree-sitter-vimdoc parser.
Nvim exposes a powerful API that can be used by plugins and external processes
via
RPC,
Lua and VimL (
eval-api).
Applications can also embed libnvim to work with the C API directly.
API Usage api-rpc RPC rpc
Many clients use the API: user interfaces (GUIs), remote plugins, scripts like
"nvr" (
https://github.com/mhinz/neovim-remote). Even Nvim itself can control
other Nvim instances. API clients can:
Call any API function
Listen for events
Receive remote calls from Nvim
The RPC API is like a more powerful version of Vim's "clientserver" feature.
CONNECTING rpc-connecting
See
channel-intro for various ways to open a channel. Channel-opening
functions take an
rpc key in the options dictionary. RPC channels can also
be opened by other processes connecting to TCP/IP sockets or named pipes
listened to by Nvim.
Nvim creates a default RPC socket at
startup, given by
v:servername. To
start with a TCP/IP socket instead, use
--listen with a TCP-style address:
nvim --listen 127.0.0.1:6666
More endpoints can be started with
serverstart().
Note that localhost TCP sockets are generally less secure than named pipes,
and can lead to vulnerabilities like remote code execution.
Connecting to the socket is the easiest way a programmer can test the API,
which can be done through any msgpack-rpc client library or full-featured
api-client. Here's a Ruby script that prints "hello world!" in the current
Nvim instance:
#!/usr/bin/env ruby
# Requires msgpack-rpc: gem install msgpack-rpc
#
# To run this script, execute it from a running Nvim instance (notice the
# trailing '&' which is required since Nvim won't process events while
# running a blocking command):
#
# :!./hello.rb &
#
# Or from another shell by setting NVIM_LISTEN_ADDRESS:
# $ NVIM_LISTEN_ADDRESS=[address] ./hello.rb
require 'msgpack/rpc'
require 'msgpack/rpc/transport/unix'
nvim = MessagePack::RPC::Client.new(MessagePack::RPC::UNIXTransport.new, ENV['NVIM_LISTEN_ADDRESS'])
result = nvim.call(:nvim_command, 'echo "hello world!"')
A better way is to use the Python REPL with the "pynvim" package, where API
functions can be called interactively:
>>> from pynvim import attach
>>> nvim = attach('socket', path='[address]')
>>> nvim.command('echo "hello world!"')
You can also embed Nvim via
jobstart(), and communicate using
rpcrequest()
and
rpcnotify():
let nvim = jobstart(['nvim', '--embed'], {'rpc': v:true})
echo rpcrequest(nvim, 'nvim_eval', '"Hello " . "world!"')
call jobstop(nvim)
API Definitions api-definitions
api-types
The Nvim C API defines custom types for all function parameters. Some are just
typedefs around C99 standard types, others are Nvim-defined data structures.
Basic types
API Type C type
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nil
Boolean bool
Integer (signed 64-bit integer) int64_t
Float (IEEE 754 double precision) double
String {char* data, size_t size} struct
Array
Dictionary (msgpack: map)
Object
Note: empty Array is accepted as a valid argument for Dictionary parameter.
Special types (msgpack EXT)
These are integer typedefs discriminated as separate Object subtypes. They
can be treated as opaque integers, but are mutually incompatible: Buffer may
be passed as an integer but not as Window or Tabpage.
The EXT object data is the (integer) object handle. The EXT type codes given
in the
api-metadata types key are stable: they will not change and are
thus forward-compatible.
EXT Type C type Data
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Buffer enum value kObjectTypeBuffer |bufnr()|
Window enum value kObjectTypeWindow |window-ID|
Tabpage enum value kObjectTypeTabpage internal handle
api-indexing
Most of the API uses 0-based indices, and ranges are end-exclusive. For the
end of a range, -1 denotes the last line/column.
Exception: the following API functions use "mark-like" indexing (1-based
lines, 0-based columns):
Exception: the following API functions use
extmarks indexing (0-based
indices, end-inclusive):
api-fast
Most API functions are "deferred": they are queued on the main loop and
processed sequentially with normal input. So if the editor is waiting for
user input in a "modal" fashion (e.g. the
hit-enter-prompt), the request
will block. Non-deferred (fast) functions such as
nvim_get_mode() and
nvim_input() are served immediately (i.e. without waiting in the input
queue). Lua code can use
vim.in_fast_event() to detect a fast context.
API metadata api-metadata
The Nvim C API is automatically exposed to RPC by the build system, which
parses headers in src/nvim/api/* and generates dispatch-functions mapping RPC
API method names to public C API functions, converting/validating arguments
and return values.
Nvim exposes its API metadata as a Dictionary with these items:
version Nvim version, API level/compatibility
version.api_level API version integer
api-level
version.api_compatible API is backwards-compatible with this level
version.api_prerelease Declares the API as unstable/unreleased
(version.api_prerelease && fn.since == version.api_level)
functions API function signatures, containing
api-types info
describing the return value and parameters.
ui_events
UI event signatures
{fn}.since API level where function {fn} was introduced
{fn}.deprecated_since API level where function {fn} was deprecated
types Custom handle types defined by Nvim
error_types Possible error types returned by API functions
About the functions map:
Container types may be decorated with type/size constraints, e.g.
ArrayOf(Buffer) or ArrayOf(Integer, 2).
Functions considered to be methods that operate on instances of Nvim
special types (msgpack EXT) have the "method=true" flag. The receiver type
is that of the first argument. Method names are prefixed with
nvim_ plus
a type name, e.g.
nvim_buf_get_lines is the
get_lines method of
a Buffer instance.
dev-api
Global functions have the "method=false" flag and are prefixed with just
nvim_, e.g. nvim_list_bufs.
api-mapping
External programs (clients) can use the metadata to discover the API, using
any of these approaches:
1. Connect to a running Nvim instance and call
nvim_get_api_info() via
msgpack-RPC. This is best for clients written in dynamic languages which
can define functions at runtime.
2. Start Nvim with
--api-info. Useful for statically-compiled clients.
Example (requires Python "pyyaml" and "msgpack-python" modules):
nvim --api-info | python -c 'import msgpack, sys, yaml; yaml.dump(msgpack.unpackb(sys.stdin.buffer.read()), sys.stdout)'
3. Use the
api_info() Vimscript function.
:lua print(vim.inspect(vim.fn.api_info()))
Example using
filter() to exclude non-deprecated API functions:
:new|put =map(filter(api_info().functions, '!has_key(v:val,''deprecated_since'')'), 'v:val.name')
API contract api-contract
The Nvim API is composed of functions and events.
Clients call functions like those described at
api-global.
API function names are prefixed with "nvim_".
API event names are prefixed with "nvim_" and suffixed with "_event".
As Nvim evolves the API may change in compliance with this CONTRACT:
New functions and events may be added.
Any such extensions are OPTIONAL: old clients may ignore them.
Function signatures will NOT CHANGE (after release).
Functions introduced in the development (unreleased) version MAY CHANGE.
(Clients can dynamically check
api_prerelease, etc.
api-metadata)
Event parameters will not be removed or reordered (after release).
Events may be EXTENDED: new parameters may be added.
New items may be ADDED to map/list parameters/results of functions and
events.
Any such new items are OPTIONAL: old clients may ignore them.
Existing items will not be removed (after release).
Deprecated functions will not be removed until Nvim version 2.0
"Private" interfaces are NOT covered by this contract:
Undocumented (not in :help) functions or events of any kind
nvim__x ("double underscore") functions
The idea is "versionless evolution", in the words of Rich Hickey:
Relaxing a requirement should be a compatible change.
Strengthening a promise should be a compatible change.
Global events api-global-events
When a client invokes an API request as an async notification, it is not
possible for Nvim to send an error response. Instead, in case of error, the
following notification will be sent to the client:
nvim_error_event
nvim_error_event[{type},
{message}]
{type} is a numeric id as defined by api_info().error_types, and {message} is
a string with the error message.
Buffer update events api-buffer-updates
API clients can "attach" to Nvim buffers to subscribe to buffer update events.
This is similar to
TextChanged but more powerful and granular.
nvim_buf_lines_event
nvim_buf_lines_event[{buf},
{changedtick},
{firstline},
{lastline},
{linedata},
{more}]
When the buffer text between {firstline} and {lastline} (end-exclusive,
zero-indexed) were changed to the new text in the {linedata} list. The
granularity is a line, i.e. if a single character is changed in the
editor, the entire line is sent.
When
{changedtick} is
v:null this means the screen lines (display)
changed but not the buffer contents.
{linedata} contains the changed
screen lines. This happens when
'inccommand' shows a buffer preview.
Properties:~
{buf} API buffer handle (buffer number)
{changedtick} value of
b:changedtick for the buffer. If you send an
API command back to nvim you can check the value of
b:changedtick as
part of your request to ensure that no other changes have been made.
{firstline} integer line number of the first line that was replaced.
Zero-indexed: if line 1 was replaced then {firstline} will be 0, not
1. {firstline} is always less than or equal to the number of lines
that were in the buffer before the lines were replaced.
{lastline} integer line number of the first line that was not replaced
(i.e. the range {firstline}, {lastline} is end-exclusive).
Zero-indexed: if line numbers 2 to 5 were replaced, this will be 5
instead of 6. {lastline} is always be less than or equal to the number
of lines that were in the buffer before the lines were replaced.
{lastline} will be -1 if the event is part of the initial update after
attaching.
{linedata} list of strings containing the contents of the new buffer
lines. Newline characters are omitted; empty lines are sent as empty
strings.
{more} boolean, true for a "multipart" change notification: the
current change was chunked into multiple
nvim_buf_lines_event
notifications (e.g. because it was too big).
nvim_buf_changedtick_event[{buf},
{changedtick}]
nvim_buf_changedtick_event
When
b:changedtick was incremented but no text was changed. Relevant for
undo/redo.
Properties:~
{buf} API buffer handle (buffer number)
{changedtick} new value of
b:changedtick for the buffer
nvim_buf_detach_event[{buf}]
nvim_buf_detach_event
When buffer is detached (i.e. updates are disabled). Triggered explicitly by
nvim_buf_detach() or implicitly in these cases:
Generally: whenever the buffer contents are unloaded from memory.
Properties:~
{buf} API buffer handle (buffer number)
Calling
nvim_buf_attach() with send_buffer=true on an empty buffer, emits:
nvim_buf_lines_event[{buf}, {changedtick}, 0, -1, [""], v:false]
User adds two lines to the buffer, emits:
nvim_buf_lines_event[{buf}, {changedtick}, 0, 0, ["line1", "line2"], v:false]
User moves to a line containing the text "Hello world" and inserts "!", emits:
nvim_buf_lines_event[{buf}, {changedtick}, {linenr}, {linenr} + 1,
["Hello world!"], v:false]
User moves to line 3 and deletes 20 lines using "20dd", emits:
nvim_buf_lines_event[{buf}, {changedtick}, 2, 22, [], v:false]
User selects lines 3-5 using
linewise-visual mode and then types "p" to
paste a block of 6 lines, emits:
nvim_buf_lines_event[{buf}, {changedtick}, 2, 5,
['pasted line 1', 'pasted line 2', 'pasted line 3', 'pasted line 4',
'pasted line 5', 'pasted line 6'],
v:false
]
User reloads the buffer with ":edit", emits:
nvim_buf_detach_event[{buf}]
LUA
api-buffer-updates-lua
In-process Lua plugins can receive buffer updates in the form of Lua
callbacks. These callbacks are called frequently in various contexts;
textlock prevents changing buffer contents and window layout (use
vim.schedule() to defer such operations to the main loop instead).
Moving the cursor is allowed, but it is restored afterwards.
nvim_buf_attach() will take keyword args for the callbacks. "on_lines" will
receive parameters ("lines",
{buf},
{changedtick},
{firstline},
{lastline},
{new_lastline},
{old_byte_size} [,
{old_utf32_size},
{old_utf16_size}]).
Unlike remote channel events the text contents are not passed. The new text can
be accessed inside the callback as
vim.api.nvim_buf_get_lines(buf, firstline, new_lastline, true)
{old_byte_size} is the total size of the replaced region
{firstline} to
{lastline} in bytes, including the final newline after
{lastline}. if
utf_sizes is set to true in
nvim_buf_attach() keyword args, then the
UTF-32 and UTF-16 sizes of the deleted region is also passed as additional
arguments
{old_utf32_size} and
{old_utf16_size}.
"on_changedtick" is invoked when
b:changedtick was incremented but no text
was changed. The parameters received are ("changedtick",
{buf},
{changedtick}).
api-lua-detach
In-process Lua callbacks can detach by returning
true. This will detach all
callbacks attached with the same
nvim_buf_attach() call.
Buffer highlighting api-highlights
Nvim allows plugins to add position-based highlights to buffers. This is
similar to
matchaddpos() but with some key differences. The added highlights
are associated with a buffer and adapts to line insertions and deletions,
similar to signs. It is also possible to manage a set of highlights as a group
and delete or replace all at once.
The intended use case are linter or semantic highlighter plugins that monitor
a buffer for changes, and in the background compute highlights to the buffer.
Another use case are plugins that show output in an append-only buffer, and
want to add highlights to the outputs. Highlight data cannot be preserved
on writing and loading a buffer to file, nor in undo/redo cycles.
Highlights are registered using the
nvim_buf_add_highlight() function. If an
external highlighter plugin wants to add many highlights in a batch,
performance can be improved by calling
nvim_buf_add_highlight() as an
asynchronous notification, after first (synchronously) requesting a source id.
Example using the Python API client (
pynvim):
src = vim.new_highlight_source()
buf = vim.current.buffer
for i in range(5):
buf.add_highlight("String",i,0,-1,src_id=src)
# some time later ...
buf.clear_namespace(src)
If the highlights don't need to be deleted or updated, just pass -1 as
src_id (this is the default in python). Use
nvim_buf_clear_namespace() to
clear highlights from a specific source, in a specific line range or the
entire buffer by passing in the line range 0, -1 (the latter is the default in
python as used above).
Example using the API from Vimscript:
call nvim_buf_set_lines(0, 0, 0, v:true, ["test text"])
let src = nvim_buf_add_highlight(0, 0, "String", 1, 0, 4)
call nvim_buf_add_highlight(0, src, "Identifier", 0, 5, -1)
" some time later ...
call nvim_buf_clear_namespace(0, src, 0, -1)
Floating windows api-floatwin
Floating windows ("floats") are displayed on top of normal windows. This is
useful to implement simple widgets, such as tooltips displayed next to the
cursor. Floats are fully functional windows supporting user editing, common
api-window calls, and most window options (except
'statusline').
Two ways to create a floating window:
To check whether a window is floating, check whether the
relative option in
its config is non-empty:
if vim.api.nvim_win_get_config(window_id).relative ~= '' then
-- window with this window_id is floating
end
Buffer text can be highlighted by typical mechanisms (syntax highlighting,
api-highlights). The
hl-NormalFloat group highlights normal text;
'winhighlight' can be used as usual to override groups locally. Floats inherit
options from the current window; specify
style=minimal in
nvim_open_win()
to disable various visual features such as the
'number' column.
Other highlight groups specific to floating windows:
Currently, floating windows don't support some widgets like scrollbar.
The output of
:mksession does not include commands for restoring floating
windows.
Example: create a float with scratch buffer:
let buf = nvim_create_buf(v:false, v:true)
call nvim_buf_set_lines(buf, 0, -1, v:true, ["test", "text"])
let opts = {'relative': 'cursor', 'width': 10, 'height': 2, 'col': 0,
\ 'row': 1, 'anchor': 'NW', 'style': 'minimal'}
let win = nvim_open_win(buf, 0, opts)
" optional: change highlight, otherwise Pmenu is used
call nvim_win_set_option(win, 'winhl', 'Normal:MyHighlight')
Extended marks api-extended-marks extmarks extmark
Extended marks (extmarks) represent buffer annotations that track text changes
in the buffer. They can represent cursors, folds, misspelled words, anything
that needs to track a logical location in the buffer over time.
api-indexing
Extmark position works like "bar" cursor: it exists between characters. Thus,
the maximum extmark index on a line is 1 more than the character index:
f o o b a r line contents
0 1 2 3 4 5 character positions (0-based)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 extmark positions (0-based)
Extmarks have "forward gravity": if you place the cursor directly on an
extmark position and enter some text, the extmark migrates forward.
f o o|b a r line (| = cursor)
3 extmark
f o o z|b a r line (| = cursor)
4 extmark (after typing "z")
If an extmark is on the last index of a line and you input a newline at that
point, the extmark will accordingly migrate to the next line:
f o o z b a r| line (| = cursor)
7 extmark
f o o z b a r first line
extmarks (none present)
| second line (| = cursor)
0 extmark (after typing <CR>)
Example:
Let's set an extmark at the first row (row=0) and third column (column=2).
api-indexing Passing id=0 creates a new mark and returns the id:
01 2345678
0 ex|ample..
^ extmark position
let g:mark_ns = nvim_create_namespace('myplugin')
let g:mark_id = nvim_buf_set_extmark(0, g:mark_ns, 0, 2, {})
We can get the mark by its id:
echo nvim_buf_get_extmark_by_id(0, g:mark_ns, g:mark_id, {})
" => [0, 2]
We can get all marks in a buffer by
namespace (or by a range):
echo nvim_buf_get_extmarks(0, g:mark_ns, 0, -1, {})
" => [[1, 0, 2]]
Deleting all surrounding text does NOT remove an extmark! To remove extmarks
use
nvim_buf_del_extmark(). Deleting "x" in our example:
0 12345678
0 e|ample..
^ extmark position
echo nvim_buf_get_extmark_by_id(0, g:mark_ns, g:mark_id, {})
" => [0, 1]
Namespaces allow any plugin to manage only its own extmarks, ignoring those
created by another plugin.
Extmark positions changed by an edit will be restored on undo/redo. Creating
and deleting extmarks is not a buffer change, thus new undo states are not
created for extmark changes.
Global Functions api-global
nvim__get_runtime(
{pat},
{all},
{*opts})
nvim__get_runtime()
Find files in runtime directories
Parameters:
{pat} pattern of files to search for
{all} whether to return all matches or only the first
{opts} is_lua: only search lua subdirs
Return:
list of absolute paths to the found files
nvim__id(
{obj})
nvim__id()
Returns object given as argument.
This API function is used for testing. One should not rely on its presence
in plugins.
Parameters:
{obj} Object to return.
nvim__id_array(
{arr})
nvim__id_array()
Returns array given as argument.
This API function is used for testing. One should not rely on its presence
in plugins.
Parameters:
{arr} Array to return.
nvim__id_dictionary(
{dct})
nvim__id_dictionary()
Returns dictionary given as argument.
This API function is used for testing. One should not rely on its presence
in plugins.
Parameters:
{dct} Dictionary to return.
nvim__id_float(
{flt})
nvim__id_float()
Returns floating-point value given as argument.
This API function is used for testing. One should not rely on its presence
in plugins.
Parameters:
{flt} Value to return.
nvim__inspect_cell(
{grid},
{row},
{col})
nvim__inspect_cell()
NB: if your UI doesn't use hlstate, this will not return hlstate first
time.
nvim__stats()
nvim__stats()
Gets internal stats.
Return:
Map of various internal stats.
nvim_call_atomic(
{calls})
nvim_call_atomic()
Calls many API methods atomically.
This has two main usages:
1. To perform several requests from an async context atomically, i.e.
without interleaving redraws, RPC requests from other clients, or user
interactions (however API methods may trigger autocommands or event
processing which have such side effects, e.g.
:sleep may wake
timers).
2. To minimize RPC overhead (roundtrips) of a sequence of many requests.
Parameters:
{calls} an array of calls, where each call is described by an array
with two elements: the request name, and an array of
arguments.
Return:
Array of two elements. The first is an array of return values. The
second is NIL if all calls succeeded. If a call resulted in an error,
it is a three-element array with the zero-based index of the call
which resulted in an error, the error type and the error message. If
an error occurred, the values from all preceding calls will still be
returned.
nvim_chan_send(
{chan},
{data})
nvim_chan_send()
Send data to channel
id. For a job, it writes it to the stdin of the
process. For the stdio channel
channel-stdio, it writes to Nvim's
stdout. For an internal terminal instance (
nvim_open_term()) it writes
directly to terminal output. See
channel-bytes for more information.
This function writes raw data, not RPC messages. If the channel was
created with
rpc=true then the channel expects RPC messages, use
vim.rpcnotify() and
vim.rpcrequest() instead.
Parameters:
{chan} id of the channel
{data} data to write. 8-bit clean: can contain NUL bytes.
nvim_create_buf(
{listed},
{scratch})
nvim_create_buf()
Creates a new, empty, unnamed buffer.
Return:
Buffer handle, or 0 on error
See also:
buf_open_scratch
nvim_del_current_line()
nvim_del_current_line()
Deletes the current line.
Attributes:
not allowed when
textlock is active
nvim_del_keymap(
{mode},
{lhs})
nvim_del_keymap()
Unmaps a global
mapping for the given mode.
nvim_del_mark(
{name})
nvim_del_mark()
Deletes an uppercase/file named mark. See
mark-motions.
Note:
fails with error if a lowercase or buffer local named mark is used.
Parameters:
{name} Mark name
Return:
true if the mark was deleted, else false.
nvim_del_var(
{name})
nvim_del_var()
Removes a global (g:) variable.
Parameters:
{name} Variable name
nvim_echo(
{chunks},
{history},
{*opts})
nvim_echo()
Echo a message.
Parameters:
{chunks} A list of [text, hl_group] arrays, each representing a text
chunk with specified highlight. hl_group element can be
omitted for no highlight.
{opts} Optional parameters.
verbose: Message was printed as a result of
'verbose'
option if Nvim was invoked with -V3log_file, the message
will be redirected to the log_file and suppressed from
direct output.
nvim_err_write(
{str})
nvim_err_write()
Writes a message to the Vim error buffer. Does not append "\n", the
message is buffered (won't display) until a linefeed is written.
Parameters:
{str} Message
nvim_err_writeln(
{str})
nvim_err_writeln()
Writes a message to the Vim error buffer. Appends "\n", so the buffer is
flushed (and displayed).
Parameters:
{str} Message
See also:
nvim_err_write()
nvim_eval_statusline(
{str},
{*opts})
nvim_eval_statusline()
Evaluates statusline string.
Parameters:
{opts} Optional parameters.
winid: (number)
window-ID of the window to use as context
for statusline.
maxwidth: (number) Maximum width of statusline.
fillchar: (string) Character to fill blank spaces in the
statusline (see
'fillchars'). Treated as single-width even
if it isn't.
highlights: (boolean) Return highlight information.
use_winbar: (boolean) Evaluate winbar instead of statusline.
use_tabline: (boolean) Evaluate tabline instead of
statusline. When true, {winid} is ignored. Mutually
exclusive with {use_winbar}.
Return:
Dictionary containing statusline information, with these keys:
str: (string) Characters that will be displayed on the statusline.
width: (number) Display width of the statusline.
highlights: Array containing highlight information of the
statusline. Only included when the "highlights" key in
{opts} is
true. Each element of the array is a
Dictionary with these keys:
start: (number) Byte index (0-based) of first character that uses
the highlight.
group: (string) Name of highlight group.
nvim_exec_lua(
{code},
{args})
nvim_exec_lua()
Execute Lua code. Parameters (if any) are available as
... inside the
chunk. The chunk can return a value.
Only statements are executed. To evaluate an expression, prefix it with
return: return my_function(...)
Parameters:
{code} Lua code to execute
{args} Arguments to the code
Return:
Return value of Lua code if present or NIL.
nvim_feedkeys(
{keys},
{mode},
{escape_ks})
nvim_feedkeys()
Sends input-keys to Nvim, subject to various quirks controlled by
mode
flags. This is a blocking call, unlike
nvim_input().
On execution error: does not fail, but updates v:errmsg.
Example:
:let key = nvim_replace_termcodes("<C-o>", v:true, v:false, v:true)
:call nvim_feedkeys(key, 'n', v:false)
Parameters:
{keys} to be typed
{escape_ks} If true, escape K_SPECIAL bytes in
keys. This should be
false if you already used
nvim_replace_termcodes(), and
true otherwise.
See also:
feedkeys()
vim_strsave_escape_ks
nvim_get_api_info()
nvim_get_api_info()
Returns a 2-tuple (Array), where item 0 is the current channel id and item
1 is the
api-metadata map (Dictionary).
Return:
2-tuple [{channel-id},
{api-metadata}]
nvim_get_chan_info(
{chan})
nvim_get_chan_info()
Gets information about a channel.
Return:
Dictionary describing a channel, with these keys:
"id" Channel id.
"argv" (optional) Job arguments list.
"stream" Stream underlying the channel.
"stdio" stdin and stdout of this Nvim instance
"stderr" stderr of this Nvim instance
"socket" TCP/IP socket or named pipe
"job" Job with communication over its stdio.
"mode" How data received on the channel is interpreted.
"bytes" Send and receive raw bytes.
"terminal"
terminal instance interprets ASCII sequences.
"rpc"
RPC communication on the channel is active.
"pty" (optional) Name of pseudoterminal. On a POSIX system this is a
device path like "/dev/pts/1". If the name is unknown, the key will
still be present if a pty is used (e.g. for conpty on Windows).
"buffer" (optional) Buffer with connected
terminal instance.
"client" (optional) Info about the peer (client on the other end of
the RPC channel), if provided by it via
nvim_set_client_info().
nvim_get_color_by_name(
{name})
nvim_get_color_by_name()
Returns the 24-bit RGB value of a
nvim_get_color_map() color name or
"#rrggbb" hexadecimal string.
Example:
:echo nvim_get_color_by_name("Pink")
:echo nvim_get_color_by_name("#cbcbcb")
Parameters:
{name} Color name or "#rrggbb" string
Return:
24-bit RGB value, or -1 for invalid argument.
nvim_get_color_map()
nvim_get_color_map()
Returns a map of color names and RGB values.
Keys are color names (e.g. "Aqua") and values are 24-bit RGB color values
(e.g. 65535).
Return:
Map of color names and RGB values.
nvim_get_context(
{*opts})
nvim_get_context()
Gets a map of the current editor state.
Parameters:
{opts} Optional parameters.
types: List of
context-types ("regs", "jumps", "bufs",
"gvars", …) to gather, or empty for "all".
nvim_get_current_buf()
nvim_get_current_buf()
Gets the current buffer.
nvim_get_current_line()
nvim_get_current_line()
Gets the current line.
Return:
Current line string
nvim_get_current_tabpage()
nvim_get_current_tabpage()
Gets the current tabpage.
nvim_get_current_win()
nvim_get_current_win()
Gets the current window.
nvim_get_hl(
{ns_id},
{*opts})
nvim_get_hl()
Gets all or specific highlight groups in a namespace.
Parameters:
{opts} Options dict:
name: (string) Get a highlight definition by name.
id: (integer) Get a highlight definition by id.
link: (boolean, default true) Show linked group name
instead of effective definition
:hi-link.
Return:
Highlight groups as a map from group name to a highlight definition
map as in
nvim_set_hl(), or only a single highlight definition map
if requested by name or id.
nvim_get_hl_id_by_name(
{name})
nvim_get_hl_id_by_name()
Gets a highlight group by name
similar to
hlID(), but allocates a new ID if not present.
nvim_get_keymap(
{mode})
nvim_get_keymap()
Gets a list of global (non-buffer-local)
mapping definitions.
Parameters:
{mode} Mode short-name ("n", "i", "v", ...)
Return:
Array of
maparg()-like dictionaries describing mappings. The
"buffer" key is always zero.
nvim_get_mark(
{name},
{opts})
nvim_get_mark()
Return a tuple (row, col, buffer, buffername) representing the position of
the uppercase/file named mark. See
mark-motions.
Note:
fails with error if a lowercase or buffer local named mark is used.
Parameters:
{name} Mark name
{opts} Optional parameters. Reserved for future use.
Return:
4-tuple (row, col, buffer, buffername), (0, 0, 0, '') if the mark is
not set.
nvim_get_mode()
nvim_get_mode()
Gets the current mode.
mode() "blocking" is true if Nvim is waiting for
input.
Return:
Dictionary { "mode": String, "blocking": Boolean }
nvim_get_proc(
{pid})
nvim_get_proc()
Gets info describing process
pid.
Return:
Map of process properties, or NIL if process not found.
nvim_get_proc_children(
{pid})
nvim_get_proc_children()
Gets the immediate children of process
pid.
Return:
Array of child process ids, empty if process not found.
nvim_get_runtime_file(
{name},
{all})
nvim_get_runtime_file()
Find files in runtime directories
"name" can contain wildcards. For example
nvim_get_runtime_file("colors/*.vim", true) will return all color scheme
files. Always use forward slashes (/) in the search pattern for
subdirectories regardless of platform.
It is not an error to not find any files. An empty array is returned then.
Parameters:
{name} pattern of files to search for
{all} whether to return all matches or only the first
Return:
list of absolute paths to the found files
nvim_get_var(
{name})
nvim_get_var()
Gets a global (g:) variable.
Parameters:
{name} Variable name
nvim_get_vvar(
{name})
nvim_get_vvar()
Gets a v: variable.
Parameters:
{name} Variable name
nvim_input(
{keys})
nvim_input()
Queues raw user-input. Unlike
nvim_feedkeys(), this uses a low-level
input buffer and the call is non-blocking (input is processed
asynchronously by the eventloop).
On execution error: does not fail, but updates v:errmsg.
Note:
keycodes like
<CR> are translated, so "<" is special. To input a
literal "<", send
<LT>.
Parameters:
{keys} to be typed
Return:
Number of bytes actually written (can be fewer than requested if the
buffer becomes full).
nvim_input_mouse()
nvim_input_mouse(
{button},
{action},
{modifier},
{grid},
{row},
{col})
Send mouse event from GUI.
Non-blocking: does not wait on any result, but queues the event to be
processed soon by the event loop.
Note:
Currently this doesn't support "scripting" multiple mouse events by
calling it multiple times in a loop: the intermediate mouse positions
will be ignored. It should be used to implement real-time mouse input
in a GUI. The deprecated pseudokey form ("<LeftMouse><col,row>") of
nvim_input() has the same limitation.
Parameters:
{button} Mouse button: one of "left", "right", "middle", "wheel",
"move".
{action} For ordinary buttons, one of "press", "drag", "release".
For the wheel, one of "up", "down", "left", "right".
Ignored for "move".
{modifier} String of modifiers each represented by a single char. The
same specifiers are used as for a key press, except that
the "-" separator is optional, so "C-A-", "c-a" and "CA"
can all be used to specify Ctrl+Alt+click.
{row} Mouse row-position (zero-based, like redraw events)
{col} Mouse column-position (zero-based, like redraw events)
nvim_list_bufs()
nvim_list_bufs()
Gets the current list of buffer handles
Includes unlisted (unloaded/deleted) buffers, like
:ls!. Use
nvim_buf_is_loaded() to check if a buffer is loaded.
Return:
List of buffer handles
nvim_list_chans()
nvim_list_chans()
Get information about all open channels.
Return:
Array of Dictionaries, each describing a channel with the format
specified at
nvim_get_chan_info().
nvim_list_runtime_paths()
nvim_list_runtime_paths()
Gets the paths contained in
'runtimepath'.
nvim_list_tabpages()
nvim_list_tabpages()
Gets the current list of tabpage handles.
Return:
List of tabpage handles
nvim_list_uis()
nvim_list_uis()
Gets a list of dictionaries representing attached UIs.
Return:
Array of UI dictionaries, each with these keys:
"height" Requested height of the UI
"width" Requested width of the UI
"rgb" true if the UI uses RGB colors (false implies
cterm-colors)
"ext_..." Requested UI extensions, see
ui-option
nvim_list_wins()
nvim_list_wins()
Gets the current list of window handles.
Return:
List of window handles
nvim_load_context(
{dict})
nvim_load_context()
Sets the current editor state from the given
context map.
nvim_notify(
{msg},
{log_level},
{opts})
nvim_notify()
Notify the user with a message
Relays the call to vim.notify . By default forwards your message in the
echo area but can be overridden to trigger desktop notifications.
Parameters:
{msg} Message to display to the user
{log_level} The log level
{opts} Reserved for future use.
nvim_open_term(
{buffer},
{opts})
nvim_open_term()
Open a terminal instance in a buffer
By default (and currently the only option) the terminal will not be
connected to an external process. Instead, input send on the channel will
be echoed directly by the terminal. This is useful to display ANSI
terminal sequences returned as part of a rpc message, or similar.
Note: to directly initiate the terminal using the right size, display the
buffer in a configured window before calling this. For instance, for a
floating display, first create an empty buffer using
nvim_create_buf(),
then display it using
nvim_open_win(), and then call this function. Then
nvim_chan_send() can be called immediately to process sequences in a
virtual terminal having the intended size.
Parameters:
{buffer} the buffer to use (expected to be empty)
{opts} Optional parameters.
on_input: lua callback for input sent, i e keypresses in
terminal mode. Note: keypresses are sent raw as they would
be to the pty master end. For instance, a carriage return
is sent as a "\r", not as a "\n".
textlock applies. It
is possible to call
nvim_chan_send() directly in the
callback however. ["input", term, bufnr, data]
Return:
Channel id, or 0 on error
nvim_out_write(
{str})
nvim_out_write()
Writes a message to the Vim output buffer. Does not append "\n", the
message is buffered (won't display) until a linefeed is written.
Parameters:
{str} Message
nvim_paste(
{data},
{crlf},
{phase})
nvim_paste()
Pastes at cursor, in any mode.
Invokes the
vim.paste handler, which handles each mode appropriately.
Sets redo/undo. Faster than
nvim_input(). Lines break at LF ("\n").
Errors (
'nomodifiable',
vim.paste() failure, …) are reflected in
err
but do not affect the return value (which is strictly decided by
vim.paste()). On error, subsequent calls are ignored ("drained") until
the next paste is initiated (phase 1 or -1).
Attributes:
not allowed when
textlock is active
Parameters:
{data} Multiline input. May be binary (containing NUL bytes).
{crlf} Also break lines at CR and CRLF.
{phase} -1: paste in a single call (i.e. without streaming). To
"stream" a paste, call nvim_paste sequentially with these phase values:
1: starts the paste (exactly once)
2: continues the paste (zero or more times)
3: ends the paste (exactly once)
true: Client may continue pasting.
false: Client must cancel the paste.
nvim_put(
{lines},
{type},
{after},
{follow})
nvim_put()
Puts text at cursor, in any mode.
Compare
:put and
p which are always linewise.
Attributes:
not allowed when
textlock is active
Parameters:
{after} If true insert after cursor (like
p), or before (like
P).
{follow} If true place cursor at end of inserted text.
nvim_replace_termcodes()
nvim_replace_termcodes(
{str},
{from_part},
{do_lt},
{special})
Replaces terminal codes and
keycodes (
<CR>,
<Esc>, ...) in a string with
the internal representation.
Parameters:
{str} String to be converted.
{from_part} Legacy Vim parameter. Usually true.
{do_lt} Also translate <lt>. Ignored if special is false.
{special} Replace
keycodes, e.g.
<CR> becomes a "\r" char.
See also:
replace_termcodes
cpoptions
nvim_select_popupmenu_item()
nvim_select_popupmenu_item(
{item},
{insert},
{finish},
{opts})
Selects an item in the completion popup menu.
If neither
ins-completion nor
cmdline-completion popup menu is active
this API call is silently ignored. Useful for an external UI using
ui-popupmenu to control the popup menu with the mouse. Can also be used
in a mapping; use
<Cmd> :map-cmd or a Lua mapping to ensure the mapping
doesn't end completion mode.
Parameters:
{item} Index (zero-based) of the item to select. Value of -1
selects nothing and restores the original text.
{finish} Finish the completion and dismiss the popup menu. Implies
{insert}.
{opts} Optional parameters. Reserved for future use.
nvim_set_client_info()
nvim_set_client_info(
{name},
{version},
{type},
{methods},
{attributes})
Self-identifies the client.
The client/plugin/application should call this after connecting, to
provide hints about its identity and purpose, for debugging and
orchestration.
Can be called more than once; the caller should merge old info if
appropriate. Example: library first identifies the channel, then a plugin
using that library later identifies itself.
Note:
"Something is better than nothing". You don't need to include all the
fields.
Parameters:
{name} Short name for the connected client
{version} Dictionary describing the version, with these (optional)
keys:
"major" major version (defaults to 0 if not set, for
no release yet)
"minor" minor version
"patch" patch number
"prerelease" string describing a prerelease, like
"dev" or "beta1"
"commit" hash or similar identifier of commit
{type} Must be one of the following values. Client libraries
should default to "remote" unless overridden by the
user.
"remote" remote client connected to Nvim.
"ui" gui frontend
"embedder" application using Nvim as a component (for
example, IDE/editor implementing a vim mode).
"host" plugin host, typically started by nvim
"plugin" single plugin, started by nvim
{methods} Builtin methods in the client. For a host, this does not
include plugin methods which will be discovered later.
The key should be the method name, the values are dicts
with these (optional) keys (more keys may be added in
future versions of Nvim, thus unknown keys are ignored.
Clients must only use keys defined in this or later
versions of Nvim):
"async" if true, send as a notification. If false or
unspecified, use a blocking request
"nargs" Number of arguments. Could be a single integer
or an array of two integers, minimum and maximum
inclusive.
{attributes} Arbitrary string:string map of informal client
properties. Suggested keys:
"website": Client homepage URL (e.g. GitHub
repository)
"license": License description ("Apache 2", "GPLv3",
"MIT", …)
"logo": URI or path to image, preferably small logo or
icon. .png or .svg format is preferred.
nvim_set_current_buf(
{buffer})
nvim_set_current_buf()
Sets the current buffer.
Attributes:
not allowed when
textlock is active
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle
nvim_set_current_dir(
{dir})
nvim_set_current_dir()
Changes the global working directory.
Parameters:
{dir} Directory path
nvim_set_current_line(
{line})
nvim_set_current_line()
Sets the current line.
Attributes:
not allowed when
textlock is active
Parameters:
{line} Line contents
nvim_set_current_tabpage(
{tabpage})
nvim_set_current_tabpage()
Sets the current tabpage.
Attributes:
not allowed when
textlock is active
Parameters:
{tabpage} Tabpage handle
nvim_set_current_win(
{window})
nvim_set_current_win()
Sets the current window.
Attributes:
not allowed when
textlock is active
Parameters:
{window} Window handle
nvim_set_hl(
{ns_id},
{name},
{*val})
nvim_set_hl()
Sets a highlight group.
Note:
Unlike the :highlight command which can update a highlight group,
this function completely replaces the definition. For example:
nvim_set_hl(0, 'Visual', {}) will clear the highlight group
'Visual'.
Note:
The fg and bg keys also accept the string values "fg" or "bg"
which act as aliases to the corresponding foreground and background
values of the Normal group. If the Normal group has not been defined,
using these values results in an error.
Parameters:
{name} Highlight group name, e.g. "ErrorMsg"
{val} Highlight definition map, accepts the following keys:
fg (or foreground): color name or "#RRGGBB", see note.
bg (or background): color name or "#RRGGBB", see note.
sp (or special): color name or "#RRGGBB"
blend: integer between 0 and 100
bold: boolean
standout: boolean
underline: boolean
undercurl: boolean
underdouble: boolean
underdotted: boolean
underdashed: boolean
strikethrough: boolean
italic: boolean
reverse: boolean
nocombine: boolean
link: name of another highlight group to link to, see
:hi-link.
default: Don't override existing definition
:hi-default
ctermfg: Sets foreground of cterm color
ctermfg
ctermbg: Sets background of cterm color
ctermbg
cterm: cterm attribute map, like
highlight-args. If not
set, cterm attributes will match those from the attribute
map documented above.
nvim_set_hl_ns(
{ns_id})
nvim_set_hl_ns()
Set active namespace for highlights defined with
nvim_set_hl(). This can
be set for a single window, see
nvim_win_set_hl_ns().
Parameters:
{ns_id} the namespace to use
nvim_set_hl_ns_fast(
{ns_id})
nvim_set_hl_ns_fast()
Set active namespace for highlights defined with
nvim_set_hl() while
redrawing.
This function meant to be called while redrawing, primarily from
nvim_set_decoration_provider() on_win and on_line callbacks, which are
allowed to change the namespace during a redraw cycle.
Parameters:
{ns_id} the namespace to activate
nvim_set_keymap(
{mode},
{lhs},
{rhs},
{*opts})
nvim_set_keymap()
Sets a global
mapping for the given mode.
Unlike
:map, leading/trailing whitespace is accepted as part of the
{lhs} or
{rhs}. Empty
{rhs} is
<Nop>.
keycodes are replaced as usual.
Example:
call nvim_set_keymap('n', ' <NL>', '', {'nowait': v:true})
is equivalent to:
nmap <nowait> <Space><NL> <Nop>
Parameters:
{mode} Mode short-name (map command prefix: "n", "i", "v", "x", …) or
"!" for
:map!, or empty string for
:map.
{lhs} Left-hand-side
{lhs} of the mapping.
{rhs} Right-hand-side
{rhs} of the mapping.
{opts} Optional parameters map: Accepts all
:map-arguments as keys
except
<buffer>, values are booleans (default false). Also:
"noremap" non-recursive mapping
:noremap
"desc" human-readable description.
"callback" Lua function called when the mapping is executed.
"replace_keycodes" (boolean) When "expr" is true, replace
keycodes in the resulting string (see
nvim_replace_termcodes()). Returning nil from the Lua
"callback" is equivalent to returning an empty string.
nvim_set_var(
{name},
{value})
nvim_set_var()
Sets a global (g:) variable.
Parameters:
{name} Variable name
{value} Variable value
nvim_set_vvar(
{name},
{value})
nvim_set_vvar()
Sets a v: variable, if it is not readonly.
Parameters:
{name} Variable name
{value} Variable value
nvim_strwidth(
{text})
nvim_strwidth()
Calculates the number of display cells occupied by
text. Control
characters including
<Tab> count as one cell.
Parameters:
{text} Some text
nvim_subscribe(
{event})
nvim_subscribe()
Subscribes to event broadcasts.
Parameters:
{event} Event type string
nvim_unsubscribe(
{event})
nvim_unsubscribe()
Unsubscribes to event broadcasts.
Parameters:
{event} Event type string
Vimscript Functions api-vimscript
nvim_call_dict_function()
nvim_call_dict_function(
{dict},
{fn},
{args})
Calls a VimL
Dictionary-function with the given arguments.
On execution error: fails with VimL error, updates v:errmsg.
Parameters:
{dict} Dictionary, or String evaluating to a VimL
self dict
{fn} Name of the function defined on the VimL dict
{args} Function arguments packed in an Array
Return:
Result of the function call
nvim_call_function(
{fn},
{args})
nvim_call_function()
Calls a VimL function with the given arguments.
On execution error: fails with VimL error, updates v:errmsg.
Parameters:
{fn} Function to call
{args} Function arguments packed in an Array
Return:
Result of the function call
nvim_command(
{command})
nvim_command()
Executes an Ex command.
On execution error: fails with VimL error, updates v:errmsg.
Parameters:
{command} Ex command string
nvim_eval(
{expr})
nvim_eval()
Evaluates a VimL
expression. Dictionaries and Lists are recursively
expanded.
On execution error: fails with VimL error, updates v:errmsg.
Parameters:
{expr} VimL expression string
Return:
Evaluation result or expanded object
nvim_exec2(
{src},
{*opts})
nvim_exec2()
Executes Vimscript (multiline block of Ex commands), like anonymous
:source.
Unlike
nvim_command() this function supports heredocs, script-scope
(s:), etc.
On execution error: fails with VimL error, updates v:errmsg.
Parameters:
{src} Vimscript code
{opts} Optional parameters.
output: (boolean, default false) Whether to capture and
return all (non-error, non-shell
:!) output.
Return:
Dictionary containing information about execution, with these keys:
output: (string|nil) Output if opts.output is true.
nvim_parse_expression()
nvim_parse_expression(
{expr},
{flags},
{highlight})
Parse a VimL expression.
Parameters:
{expr} Expression to parse. Always treated as a single line.
{flags} Flags:
"m" if multiple expressions in a row are allowed (only
the first one will be parsed),
"E" if EOC tokens are not allowed (determines whether
they will stop parsing process or be recognized as an
operator/space, though also yielding an error).
"l" when needing to start parsing with lvalues for
":let" or ":for". Common flag sets:
"m" to parse like for ":echo".
"E" to parse like for "<C-r>=".
empty string for ":call".
"lm" to parse for ":let".
{highlight} If true, return value will also include "highlight" key
containing array of 4-tuples (arrays) (Integer, Integer,
Integer, String), where first three numbers define the
highlighted region and represent line, starting column
and ending column (latter exclusive: one should highlight
region [start_col, end_col)).
AST: top-level dictionary with these keys:
"error": Dictionary with error, present only if parser saw some
error. Contains the following keys:
"message": String, error message in printf format, translated.
Must contain exactly one "%.*s".
"arg": String, error message argument.
"len": Amount of bytes successfully parsed. With flags equal to ""
that should be equal to the length of expr string. (“Successfully
parsed” here means “participated in AST creation”, not “till the
first error”.)
"ast": AST, either nil or a dictionary with these keys:
"type": node type, one of the value names from ExprASTNodeType
stringified without "kExprNode" prefix.
"start": a pair [line, column] describing where node is
"started" where "line" is always 0 (will not be 0 if you will be
using nvim_parse_viml() on e.g. ":let", but that is not present
yet). Both elements are Integers.
"len": “length” of the node. This and "start" are there for
debugging purposes primary (debugging parser and providing debug
information).
"children": a list of nodes described in top/"ast". There always
is zero, one or two children, key will not be present if node
has no children. Maximum number of children may be found in
node_maxchildren array.
Local values (present only for certain nodes):
"scope": a single Integer, specifies scope for "Option" and
"PlainIdentifier" nodes. For "Option" it is one of ExprOptScope
values, for "PlainIdentifier" it is one of ExprVarScope values.
"ident": identifier (without scope, if any), present for "Option",
"PlainIdentifier", "PlainKey" and "Environment" nodes.
"name": Integer, register name (one character) or -1. Only present
for "Register" nodes.
"cmp_type": String, comparison type, one of the value names from
ExprComparisonType, stringified without "kExprCmp" prefix. Only
present for "Comparison" nodes.
"ccs_strategy": String, case comparison strategy, one of the value
names from ExprCaseCompareStrategy, stringified without
"kCCStrategy" prefix. Only present for "Comparison" nodes.
"augmentation": String, augmentation type for "Assignment" nodes.
Is either an empty string, "Add", "Subtract" or "Concat" for "=",
"+=", "-=" or ".=" respectively.
"invert": Boolean, true if result of comparison needs to be
inverted. Only present for "Comparison" nodes.
"ivalue": Integer, integer value for "Integer" nodes.
"fvalue": Float, floating-point value for "Float" nodes.
"svalue": String, value for "SingleQuotedString" and
"DoubleQuotedString" nodes.
Command Functions api-command
nvim_buf_create_user_command()
nvim_buf_create_user_command(
{buffer},
{name},
{command},
{*opts})
Creates a buffer-local command
user-commands.
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer.
See also:
nvim_create_user_command
nvim_buf_del_user_command()
nvim_buf_del_user_command(
{buffer},
{name})
Delete a buffer-local user-defined command.
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer.
{name} Name of the command to delete.
nvim_buf_get_commands(
{buffer},
{*opts})
nvim_buf_get_commands()
Gets a map of buffer-local
user-commands.
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
{opts} Optional parameters. Currently not used.
Return:
Map of maps describing commands.
nvim_cmd(
{*cmd},
{*opts})
nvim_cmd()
Executes an Ex command.
Unlike
nvim_command() this command takes a structured Dictionary instead
of a String. This allows for easier construction and manipulation of an Ex
command. This also allows for things such as having spaces inside a
command argument, expanding filenames in a command that otherwise doesn't
expand filenames, etc. Command arguments may also be Number, Boolean or
String.
The first argument may also be used instead of count for commands that
support it in order to make their usage simpler with
vim.cmd(). For
example, instead of
vim.cmd.bdelete{ count = 2 }, you may do
vim.cmd.bdelete(2).
On execution error: fails with VimL error, updates v:errmsg.
Parameters:
{cmd} Command to execute. Must be a Dictionary that can contain the
same values as the return value of
nvim_parse_cmd() except
"addr", "nargs" and "nextcmd" which are ignored if provided.
All values except for "cmd" are optional.
{opts} Optional parameters.
output: (boolean, default false) Whether to return command
output.
Return:
Command output (non-error, non-shell
:!) if
output is true, else
empty string.
nvim_create_user_command()
nvim_create_user_command(
{name},
{command},
{*opts})
Creates a global
user-commands command.
Example:
:call nvim_create_user_command('SayHello', 'echo "Hello world!"', {'bang': v:true})
:SayHello
Hello world!
Parameters:
{name} Name of the new user command. Must begin with an uppercase
letter.
{command} Replacement command to execute when this user command is
executed. When called from Lua, the command can also be a
Lua function. The function is called with a single table
argument that contains the following keys:
name: (string) Command name
args: (string) The args passed to the command, if any
<args>
fargs: (table) The args split by unescaped whitespace
(when more than one argument is allowed), if any
<f-args>
bang: (boolean) "true" if the command was executed with a
! modifier
<bang>
line1: (number) The starting line of the command range
<line1>
line2: (number) The final line of the command range
<line2>
range: (number) The number of items in the command range:
0, 1, or 2
<range>
count: (number) Any count supplied
<count>
reg: (string) The optional register, if specified
<reg>
mods: (string) Command modifiers, if any
<mods>
smods: (table) Command modifiers in a structured format.
Has the same structure as the "mods" key of
nvim_parse_cmd().
Other parameters:
desc: (string) Used for listing the command when a Lua
function is used for {command}.
force: (boolean, default true) Override any previous
definition.
nvim_del_user_command(
{name})
nvim_del_user_command()
Delete a user-defined command.
Parameters:
{name} Name of the command to delete.
nvim_get_commands(
{*opts})
nvim_get_commands()
Gets a map of global (non-buffer-local) Ex commands.
Currently only
user-commands are supported, not builtin Ex commands.
Parameters:
{opts} Optional parameters. Currently only supports {"builtin":false}
Return:
Map of maps describing commands.
nvim_parse_cmd(
{str},
{opts})
nvim_parse_cmd()
Parse command line.
Doesn't check the validity of command arguments.
Parameters:
{str} Command line string to parse. Cannot contain "\n".
{opts} Optional parameters. Reserved for future use.
Return:
Dictionary containing command information, with these keys:
cmd: (string) Command name.
range: (array) (optional) Command range (
<line1> <line2>).
Omitted if command doesn't accept a range. Otherwise, has no
elements if no range was specified, one element if only a single
range item was specified, or two elements if both range items were
specified.
count: (number) (optional) Command
<count>. Omitted if command
cannot take a count.
reg: (string) (optional) Command
<register>. Omitted if command
cannot take a register.
bang: (boolean) Whether command contains a
<bang> (!) modifier.
args: (array) Command arguments.
addr: (string) Value of
:command-addr. Uses short name or "line"
for -addr=lines.
nextcmd: (string) Next command if there are multiple commands
separated by a
:bar. Empty if there isn't a next command.
magic: (dictionary) Which characters have special meaning in the
command arguments.
file: (boolean) The command expands filenames. Which means
characters such as "%", "#" and wildcards are expanded.
bar: (boolean) The "|" character is treated as a command separator
and the double quote character (") is treated as the start of a
comment.
pattern: (string) Filter pattern. Empty string if there is no
filter.
force: (boolean) Whether filter is inverted or not.
tab: (integer)
:tab. -1 when omitted.
verbose: (integer)
:verbose. -1 when omitted.
split: (string) Split modifier string, is an empty string when
there's no split modifier. If there is a split modifier it can be
one of:
Options Functions api-options
nvim_buf_get_option(
{buffer},
{name})
nvim_buf_get_option()
Gets a buffer option value
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
{name} Option name
nvim_buf_set_option(
{buffer},
{name},
{value})
nvim_buf_set_option()
Sets a buffer option value. Passing
nil as value deletes the option
(only works if there's a global fallback)
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
{name} Option name
{value} Option value
nvim_get_all_options_info()
nvim_get_all_options_info()
Gets the option information for all options.
The dictionary has the full option names as keys and option metadata
dictionaries as detailed at
nvim_get_option_info().
Return:
dictionary of all options
nvim_get_option(
{name})
nvim_get_option()
Gets the global value of an option.
Parameters:
{name} Option name
Return:
Option value (global)
nvim_get_option_info(
{name})
nvim_get_option_info()
Gets the option information for one option
Resulting dictionary has keys:
shortname: Shortened name of the option (like
'ft')
type: type of option ("string", "number" or "boolean")
default: The default value for the option
was_set: Whether the option was set.
last_set_sid: Last set script id (if any)
last_set_linenr: line number where option was set
last_set_chan: Channel where option was set (0 for local)
scope: one of "global", "win", or "buf"
global_local: whether win or buf option has a global value
commalist: List of comma separated values
flaglist: List of single char flags
Parameters:
{name} Option name
Return:
Option Information
nvim_get_option_value(
{name},
{*opts})
nvim_get_option_value()
Gets the value of an option. The behavior of this function matches that of
:set: the local value of an option is returned if it exists; otherwise,
the global value is returned. Local values always correspond to the
current buffer or window, unless "buf" or "win" is set in
{opts}.
Parameters:
{name} Option name
{opts} Optional parameters
win:
window-ID. Used for getting window local options.
buf: Buffer number. Used for getting buffer local options.
Implies {scope} is "local".
filetype:
filetype. Used to get the default option for a
specific filetype. Cannot be used with any other option.
Note: this will trigger
ftplugin and all
FileType
autocommands for the corresponding filetype.
nvim_set_option(
{name},
{value})
nvim_set_option()
Sets the global value of an option.
Parameters:
{name} Option name
{value} New option value
nvim_set_option_value()
nvim_set_option_value(
{name},
{value},
{*opts})
Sets the value of an option. The behavior of this function matches that of
:set: for global-local options, both the global and local value are set
unless otherwise specified with
{scope}.
Note the options {win} and {buf} cannot be used together.
Parameters:
{name} Option name
{value} New option value
{opts} Optional parameters
win:
window-ID. Used for setting window local option.
buf: Buffer number. Used for setting buffer local option.
nvim_win_get_option(
{window},
{name})
nvim_win_get_option()
Gets a window option value
Parameters:
{window} Window handle, or 0 for current window
{name} Option name
nvim_win_set_option(
{window},
{name},
{value})
nvim_win_set_option()
Sets a window option value. Passing
nil as value deletes the option
(only works if there's a global fallback)
Parameters:
{window} Window handle, or 0 for current window
{name} Option name
{value} Option value
Buffer Functions api-buffer
For more information on buffers, see
buffers.
Unloaded Buffers:~
Buffers may be unloaded by the
:bunload command or the buffer's
'bufhidden' option. When a buffer is unloaded its file contents are
freed from memory and vim cannot operate on the buffer lines until it is
reloaded (usually by opening the buffer again in a new window). API
methods such as
nvim_buf_get_lines() and
nvim_buf_line_count() will be
affected.
nvim_buf_attach(
{buffer},
{send_buffer},
{opts})
nvim_buf_attach()
Activates buffer-update events on a channel, or as Lua callbacks.
Example (Lua): capture buffer updates in a global
events variable (use "print(vim.inspect(events))" to see its contents):
events = {}
vim.api.nvim_buf_attach(0, false, {
on_lines=function(...) table.insert(events, {...}) end})
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
{send_buffer} True if the initial notification should contain the
whole buffer: first notification will be
nvim_buf_lines_event. Else the first notification
will be nvim_buf_changedtick_event. Not for Lua
callbacks.
{opts} Optional parameters.
on_lines: Lua callback invoked on change. Return true to detach. Args:
the string "lines"
buffer handle
b:changedtick
first line that changed (zero-indexed)
last line that was changed
last line in the updated range
byte count of previous contents
deleted_codepoints (if utf_sizes is true)
deleted_codeunits (if utf_sizes is true)
on_bytes: lua callback invoked on change. This
callback receives more granular information about the
change compared to on_lines. Return true to detach. Args:
the string "bytes"
buffer handle
b:changedtick
start row of the changed text (zero-indexed)
start column of the changed text
byte offset of the changed text (from the start of
the buffer)
old end row of the changed text
old end column of the changed text
old end byte length of the changed text
new end row of the changed text
new end column of the changed text
new end byte length of the changed text
on_changedtick: Lua callback invoked on changedtick
increment without text change. Args:
the string "changedtick"
buffer handle
b:changedtick
on_detach: Lua callback invoked on detach. Args:
the string "detach"
buffer handle
on_reload: Lua callback invoked on reload. The entire
buffer content should be considered changed. Args:
the string "reload"
buffer handle
utf_sizes: include UTF-32 and UTF-16 size of the
replaced region, as args to on_lines.
preview: also attach to command preview (i.e.
'inccommand') events.
Return:
False if attach failed (invalid parameter, or buffer isn't loaded);
otherwise True. TODO: LUA_API_NO_EVAL
nvim_buf_call(
{buffer},
{fun})
nvim_buf_call()
call a function with buffer as temporary current buffer
This temporarily switches current buffer to "buffer". If the current
window already shows "buffer", the window is not switched If a window
inside the current tabpage (including a float) already shows the buffer
One of these windows will be set as current window temporarily. Otherwise
a temporary scratch window (called the "autocmd window" for historical
reasons) will be used.
This is useful e.g. to call vimL functions that only work with the current
buffer/window currently, like
termopen().
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
{fun} Function to call inside the buffer (currently lua callable
only)
Return:
Return value of function. NB: will deepcopy lua values currently, use
upvalues to send lua references in and out.
nvim_buf_del_keymap(
{buffer},
{mode},
{lhs})
nvim_buf_del_keymap()
Unmaps a buffer-local
mapping for the given mode.
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
nvim_buf_del_mark(
{buffer},
{name})
nvim_buf_del_mark()
Deletes a named mark in the buffer. See
mark-motions.
Note:
only deletes marks set in the buffer, if the mark is not set in the
buffer it will return false.
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer to set the mark on
{name} Mark name
Return:
true if the mark was deleted, else false.
nvim_buf_del_var(
{buffer},
{name})
nvim_buf_del_var()
Removes a buffer-scoped (b:) variable
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
{name} Variable name
nvim_buf_delete(
{buffer},
{opts})
nvim_buf_delete()
Deletes the buffer. See
:bwipeout
Attributes:
not allowed when
textlock is active
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
{opts} Optional parameters. Keys:
force: Force deletion and ignore unsaved changes.
unload: Unloaded only, do not delete. See
:bunload
nvim_buf_detach(
{buffer})
nvim_buf_detach()
Deactivates buffer-update events on the channel.
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
Return:
False if detach failed (because the buffer isn't loaded); otherwise
True.
nvim_buf_get_changedtick(
{buffer})
nvim_buf_get_changedtick()
Gets a changed tick of a buffer
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
Return:
b:changedtick value.
nvim_buf_get_keymap(
{buffer},
{mode})
nvim_buf_get_keymap()
Gets a list of buffer-local
mapping definitions.
Parameters:
{mode} Mode short-name ("n", "i", "v", ...)
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
Return:
Array of
maparg()-like dictionaries describing mappings. The
"buffer" key holds the associated buffer handle.
nvim_buf_get_lines()
nvim_buf_get_lines(
{buffer},
{start},
{end},
{strict_indexing})
Gets a line-range from the buffer.
Indexing is zero-based, end-exclusive. Negative indices are interpreted as
length+1+index: -1 refers to the index past the end. So to get the last
element use start=-2 and end=-1.
Out-of-bounds indices are clamped to the nearest valid value, unless
strict_indexing is set.
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
{start} First line index
{end} Last line index, exclusive
{strict_indexing} Whether out-of-bounds should be an error.
Return:
Array of lines, or empty array for unloaded buffer.
nvim_buf_get_mark(
{buffer},
{name})
nvim_buf_get_mark()
Returns a tuple (row,col) representing the position of the named mark. See
mark-motions.
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
{name} Mark name
Return:
(row, col) tuple, (0, 0) if the mark is not set, or is an
uppercase/file mark set in another buffer.
nvim_buf_get_name(
{buffer})
nvim_buf_get_name()
Gets the full file name for the buffer
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
nvim_buf_get_offset(
{buffer},
{index})
nvim_buf_get_offset()
Returns the byte offset of a line (0-indexed).
api-indexing
Line 1 (index=0) has offset 0. UTF-8 bytes are counted. EOL is one byte.
'fileformat' and
'fileencoding' are ignored. The line index just after the
last line gives the total byte-count of the buffer. A final EOL byte is
counted if it would be written, see
'eol'.
Unlike
line2byte(), throws error for out-of-bounds indexing. Returns -1
for unloaded buffer.
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
{index} Line index
Return:
Integer byte offset, or -1 for unloaded buffer.
nvim_buf_get_text()
nvim_buf_get_text(
{buffer},
{start_row},
{start_col},
{end_row},
{end_col},
{opts})
Gets a range from the buffer.
Indexing is zero-based. Row indices are end-inclusive, and column indices
are end-exclusive.
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
{start_row} First line index
{start_col} Starting column (byte offset) on first line
{end_row} Last line index, inclusive
{end_col} Ending column (byte offset) on last line, exclusive
{opts} Optional parameters. Currently unused.
Return:
Array of lines, or empty array for unloaded buffer.
nvim_buf_get_var(
{buffer},
{name})
nvim_buf_get_var()
Gets a buffer-scoped (b:) variable.
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
{name} Variable name
nvim_buf_is_loaded(
{buffer})
nvim_buf_is_loaded()
Checks if a buffer is valid and loaded. See
api-buffer for more info
about unloaded buffers.
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
Return:
true if the buffer is valid and loaded, false otherwise.
nvim_buf_is_valid(
{buffer})
nvim_buf_is_valid()
Checks if a buffer is valid.
Note:
Even if a buffer is valid it may have been unloaded. See
api-buffer
for more info about unloaded buffers.
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
Return:
true if the buffer is valid, false otherwise.
nvim_buf_line_count(
{buffer})
nvim_buf_line_count()
Returns the number of lines in the given buffer.
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
Return:
Line count, or 0 for unloaded buffer.
api-buffer
nvim_buf_set_keymap()
nvim_buf_set_keymap(
{buffer},
{mode},
{lhs},
{rhs},
{*opts})
Sets a buffer-local
mapping for the given mode.
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
nvim_buf_set_lines()
nvim_buf_set_lines(
{buffer},
{start},
{end},
{strict_indexing},
{replacement})
Sets (replaces) a line-range in the buffer.
Indexing is zero-based, end-exclusive. Negative indices are interpreted as
length+1+index: -1 refers to the index past the end. So to change or
delete the last element use start=-2 and end=-1.
To insert lines at a given index, set start and end to the same index.
To delete a range of lines, set replacement to an empty array.
Out-of-bounds indices are clamped to the nearest valid value, unless
strict_indexing is set.
Attributes:
not allowed when
textlock is active
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
{start} First line index
{end} Last line index, exclusive
{strict_indexing} Whether out-of-bounds should be an error.
{replacement} Array of lines to use as replacement
nvim_buf_set_mark()
nvim_buf_set_mark(
{buffer},
{name},
{line},
{col},
{opts})
Sets a named mark in the given buffer, all marks are allowed
file/uppercase, visual, last change, etc. See
mark-motions.
Note:
Passing 0 as line deletes the mark
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer to set the mark on
{name} Mark name
{line} Line number
{col} Column/row number
{opts} Optional parameters. Reserved for future use.
Return:
true if the mark was set, else false.
nvim_buf_set_name(
{buffer},
{name})
nvim_buf_set_name()
Sets the full file name for a buffer
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
{name} Buffer name
nvim_buf_set_text()
nvim_buf_set_text(
{buffer},
{start_row},
{start_col},
{end_row},
{end_col},
{replacement})
Sets (replaces) a range in the buffer
This is recommended over
nvim_buf_set_lines() when only modifying parts
of a line, as extmarks will be preserved on non-modified parts of the
touched lines.
Indexing is zero-based. Row indices are end-inclusive, and column indices
are end-exclusive.
To insert text at a given (row, column) location, usestart_row =
end_row = row` and start_col = end_col = col. To delete the text in a
range, use replacement = {}.
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
{start_row} First line index
{start_col} Starting column (byte offset) on first line
{end_row} Last line index, inclusive
{end_col} Ending column (byte offset) on last line, exclusive
{replacement} Array of lines to use as replacement
nvim_buf_set_var(
{buffer},
{name},
{value})
nvim_buf_set_var()
Sets a buffer-scoped (b:) variable
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
{name} Variable name
{value} Variable value
Extmark Functions api-extmark
nvim_buf_add_highlight()
nvim_buf_add_highlight(
{buffer},
{ns_id},
{hl_group},
{line},
{col_start},
{col_end})
Adds a highlight to buffer.
Useful for plugins that dynamically generate highlights to a buffer (like
a semantic highlighter or linter). The function adds a single highlight to
a buffer. Unlike
matchaddpos() highlights follow changes to line
numbering (as lines are inserted/removed above the highlighted line), like
signs and marks do.
Namespaces are used for batch deletion/updating of a set of highlights. To
create a namespace, use
nvim_create_namespace() which returns a
namespace id. Pass it in to this function as
ns_id to add highlights to
the namespace. All highlights in the same namespace can then be cleared
with single call to
nvim_buf_clear_namespace(). If the highlight never
will be deleted by an API call, pass
ns_id = -1.
As a shorthand,
ns_id = 0 can be used to create a new namespace for the
highlight, the allocated id is then returned. If
hl_group is the empty
string no highlight is added, but a new
ns_id is still returned. This is
supported for backwards compatibility, new code should use
nvim_create_namespace() to create a new empty namespace.
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
{ns_id} namespace to use or -1 for ungrouped highlight
{hl_group} Name of the highlight group to use
{line} Line to highlight (zero-indexed)
{col_start} Start of (byte-indexed) column range to highlight
{col_end} End of (byte-indexed) column range to highlight, or -1 to
highlight to end of line
Return:
The ns_id that was used
nvim_buf_clear_namespace()
nvim_buf_clear_namespace(
{buffer},
{ns_id},
{line_start},
{line_end})
Clears
namespaced objects (highlights,
extmarks, virtual text) from a
region.
Lines are 0-indexed.
api-indexing To clear the namespace in the entire
buffer, specify line_start=0 and line_end=-1.
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
{ns_id} Namespace to clear, or -1 to clear all namespaces.
{line_start} Start of range of lines to clear
{line_end} End of range of lines to clear (exclusive) or -1 to
clear to end of buffer.
nvim_buf_del_extmark(
{buffer},
{ns_id},
{id})
nvim_buf_del_extmark()
Removes an
extmark.
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
{id} Extmark id
Return:
true if the extmark was found, else false
nvim_buf_get_extmark_by_id()
nvim_buf_get_extmark_by_id(
{buffer},
{ns_id},
{id},
{opts})
Gets the position (0-indexed) of an
extmark.
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
{id} Extmark id
{opts} Optional parameters. Keys:
details: Whether to include the details dict
Return:
0-indexed (row, col) tuple or empty list () if extmark id was absent
nvim_buf_get_extmarks()
nvim_buf_get_extmarks(
{buffer},
{ns_id},
{start},
{end},
{opts})
Gets
extmarks in "traversal order" from a
charwise region defined by
buffer positions (inclusive, 0-indexed
api-indexing).
Region can be given as (row,col) tuples, or valid extmark ids (whose
positions define the bounds). 0 and -1 are understood as (0,0) and (-1,-1)
respectively, thus the following are equivalent:
vim.api.nvim_buf_get_extmarks(0, my_ns, 0, -1, {})
vim.api.nvim_buf_get_extmarks(0, my_ns, {0,0}, {-1,-1}, {})
If end is less than start, traversal works backwards. (Useful with
limit, to get the first marks prior to a given position.)
Example:
local a = vim.api
local pos = a.nvim_win_get_cursor(0)
local ns = a.nvim_create_namespace('my-plugin')
-- Create new extmark at line 1, column 1.
local m1 = a.nvim_buf_set_extmark(0, ns, 0, 0, {})
-- Create new extmark at line 3, column 1.
local m2 = a.nvim_buf_set_extmark(0, ns, 2, 0, {})
-- Get extmarks only from line 3.
local ms = a.nvim_buf_get_extmarks(0, ns, {2,0}, {2,0}, {})
-- Get all marks in this buffer + namespace.
local all = a.nvim_buf_get_extmarks(0, ns, 0, -1, {})
print(vim.inspect(ms))
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
{start} Start of range: a 0-indexed (row, col) or valid extmark id
(whose position defines the bound).
api-indexing
{end} End of range (inclusive): a 0-indexed (row, col) or valid
extmark id (whose position defines the bound).
api-indexing
{opts} Optional parameters. Keys:
limit: Maximum number of marks to return
details Whether to include the details dict
Return:
List of [extmark_id, row, col] tuples in "traversal order".
nvim_buf_set_extmark()
nvim_buf_set_extmark(
{buffer},
{ns_id},
{line},
{col},
{*opts})
Creates or updates an
extmark.
By default a new extmark is created when no id is passed in, but it is
also possible to create a new mark by passing in a previously unused id or
move an existing mark by passing in its id. The caller must then keep
track of existing and unused ids itself. (Useful over RPC, to avoid
waiting for the return value.)
Using the optional arguments, it is possible to use this to highlight a
range of text, and also to associate virtual text to the mark.
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer handle, or 0 for current buffer
{opts} Optional parameters.
id : id of the extmark to edit.
end_row : ending line of the mark, 0-based inclusive.
end_col : ending col of the mark, 0-based exclusive.
hl_group : name of the highlight group used to highlight
this mark.
hl_eol : when true, for a multiline highlight covering the
EOL of a line, continue the highlight for the rest of the
screen line (just like for diff and cursorline highlight).
virt_text : virtual text to link to this mark. A list of
[text, highlight] tuples, each representing a text chunk
with specified highlight.
highlight element can either
be a single highlight group, or an array of multiple
highlight groups that will be stacked (highest priority
last). A highlight group can be supplied either as a
string or as an integer, the latter which can be obtained
using
nvim_get_hl_id_by_name().
virt_text_pos : position of virtual text. Possible values:
"eol": right after eol character (default)
"overlay": display over the specified column, without
shifting the underlying text.
"right_align": display right aligned in the window.
virt_text_win_col : position the virtual text at a fixed
window column (starting from the first text column)
virt_text_hide : hide the virtual text when the background
text is selected or hidden due to horizontal scroll
'nowrap'
hl_mode : control how highlights are combined with the
highlights of the text. Currently only affects virt_text
highlights, but might affect hl_group in later versions.
"replace": only show the virt_text color. This is the
default
"combine": combine with background text color
"blend": blend with background text color.
virt_lines : virtual lines to add next to this mark This
should be an array over lines, where each line in turn is
an array over [text, highlight] tuples. In general, buffer
and window options do not affect the display of the text.
In particular
'wrap' and
'linebreak' options do not take
effect, so the number of extra screen lines will always
match the size of the array. However the
'tabstop' buffer
option is still used for hard tabs. By default lines are
placed below the buffer line containing the mark.
virt_lines_above: place virtual lines above instead.
virt_lines_leftcol: Place extmarks in the leftmost column
of the window, bypassing sign and number columns.
ephemeral : for use with
nvim_set_decoration_provider()
callbacks. The mark will only be used for the current
redraw cycle, and not be permantently stored in the
buffer.
right_gravity : boolean that indicates the direction the
extmark will be shifted in when new text is inserted (true
for right, false for left). Defaults to true.
end_right_gravity : boolean that indicates the direction
the extmark end position (if it exists) will be shifted in
when new text is inserted (true for right, false for
left). Defaults to false.
priority: a priority value for the highlight group or sign
attribute. For example treesitter highlighting uses a
value of 100.
strict: boolean that indicates extmark should not be
placed if the line or column value is past the end of the
buffer or end of the line respectively. Defaults to true.
sign_text: string of length 1-2 used to display in the
sign column. Note: ranges are unsupported and decorations
are only applied to start_row
sign_hl_group: name of the highlight group used to
highlight the sign column text. Note: ranges are
unsupported and decorations are only applied to start_row
number_hl_group: name of the highlight group used to
highlight the number column. Note: ranges are unsupported
and decorations are only applied to start_row
line_hl_group: name of the highlight group used to
highlight the whole line. Note: ranges are unsupported and
decorations are only applied to start_row
cursorline_hl_group: name of the highlight group used to
highlight the line when the cursor is on the same line as
the mark and
'cursorline' is enabled. Note: ranges are
unsupported and decorations are only applied to start_row
conceal: string which should be either empty or a single
character. Enable concealing similar to
:syn-conceal.
When a character is supplied it is used as
:syn-cchar.
"hl_group" is used as highlight for the cchar if provided,
otherwise it defaults to
hl-Conceal.
spell: boolean indicating that spell checking should be
performed within this extmark
ui_watched: boolean that indicates the mark should be
drawn by a UI. When set, the UI will receive win_extmark
events. Note: the mark is positioned by virt_text
attributes. Can be used together with virt_text.
Return:
Id of the created/updated extmark
nvim_create_namespace(
{name})
nvim_create_namespace()
Creates a new namespace or gets an existing one.
namespace
Namespaces can be named or anonymous. If name matches an existing
namespace, the associated id is returned. If name is an empty string a
new, anonymous namespace is created.
Parameters:
{name} Namespace name or empty string
nvim_get_namespaces()
nvim_get_namespaces()
Gets existing, non-anonymous
namespaces.
Return:
dict that maps from names to namespace ids.
nvim_set_decoration_provider()
nvim_set_decoration_provider(
{ns_id},
{*opts})
Set or change decoration provider for a
namespace
This is a very general purpose interface for having lua callbacks being
triggered during the redraw code.
The expected usage is to set
extmarks for the currently redrawn buffer.
nvim_buf_set_extmark() can be called to add marks on a per-window or
per-lines basis. Use the
ephemeral key to only use the mark for the
current screen redraw (the callback will be called again for the next
redraw ).
Note: this function should not be called often. Rather, the callbacks
themselves can be used to throttle unneeded callbacks. the on_start
callback can return false to disable the provider until the next redraw.
Similarly, return false in on_win will skip the on_lines calls for
that window (but any extmarks set in on_win will still be used). A
plugin managing multiple sources of decoration should ideally only set one
provider, and merge the sources internally. You can use multiple ns_id
for the extmarks set/modified inside the callback anyway.
Note: doing anything other than setting extmarks is considered
experimental. Doing things like changing options are not expliticly
forbidden, but is likely to have unexpected consequences (such as 100% CPU
consumption). doing vim.rpcnotify should be OK, but vim.rpcrequest is
quite dubious for the moment.
Parameters:
{opts} Table of callbacks:
on_start: called first on each screen redraw ["start",
tick]
on_buf: called for each buffer being redrawn (before window
callbacks) ["buf", bufnr, tick]
on_win: called when starting to redraw a specific window.
["win", winid, bufnr, topline, botline_guess]
on_line: called for each buffer line being redrawn. (The
interaction with fold lines is subject to change) ["win",
winid, bufnr, row]
on_end: called at the end of a redraw cycle ["end", tick]
Window Functions api-window
nvim_win_call(
{window},
{fun})
nvim_win_call()
Calls a function with window as temporary current window.
Parameters:
{window} Window handle, or 0 for current window
{fun} Function to call inside the window (currently lua callable
only)
Return:
Return value of function. NB: will deepcopy lua values currently, use
upvalues to send lua references in and out.
nvim_win_close(
{window},
{force})
nvim_win_close()
Closes the window (like
:close with a
window-ID).
Attributes:
not allowed when
textlock is active
Parameters:
{window} Window handle, or 0 for current window
{force} Behave like
:close! The last window of a buffer with
unwritten changes can be closed. The buffer will become
hidden, even if
'hidden' is not set.
nvim_win_del_var(
{window},
{name})
nvim_win_del_var()
Removes a window-scoped (w:) variable
Parameters:
{window} Window handle, or 0 for current window
{name} Variable name
nvim_win_get_buf(
{window})
nvim_win_get_buf()
Gets the current buffer in a window
Parameters:
{window} Window handle, or 0 for current window
nvim_win_get_cursor(
{window})
nvim_win_get_cursor()
Gets the (1,0)-indexed, buffer-relative cursor position for a given window
(different windows showing the same buffer have independent cursor
positions).
api-indexing
Parameters:
{window} Window handle, or 0 for current window
nvim_win_get_height(
{window})
nvim_win_get_height()
Gets the window height
Parameters:
{window} Window handle, or 0 for current window
Return:
Height as a count of rows
nvim_win_get_number(
{window})
nvim_win_get_number()
Gets the window number
Parameters:
{window} Window handle, or 0 for current window
nvim_win_get_position(
{window})
nvim_win_get_position()
Gets the window position in display cells. First position is zero.
Parameters:
{window} Window handle, or 0 for current window
Return:
(row, col) tuple with the window position
nvim_win_get_tabpage(
{window})
nvim_win_get_tabpage()
Gets the window tabpage
Parameters:
{window} Window handle, or 0 for current window
Return:
Tabpage that contains the window
nvim_win_get_var(
{window},
{name})
nvim_win_get_var()
Gets a window-scoped (w:) variable
Parameters:
{window} Window handle, or 0 for current window
{name} Variable name
nvim_win_get_width(
{window})
nvim_win_get_width()
Gets the window width
Parameters:
{window} Window handle, or 0 for current window
Return:
Width as a count of columns
nvim_win_hide(
{window})
nvim_win_hide()
Closes the window and hide the buffer it contains (like
:hide with a
window-ID).
Attributes:
not allowed when
textlock is active
Parameters:
{window} Window handle, or 0 for current window
nvim_win_is_valid(
{window})
nvim_win_is_valid()
Checks if a window is valid
Parameters:
{window} Window handle, or 0 for current window
Return:
true if the window is valid, false otherwise
nvim_win_set_buf(
{window},
{buffer})
nvim_win_set_buf()
Sets the current buffer in a window, without side effects
Attributes:
not allowed when
textlock is active
Parameters:
{window} Window handle, or 0 for current window
{buffer} Buffer handle
nvim_win_set_cursor(
{window},
{pos})
nvim_win_set_cursor()
Sets the (1,0)-indexed cursor position in the window.
api-indexing This
scrolls the window even if it is not the current one.
Parameters:
{window} Window handle, or 0 for current window
{pos} (row, col) tuple representing the new position
nvim_win_set_height(
{window},
{height})
nvim_win_set_height()
Sets the window height.
Parameters:
{window} Window handle, or 0 for current window
{height} Height as a count of rows
nvim_win_set_hl_ns(
{window},
{ns_id})
nvim_win_set_hl_ns()
Set highlight namespace for a window. This will use highlights defined
with
nvim_set_hl() for this namespace, but fall back to global
highlights (ns=0) when missing.
Parameters:
{ns_id} the namespace to use
nvim_win_set_var(
{window},
{name},
{value})
nvim_win_set_var()
Sets a window-scoped (w:) variable
Parameters:
{window} Window handle, or 0 for current window
{name} Variable name
{value} Variable value
nvim_win_set_width(
{window},
{width})
nvim_win_set_width()
Sets the window width. This will only succeed if the screen is split
vertically.
Parameters:
{window} Window handle, or 0 for current window
{width} Width as a count of columns
Win_Config Functions api-win_config
nvim_open_win(
{buffer},
{enter},
{*config})
nvim_open_win()
Open a new window.
Currently this is used to open floating and external windows. Floats are
windows that are drawn above the split layout, at some anchor position in
some other window. Floats can be drawn internally or by external GUI with
the
ui-multigrid extension. External windows are only supported with
multigrid GUIs, and are displayed as separate top-level windows.
Exactly one of external and relative must be specified. The width
and height of the new window must be specified.
With relative=editor (row=0,col=0) refers to the top-left corner of the
screen-grid and (row=Lines-1,col=Columns-1) refers to the bottom-right
corner. Fractional values are allowed, but the builtin implementation
(used by non-multigrid UIs) will always round down to nearest integer.
Out-of-bounds values, and configurations that make the float not fit
inside the main editor, are allowed. The builtin implementation truncates
values so floats are fully within the main screen grid. External GUIs
could let floats hover outside of the main window like a tooltip, but this
should not be used to specify arbitrary WM screen positions.
Example (Lua): window-relative float
vim.api.nvim_open_win(0, false,
{relative='win', row=3, col=3, width=12, height=3})
Example (Lua): buffer-relative float (travels as buffer is scrolled)
vim.api.nvim_open_win(0, false,
{relative='win', width=12, height=3, bufpos={100,10}})
Attributes:
not allowed when
textlock is active
Parameters:
{buffer} Buffer to display, or 0 for current buffer
{enter} Enter the window (make it the current window)
{config} Map defining the window configuration. Keys:
relative: Sets the window layout to "floating", placed at
(row,col) coordinates relative to:
"editor" The global editor grid
"win" Window given by the win field, or current
window.
"cursor" Cursor position in current window.
"mouse" Mouse position
anchor: Decides which corner of the float to place at
(row,col):
"NW" northwest (default)
"NE" northeast
"SW" southwest
"SE" southeast
width: Window width (in character cells). Minimum of 1.
height: Window height (in character cells). Minimum of 1.
bufpos: Places float relative to buffer text (only when
relative="win"). Takes a tuple of zero-indexed [line,
column]. row and col if given are applied relative to this position, else they
default to:
row=1 and col=0 if anchor is "NW" or "NE"
row=0 and col=0 if anchor is "SW" or "SE" (thus
like a tooltip near the buffer text).
row: Row position in units of "screen cell height", may be
fractional.
col: Column position in units of "screen cell width", may
be fractional.
focusable: Enable focus by user actions (wincmds, mouse
events). Defaults to true. Non-focusable windows can be
entered by
nvim_set_current_win().
external: GUI should display the window as an external
top-level window. Currently accepts no other positioning
configuration together with this.
zindex: Stacking order. floats with higher zindex go on top on floats with lower indices. Must be larger
than zero. The following screen elements have hard-coded
z-indices:
100: insert completion popupmenu
200: message scrollback
250: cmdline completion popupmenu (when
wildoptions+=pum) The default value for floats are 50.
In general, values below 100 are recommended, unless
there is a good reason to overshadow builtin elements.
style: Configure the appearance of the window. Currently
only takes one non-empty value:
border: Style of (optional) window border. This can either
be a string or an array. The string values are
"none": No border (default).
"single": A single line box.
"double": A double line box.
"rounded": Like "single", but with rounded corners ("╭"
etc.).
"solid": Adds padding by a single whitespace cell.
"shadow": A drop shadow effect by blending with the
background.
If it is an array, it should have a length of eight or
any divisor of eight. The array will specifify the eight
chars building up the border in a clockwise fashion
starting with the top-left corner. As an example, the
double box style could be specified as [ "╔", "═" ,"╗",
"║", "╝", "═", "╚", "║" ]. If the number of chars are
less than eight, they will be repeated. Thus an ASCII
border could be specified as [ "/", "-", "\\", "|" ], or
all chars the same as [ "x" ]. An empty string can be
used to turn off a specific border, for instance, [ "",
"", "", ">", "", "", "", "<" ] will only make vertical
borders but not horizontal ones. By default,
FloatBorder highlight is used, which links to
WinSeparator when not defined. It could also be
specified by character: [ ["+", "MyCorner"], ["x",
"MyBorder"] ].
title: Title (optional) in window border, String or list.
List is [text, highlight] tuples. if is string the default
highlight group is FloatTitle.
title_pos: Title position must set with title option.
value can be of left center right default is left.
noautocmd: If true then no buffer-related autocommand
events such as
BufEnter,
BufLeave or
BufWinEnter may
fire from calling this function.
Return:
Window handle, or 0 on error
nvim_win_get_config(
{window})
nvim_win_get_config()
Gets window configuration.
relative is empty for normal windows.
Parameters:
{window} Window handle, or 0 for current window
nvim_win_set_config(
{window},
{*config})
nvim_win_set_config()
Configures window layout. Currently only for floating and external windows
(including changing a split window to those layouts).
When reconfiguring a floating window, absent option keys will not be
changed. row/`col` and relative must be reconfigured together.
Parameters:
{window} Window handle, or 0 for current window
Tabpage Functions api-tabpage
nvim_tabpage_del_var(
{tabpage},
{name})
nvim_tabpage_del_var()
Removes a tab-scoped (t:) variable
Parameters:
{tabpage} Tabpage handle, or 0 for current tabpage
{name} Variable name
nvim_tabpage_get_number(
{tabpage})
nvim_tabpage_get_number()
Gets the tabpage number
Parameters:
{tabpage} Tabpage handle, or 0 for current tabpage
nvim_tabpage_get_var(
{tabpage},
{name})
nvim_tabpage_get_var()
Gets a tab-scoped (t:) variable
Parameters:
{tabpage} Tabpage handle, or 0 for current tabpage
{name} Variable name
nvim_tabpage_get_win(
{tabpage})
nvim_tabpage_get_win()
Gets the current window in a tabpage
Parameters:
{tabpage} Tabpage handle, or 0 for current tabpage
nvim_tabpage_is_valid(
{tabpage})
nvim_tabpage_is_valid()
Checks if a tabpage is valid
Parameters:
{tabpage} Tabpage handle, or 0 for current tabpage
Return:
true if the tabpage is valid, false otherwise
nvim_tabpage_list_wins(
{tabpage})
nvim_tabpage_list_wins()
Gets the windows in a tabpage
Parameters:
{tabpage} Tabpage handle, or 0 for current tabpage
Return:
List of windows in
tabpage
nvim_tabpage_set_var()
nvim_tabpage_set_var(
{tabpage},
{name},
{value})
Sets a tab-scoped (t:) variable
Parameters:
{tabpage} Tabpage handle, or 0 for current tabpage
{name} Variable name
{value} Variable value
Autocmd Functions api-autocmd
nvim_clear_autocmds(
{*opts})
nvim_clear_autocmds()
Clear all autocommands that match the corresponding
{opts}. To delete a
particular autocmd, see
nvim_del_autocmd().
Parameters:
{opts} Parameters
event: (string|table) Examples:
event: "pat1"
event: { "pat1" }
event: { "pat1", "pat2", "pat3" }
pattern: (string|table)
pattern or patterns to match exactly.
For example, if you have *.py as that pattern for the
autocmd, you must pass *.py exactly to clear it.
test.py will not match the pattern.
defaults to clearing all patterns.
NOTE: Cannot be used with {buffer}
buffer: (bufnr)
NOTE: Cannot be used with {pattern}
group: (string|int) The augroup name or id.
NOTE: If not passed, will only delete autocmds not in any group.
nvim_create_augroup(
{name},
{*opts})
nvim_create_augroup()
Create or get an autocommand group
autocmd-groups.
To get an existing group id, do:
local id = vim.api.nvim_create_augroup("MyGroup", {
clear = false
})
Parameters:
{name} String: The name of the group
{opts} Dictionary Parameters
clear (bool) optional: defaults to true. Clear existing
commands if the group already exists
autocmd-groups.
Return:
Integer id of the created group.
nvim_create_autocmd(
{event},
{*opts})
nvim_create_autocmd()
Creates an
autocommand event handler, defined by
callback (Lua function or Vimscript function name string) or
command (Ex command string).
Example using Lua callback:
vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd({"BufEnter", "BufWinEnter"}, {
pattern = {"*.c", "*.h"},
callback = function(ev)
print(string.format('event fired: s', vim.inspect(ev)))
end
})
Example using an Ex command as the handler:
vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd({"BufEnter", "BufWinEnter"}, {
pattern = {"*.c", "*.h"},
command = "echo 'Entering a C or C++ file'",
})
Note:
pattern is NOT automatically expanded (unlike with
:autocmd), thus names like
"$HOME" and "~" must be expanded explicitly:
pattern = vim.fn.expand("~") .. "/some/path/*.py"
Parameters:
{event} (string|array) Event(s) that will trigger the handler
(callback or command).
{opts} Options dict:
group (string|integer) optional: autocommand group name or
id to match against.
pattern (string|array) optional: pattern(s) to match
literally
autocmd-pattern.
buffer (integer) optional: buffer number for buffer-local
autocommands
autocmd-buflocal. Cannot be used with
{pattern}.
desc (string) optional: description (for documentation and
troubleshooting).
callback (function|string) optional: Lua function (or
Vimscript function name, if string) called when the
event(s) is triggered. Lua callback can return true to
delete the autocommand, and receives a table argument with
these keys:
id: (number) autocommand id
group: (number|nil) autocommand group id, if any
match: (string) expanded value of
<amatch>
buf: (number) expanded value of
<abuf>
file: (string) expanded value of
<afile>
command (string) optional: Vim command to execute on event.
Cannot be used with {callback}
once (boolean) optional: defaults to false. Run the
autocommand only once
autocmd-once.
nested (boolean) optional: defaults to false. Run nested
autocommands
autocmd-nested.
Return:
Autocommand id (number)
nvim_del_augroup_by_id(
{id})
nvim_del_augroup_by_id()
Delete an autocommand group by id.
NOTE: behavior differs from
:augroup-delete. When deleting a group,
autocommands contained in this group will also be deleted and cleared.
This group will no longer exist.
Parameters:
{id} Integer The id of the group.
nvim_del_augroup_by_name(
{name})
nvim_del_augroup_by_name()
Delete an autocommand group by name.
NOTE: behavior differs from
:augroup-delete. When deleting a group,
autocommands contained in this group will also be deleted and cleared.
This group will no longer exist.
Parameters:
{name} String The name of the group.
nvim_del_autocmd(
{id})
nvim_del_autocmd()
Delete an autocommand by id.
NOTE: Only autocommands created via the API have an id.
Parameters:
{id} Integer The id returned by nvim_create_autocmd
nvim_exec_autocmds(
{event},
{*opts})
nvim_exec_autocmds()
Execute all autocommands for
{event} that match the corresponding
{opts}
autocmd-execute.
Parameters:
{event} (String|Array) The event or events to execute
{opts} Dictionary of autocommand options:
group (string|integer) optional: the autocommand group name
or id to match against.
autocmd-groups.
pattern (string|array) optional: defaults to "*"
autocmd-pattern. Cannot be used with
{buffer}.
buffer (integer) optional: buffer number
autocmd-buflocal. Cannot be used with
{pattern}.
modeline (bool) optional: defaults to true. Process the
modeline after the autocommands
<nomodeline>.
nvim_get_autocmds(
{*opts})
nvim_get_autocmds()
Get all autocommands that match the corresponding
{opts}.
These examples will get autocommands matching ALL the given criteria:
-- Matches all criteria
autocommands = vim.api.nvim_get_autocmds({
group = "MyGroup",
event = {"BufEnter", "BufWinEnter"},
pattern = {"*.c", "*.h"}
})
-- All commands from one group
autocommands = vim.api.nvim_get_autocmds({
group = "MyGroup",
})
NOTE: When multiple patterns or events are provided, it will find all the
autocommands that match any combination of them.
Parameters:
{opts} Dictionary with at least one of the following:
group (string|integer): the autocommand group name or id to
match against.
event (string|array): event or events to match against
autocmd-events.
pattern (string|array): pattern or patterns to match against
autocmd-pattern. Cannot be used with
{buffer}
buffer: Buffer number or list of buffer numbers for buffer
local autocommands
autocmd-buflocal. Cannot be used with
{pattern}
Return:
Array of autocommands matching the criteria, with each item containing
the following fields:
id (number): the autocommand id (only when defined with the API).
group (integer): the autocommand group id.
group_name (string): the autocommand group name.
desc (string): the autocommand description.
event (string): the autocommand event.
command (string): the autocommand command. Note: this will be empty
if a callback is set.
callback (function|string|nil): Lua function or name of a Vim script
function which is executed when this autocommand is triggered.
once (boolean): whether the autocommand is only run once.
buflocal (boolean): true if the autocommand is buffer local.
buffer (number): the buffer number.
nvim_ui_attach(
{width},
{height},
{options})
nvim_ui_attach()
Activates UI events on the channel.
Entry point of all UI clients. Allows
--embed to continue startup.
Implies that the client is ready to show the UI. Adds the client to the
list of UIs.
nvim_list_uis()
Note:
If multiple UI clients are attached, the global screen dimensions
degrade to the smallest client. E.g. if client A requests 80x40 but
client B requests 200x100, the global screen has size 80x40.
Parameters:
{width} Requested screen columns
{height} Requested screen rows
nvim_ui_detach()
nvim_ui_detach()
Deactivates UI events on the channel.
nvim_ui_pum_set_bounds()
nvim_ui_pum_set_bounds(
{width},
{height},
{row},
{col})
Tells Nvim the geometry of the popupmenu, to align floating windows with
an external popup menu.
Note that this method is not to be confused with
nvim_ui_pum_set_height(), which sets the number of visible items in the
popup menu, while this function sets the bounding box of the popup menu,
including visual elements such as borders and sliders. Floats need not use
the same font size, nor be anchored to exact grid corners, so one can set
floating-point numbers to the popup menu geometry.
Parameters:
{width} Popupmenu width.
{height} Popupmenu height.
{row} Popupmenu row.
{col} Popupmenu height.
nvim_ui_pum_set_height(
{height})
nvim_ui_pum_set_height()
Tells Nvim the number of elements displaying in the popupmenu, to decide
<PageUp> and
<PageDown> movement.
Parameters:
{height} Popupmenu height, must be greater than zero.
nvim_ui_set_focus(
{gained})
nvim_ui_set_focus()
Tells the nvim server if focus was gained or lost by the GUI.
nvim_ui_set_option(
{name},
{value})
nvim_ui_set_option()
TODO: Documentation
nvim_ui_try_resize(
{width},
{height})
nvim_ui_try_resize()
TODO: Documentation
nvim_ui_try_resize_grid()
nvim_ui_try_resize_grid(
{grid},
{width},
{height})
Tell Nvim to resize a grid. Triggers a grid_resize event with the
requested grid size or the maximum size if it exceeds size limits.
On invalid grid handle, fails with error.
Parameters:
{grid} The handle of the grid to be changed.
{width} The new requested width.
{height} The new requested height.