MaazSiddiqi / neo-tree.nvim

Neovim plugin to manage the file system and other tree like structures.

Neo-tree.nvim

Neo-tree is a Neovim plugin to browse the file system and other tree like structures in whatever style suits you, including sidebars, floating windows, netrw split style, or all of them at once!

Breaking Changes BAD 💣 👿

The biggest and most important feature of Neo-tree is that we will never knowingly push a breaking change and interrupt your day. Bugs happen, but breaking changes can always be avoided. When breaking changes are needed, there will be a new branch that you can opt into, when it is a good time for you.

See What is a Breaking Change? for details.

See Changelog 2.0 for breaking changes and deprecations in 2.0.

User Experience GOOD 🙂 👍

Aside from being polite about breaking changes, Neo-tree is also focused on the little details of user experience. Everything should work exactly as you would expect a sidebar to work without all of the glitchy behavior that is normally accepted in (neo)vim sidebars. I can't stand glitchy behavior, and neither should you!

• Neo-tree won't let other buffers take over its window.
• Neo-tree won't leave its window scrolled to the last line when there is plenty of room to display the whole tree.
• Neo-tree does not need to be manually refreshed (set use_libuv_file_watcher=true)
• Neo-tree can intelligently follow the current file (set follow_current_file=true)
• Neo-tree is thoughtful about maintaining or setting focus on the right node
• Neo-tree windows in different tabs are completely separate
• respect_gitignore actually works!

Neo-tree is smooth, efficient, stable, and pays attention to the little details. If you find anything janky, wanky, broken, or unintuitive, please open an issue so we can fix it.

Minimal Quickstart

Minimal Example for Packer:

-- Unless you are still migrating, remove the deprecated commands from v1.x
vim.cmd([[ let g:neo_tree_remove_legacy_commands = 1 ]])

use {
  "nvim-neo-tree/neo-tree.nvim",
    branch = "v2.x",
    requires = { 
      "nvim-lua/plenary.nvim",
      "nvim-tree/nvim-web-devicons", -- not strictly required, but recommended
      "MunifTanjim/nui.nvim",
    }
  }

After installing, run:

:Neotree

Press ? in the Neo-tree window to view the list of mappings.

Quickstart

Longer Example for Packer:

use {
  "nvim-neo-tree/neo-tree.nvim",
    branch = "v2.x",
    requires = { 
      "nvim-lua/plenary.nvim",
      "nvim-tree/nvim-web-devicons", -- not strictly required, but recommended
      "MunifTanjim/nui.nvim",
      {
        -- only needed if you want to use the commands with "_with_window_picker" suffix
        's1n7ax/nvim-window-picker',
        tag = "v1.*",
        config = function()
          require'window-picker'.setup({
            autoselect_one = true,
            include_current = false,
            filter_rules = {
              -- filter using buffer options
              bo = {
                -- if the file type is one of following, the window will be ignored
                filetype = { 'neo-tree', "neo-tree-popup", "notify" },

                -- if the buffer type is one of following, the window will be ignored
                buftype = { 'terminal', "quickfix" },
              },
            },
            other_win_hl_color = '#e35e4f',
          })
        end,
      }
    },
    config = function ()
      -- Unless you are still migrating, remove the deprecated commands from v1.x
      vim.cmd([[ let g:neo_tree_remove_legacy_commands = 1 ]])

      -- If you want icons for diagnostic errors, you'll need to define them somewhere:
      vim.fn.sign_define("DiagnosticSignError",
        {text = " ", texthl = "DiagnosticSignError"})
      vim.fn.sign_define("DiagnosticSignWarn",
        {text = " ", texthl = "DiagnosticSignWarn"})
      vim.fn.sign_define("DiagnosticSignInfo",
        {text = " ", texthl = "DiagnosticSignInfo"})
      vim.fn.sign_define("DiagnosticSignHint",
        {text = "", texthl = "DiagnosticSignHint"})
      -- NOTE: this is changed from v1.x, which used the old style of highlight groups
      -- in the form "LspDiagnosticsSignWarning"

      require("neo-tree").setup({
        close_if_last_window = false, -- Close Neo-tree if it is the last window left in the tab
        popup_border_style = "rounded",
        enable_git_status = true,
        enable_diagnostics = true,
        sort_case_insensitive = false, -- used when sorting files and directories in the tree
        sort_function = nil , -- use a custom function for sorting files and directories in the tree 
        -- sort_function = function (a,b)
        --       if a.type == b.type then
        --           return a.path > b.path
        --       else
        --           return a.type > b.type
        --       end
        --   end , -- this sorts files and directories descendantly
        default_component_configs = {
          container = {
            enable_character_fade = true
          },
          indent = {
            indent_size = 2,
            padding = 1, -- extra padding on left hand side
            -- indent guides
            with_markers = true,
            indent_marker = "│",
            last_indent_marker = "└",
            highlight = "NeoTreeIndentMarker",
            -- expander config, needed for nesting files
            with_expanders = nil, -- if nil and file nesting is enabled, will enable expanders
            expander_collapsed = "",
            expander_expanded = "",
            expander_highlight = "NeoTreeExpander",
          },
          icon = {
            folder_closed = "",
            folder_open = "",
            folder_empty = "ﰊ",
            -- The next two settings are only a fallback, if you use nvim-web-devicons and configure default icons there
            -- then these will never be used.
            default = "*",
            highlight = "NeoTreeFileIcon"
          },
          modified = {
            symbol = "[+]",
            highlight = "NeoTreeModified",
          },
          name = {
            trailing_slash = false,
            use_git_status_colors = true,
            highlight = "NeoTreeFileName",
          },
          git_status = {
            symbols = {
              -- Change type
              added     = "", -- or "✚", but this is redundant info if you use git_status_colors on the name
              modified  = "", -- or "", but this is redundant info if you use git_status_colors on the name
              deleted   = "✖",-- this can only be used in the git_status source
              renamed   = "",-- this can only be used in the git_status source
              -- Status type
              untracked = "",
              ignored   = "",
              unstaged  = "",
              staged    = "",
              conflict  = "",
            }
          },
        },
        window = {
          position = "left",
          width = 40,
          mapping_options = {
            noremap = true,
            nowait = true,
          },
          mappings = {
            ["<space>"] = { 
                "toggle_node", 
                nowait = false, -- disable `nowait` if you have existing combos starting with this char that you want to use 
            },
            ["<2-LeftMouse>"] = "open",
            ["<cr>"] = "open",
            ["<esc>"] = "revert_preview",
            ["P"] = { "toggle_preview", config = { use_float = true } },
            ["l"] = "focus_preview"
            ["S"] = "open_split",
            ["s"] = "open_vsplit",
            -- ["S"] = "split_with_window_picker",
            -- ["s"] = "vsplit_with_window_picker",
            ["t"] = "open_tabnew",
            -- ["<cr>"] = "open_drop",
            -- ["t"] = "open_tab_drop",
            ["w"] = "open_with_window_picker",
            --["P"] = "toggle_preview", -- enter preview mode, which shows the current node without focusing
            ["C"] = "close_node",
            ["z"] = "close_all_nodes",
            --["Z"] = "expand_all_nodes",
            ["a"] = { 
              "add",
              -- this command supports BASH style brace expansion ("x{a,b,c}" -> xa,xb,xc). see `:h neo-tree-file-actions` for details
              -- some commands may take optional config options, see `:h neo-tree-mappings` for details
              config = {
                show_path = "none" -- "none", "relative", "absolute"
              }
            },
            ["A"] = "add_directory", -- also accepts the optional config.show_path option like "add". this also supports BASH style brace expansion.
            ["d"] = "delete",
            ["r"] = "rename",
            ["y"] = "copy_to_clipboard",
            ["x"] = "cut_to_clipboard",
            ["p"] = "paste_from_clipboard",
            ["c"] = "copy", -- takes text input for destination, also accepts the optional config.show_path option like "add":
            -- ["c"] = {
            --  "copy",
            --  config = {
            --    show_path = "none" -- "none", "relative", "absolute"
            --  }
            --}
            ["m"] = "move", -- takes text input for destination, also accepts the optional config.show_path option like "add".
            ["q"] = "close_window",
            ["R"] = "refresh",
            ["?"] = "show_help",
            ["<"] = "prev_source",
            [">"] = "next_source",
          }
        },
        nesting_rules = {},
        filesystem = {
          filtered_items = {
            visible = false, -- when true, they will just be displayed differently than normal items
            hide_dotfiles = true,
            hide_gitignored = true,
            hide_hidden = true, -- only works on Windows for hidden files/directories
            hide_by_name = {
              --"node_modules"
            },
            hide_by_pattern = { -- uses glob style patterns
              --"*.meta",
              --"*/src/*/tsconfig.json",
            },
            always_show = { -- remains visible even if other settings would normally hide it
              --".gitignored",
            },
            never_show = { -- remains hidden even if visible is toggled to true, this overrides always_show
              --".DS_Store",
              --"thumbs.db"
            },
            never_show_by_pattern = { -- uses glob style patterns
              --".null-ls_*",
            },
          },
          follow_current_file = false, -- This will find and focus the file in the active buffer every
                                       -- time the current file is changed while the tree is open.
          group_empty_dirs = false, -- when true, empty folders will be grouped together
          hijack_netrw_behavior = "open_default", -- netrw disabled, opening a directory opens neo-tree
                                                  -- in whatever position is specified in window.position
                                -- "open_current",  -- netrw disabled, opening a directory opens within the
                                                  -- window like netrw would, regardless of window.position
                                -- "disabled",    -- netrw left alone, neo-tree does not handle opening dirs
          use_libuv_file_watcher = false, -- This will use the OS level file watchers to detect changes
                                          -- instead of relying on nvim autocmd events.
          window = {
            mappings = {
              ["<bs>"] = "navigate_up",
              ["."] = "set_root",
              ["H"] = "toggle_hidden",
              ["/"] = "fuzzy_finder",
              ["D"] = "fuzzy_finder_directory",
              ["f"] = "filter_on_submit",
              ["<c-x>"] = "clear_filter",
              ["[g"] = "prev_git_modified",
              ["]g"] = "next_git_modified",
            }
          }
        },
        buffers = {
          follow_current_file = true, -- This will find and focus the file in the active buffer every
                                       -- time the current file is changed while the tree is open.
          group_empty_dirs = true, -- when true, empty folders will be grouped together
          show_unloaded = true,
          window = {
            mappings = {
              ["bd"] = "buffer_delete",
              ["<bs>"] = "navigate_up",
              ["."] = "set_root",
            }
          },
        },
        git_status = {
          window = {
            position = "float",
            mappings = {
              ["A"]  = "git_add_all",
              ["gu"] = "git_unstage_file",
              ["ga"] = "git_add_file",
              ["gr"] = "git_revert_file",
              ["gc"] = "git_commit",
              ["gp"] = "git_push",
              ["gg"] = "git_commit_and_push",
            }
          }
        }
      })

      vim.cmd([[nnoremap \ :Neotree reveal<cr>]])
    end
}

The above configuration is not everything that can be changed, it's just the parts you might want to change first.

See :h neo-tree for full documentation. You can also preview that online at doc/neo-tree.txt, although it's best viewed within vim.

To see all of the default config options with commentary, you can view it online at lua/neo-tree/defaults.lua. You can also paste it into a buffer after installing Neo-tree by running:

:lua require("neo-tree").paste_default_config()

The :Neotree Command

The single :Neotree command accepts a range of arguments that give you full control over the details of what and where it will show. For example, the following command will open a file browser on the right hand side, "revealing" the currently active file:

:Neotree filesystem reveal right

Arguments can be specified as either a key=value pair or just as the value. The key=value form is more verbose but may help with clarity. For example, the command above can also be specified as:

:Neotree source=filesystem reveal=true position=right

All arguments are optional and can be specified in any order. If you issue the command without any arguments, it will use default values for everything. For example:

:Neotree

will open the filesystem source on the left hand side and focus it, if you are using the default config.

Tab Completion

Neotree supports tab completion for all arguments. Once a given argument has a value, it will stop suggesting those completions. It will also offer completions for paths. The simplest way to disambiguate a path from another type of argument is to start them with / or ./.

Arguments

Here is the full list of arguments you can use:

action

What to do. Can be one of:

Option	Description
focus	Show and/or switch focus to the specified Neotree window. DEFAULT
show	Show the window, but keep focus on your current window.
close	Close the window(s) specified. Can be combined with "position" and/or "source" to specify which window(s) to close.

source

What to show. Can be one of:

Option	Description
filesystem	Show a file browser. DEFAULT
buffers	Show a list of currently open buffers.
git_status	Show the output of git status in a tree layout.

position

Where to show it, can be one of:

Option	Description
left	Open as left hand sidebar. DEFAULT
right	Open as right hand sidebar.
top	Open as top window.
bottom	Open as bottom window.
float	Open as floating window.
current	Open within the current window, like netrw or vinegar would.

toggle

This is a boolean flag. Adding this means that the window will be closed if it is already open.

dir

The directory to set as the root/cwd of the specified window. If you include a directory as one of the arguments, it will be assumed to be this option, you don't need the full dir=/path. You may use any value that can be passed to the 'expand' function, such as %:p:h:h to specify two directories up from the current file. For example:

:Neotree ./relative/path
:Neotree /home/user/relative/path
:Neotree dir=/home/user/relative/path
:Neotree position=current dir=relative/path

git_base

The base that is used to calculate the git status for each dir/file. By default it uses HEAD, so it shows all changes that are not yet committed. You can for example work on a feature branch, and set it to main. It will show all changes that happened on the feature branch and main since you branched off.

Any git ref, commit, tag, or sha will work.

:Neotree main
:Neotree v1.0
:Neotree git_base=8fe34be
:Neotree git_base=HEAD

reveal

This is a boolean flag. Adding this will make Neotree automatically find and focus the current file when it opens.

reveal_file

A path to a file to reveal. This supersedes the "reveal" flag so there is no need to specify both. Use this if you want to reveal something other than the current file. If you include a path to a file as one of the arguments, it will be assumed to be this option. Like "dir", you can pass any value that can be passed to the 'expand' function. For example:

:Neotree reveal_file=/home/user/my/file.text
:Neotree position=current dir=%:p:h:h reveal_file=%:p
:Neotree current %:p:h:h %:p

One neat trick you can do with this is to open a Neotree window which is focused on the file under the cursor using the <cfile> keyword:

nnoremap gd :Neotree float reveal_file=<cfile> reveal_force_cwd<cr>

reveal_force_cwd

This is a boolean flag. Normally, if you use one of the reveal options and the given file is not within the current working directory, you will be asked if you want to change the current working directory. If you include this flag, it will automatically change the directory without prompting. This option implies "reveal", so you do not need to specify both.

See :h neo-tree-commands for details and a full listing of available arguments.

File Nesting

See :h neo-tree-file-nesting for more details about file nesting.

Netrw Hijack

:edit .
:[v]split .

If "filesystem.window.position" is set to "current", or if you have specified filesystem.hijack_netrw_behavior = "open_current", then any command that would open a directory will open neo-tree in the specified window.

Sources

Neo-tree is built on the idea of supporting various sources. Sources are basically interface implementations whose job it is to provide a list of hierarchical items to be rendered, along with commands that are appropriate to those items.

filesystem

The default source is filesystem, which displays your files and folders. This is the default source in commands when none is specified.

This source can be used to:

• Browse the filesystem
• Control the current working directory of nvim
• Add/Copy/Delete/Move/Rename files and directories
• Search the filesystem
• Monitor git status and lsp diagnostics for the current working directory

buffers

Another available source is buffers, which displays your open buffers. This is the same list you would see from :ls. To show with the buffers list, use:

:Neotree buffers

git_status

This view take the results of the git status command and display them in a tree. It includes commands for adding, unstaging, reverting, and committing.

The screenshot below shows the result of :Neotree float git_status while the filesystem is open in a sidebar:

You can specify a different git base here as well. But be aware that it is not possible to unstage / revert a file that is already committed.

:Neotree float git_status git_base=main

Source Selector

You can enable a clickable source selector in either the winbar (requires neovim 0.8+) or the statusline. To do so, set one of these options to true:

    require("neo-tree").setup({
        source_selector = {
            winbar = false,
            statusline = false
        }
    })

There are many configuration options to change the style of these tabs. See lua/neo-tree/defaults.lua for details.

Configuration and Customization

This is designed to be flexible. The way that is achieved is by making everything a function, or a string that identifies a built-in function. All of the built-in functions can be replaced with your own implementation, or you can add new ones.

Each node in the tree is created from the renderer specified for the given node type, and each renderer is a list of component configs to be rendered in order. Each component is a function, either built-in or specified in your config. Those functions simply return the text and highlight group for the component.

Additionally, there is an events system that you can hook into. If you want to show some new data point related to your files, gather it in the before_render event, create a component to display it, and reference that component in the renderer for the file and/or directory type.

Details on how to configure everything is in the help file at :h neo-tree-configuration or online at neo-tree.txt

Recipes for customizations can be found on the wiki. Recipes include things like adding a component to show the Harpoon index for files, or responding to the "file_opened" event to auto clear the search when you open a file.

Why?

There are many tree plugins for (neo)vim, so why make another one? Well, I wanted something that was:

1. Easy to maintain and enhance.
2. Stable.
3. Easy to customize.

Easy to maintain and enhance

This plugin is designed to grow and be flexible. This is accomplished by making the code as decoupled and functional as possible. Hopefully new contributors will find it easy to work with.

One big difference between this plugin and the ones that came before it, which is also what finally pushed me over the edge into making a new plugin, is that we now have libraries to build upon that did not exist when other tree plugins were created. Most notably, nui.nvim and plenary.nvm. Building upon shared libraries will go a long way in making neo-tree easy to maintain.

Stable

This project will have releases and release tags that follow a simplified Semantic Versioning scheme. The quickstart instructions will always refer to the latest stable major version. Following the main branch is for contributors and those that always want bleeding edge. There will be branches for v1.x, v2.x, etc which will receive updates after a short testing period in main. You should be safe to follow those branches and be sure your tree won't break in an update. There will also be tags for each release pushed to those branches named v1.1, v1.2, etc. If stability is critical to you, or a bug accidentally make it into v1.x, you can use those tags instead. It's possible we may backport bug fixes to those tags, but no garauntees on that.

There will never be a breaking change within a major version (1.x, 2.x, etc.) If a breaking change is needed, there will be depracation warnings in the prior major version, and the breaking change will happen in the next major version.

Easy to Customize

Neo-tree follows in the spirit of plugins like lualine.nvim and nvim-cokeline. Everything will be configurable and take either strings, tables, or functions. You can take sane defaults or build your tree items from scratch. There should be the ability to add any features you can think of through existing hooks in the setup function.

What is a Breaking Change?

As of v1.30, a breaking change is defined as anything that changes existing:

• vim commands (:NeoTreeShow, :NeoTreeReveal, etc)
• configuration options that are passed into the setup() function
• NeoTree* highlight groups
• lua functions exported in the following modules that are not prefixed with _:
  • neo-tree
  • neo-tree.events
  • neo-tree.sources.manager
  • neo-tree.sources.* (init.lua files)
  • neo-tree.sources.*.commands
  • neo-tree.ui.renderer
  • neo-tree.utils

If there are other functions you would like to use that are not yet considered part of the public API, please open an issue so we can discuss it.

Contributions

Contributions are encouraged. Please see CONTRIBUTING for more details.

Acknowledgements

This project relies upon these two excellent libraries:

• nui.nvim for all UI components, including the tree!
• plenary.nvim for backend utilities, such as scanning the filesystem.

The design is heavily inspired by these excellent plugins:

• lualine.nvim
• nvim-cokeline

Everything I know about writing a tree control in lua, I learned from:

• nvim-tree.lua