mhinz / vim-tree

🌲 Use tree(1) for quick navigation.

vim-tree

vim-tree integrates good old tree(1) into Vim and Nvim for all common operating systems.

The plugin provides a single command, :Tree, and has no options. It is perfect for quickly navigating and exploring complex directory hierarchies.

Installation

Use your favorite plugin manager. E.g. vim-plug:

Plug 'mhinz/vim-tree'

Then restart Vim and :PlugInstall.

Dependencies

tree needs to be installed.

Ubuntu/Debian

$ sudo apt-get install tree

macOS

$ brew install tree

Windows

1. Download the win32 tree binary zip archive and unzip it.
2. Move tree.exe from the bin directory to the directory containing your vim.exe or nvim.exe. E.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\Vim\vim81\.

Usage

There are no options and only one command: :Tree.

That command defaults to tree -n -F --dirsfirst --noreport. It takes optional arguments that will simply be added to the default, so :Tree -a will run tree -n -F --dirsfirst --noreport -a.

Use ? in the tree buffer to get a list of all mappings.

A few tips:

• For huge directories you might want to set a limit, e.g. :Tree -L 3.
• If many files have spaces in their names, :Tree -Q might provide more readable output.

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To keep a navigator-like window open:

:leftabove 40vnew | Tree

Then use p to open the current entry in the previous window.

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To fold on directories:

autocmd FileType tree setlocal foldmethod=expr

Customization

• The tree buffer sets the tree filetype.
• tree#GetPath() returns the path of the current entry.

Stupid example:

autocmd FileType tree
      \ autocmd CursorMoved <buffer> execute 'pedit' tree#GetPath()

Now, every time you move the cursor to a file, it will be shown in the preview window.

Author and Feedback

If you like this plugin, star it! It's a great way of getting feedback. The same goes for reporting issues or feature requests.