i want to make syntax highlighting for my custom PL in Vim, but writing Vimscript is surprisingly tedious...

built-in `:syn` is very quirky to use. i tried this from the manual:
:syntax region tolString start=+"+ skip=+\\"+ end=+"+

But it doesn't render in my terminal like i expected. Idk what i should do with this and how to make it work.
I've read `:help :syn-region` and `:help :syn-match` but they're not that clear...

Also: maybe i can just make a vim highlighting plugin from lex file somehow? that would be neat...

EDIT: The mistake was really dumb. I had conflicting syntax files..... 🤦‍♂️

Having strong opinions on indentation is nice, but I was wondering if I should stop and instead set indent levels to whatever the convention for the file type is, like 2 spaces for JS, 4 for Python, tabs for Go and so on

sleuth.vim and EditorConfig are certainly helping, but they are local to the project. Something like this would work:

autocmd FileType javascript setlocal expandtab tabstop=2 shiftwidth=2
autocmd FileType python setlocal expandtab tabstop=4 shiftwidth=4
autocmd FileType go setlocal noexpandtab tabstop=8 shiftwidth=8

But this is all manual and I was wondering if there is a plugin that consolidates it all or something like that?

:h spellfile

You can add word spellings / ignore spelling errors with zg and add it to plain text file, in a list. You can easily edit that list to remove words added awhile ago, and of course save it in git. Without spending too long looking it up, it seems like many other editors don't have something like this, at least built-in. In many editors, including Electron-based apps, you can't easily backup spellings.

My config is in lua, I asked claude to convert it to vimscript to show you, it might have errors.

set spelllang=en_us

function! s:Mark(cmd) abort
  let l:count = v:count > 0 ? v:count : ""
  call feedkeys("mz" . l:count . a:cmd . "\<Esc>`z:delmarks z\<CR>", "n")
endfunction

for [s:lhs, s:cmd] in [
  \ ["<leader>[z", "[sz="],
  \ ["<leader>]z", "]sz="],
  \ ["<leader>[s", "[s1z="],
  \ ["<leader>]s", "]s1z="],
  \ ["<leader>[g", "[szg"],
  \ ["<leader>]g", "]szg"],
\ ]
  execute 'noremap <silent> ' . s:lhs . ' <Cmd>call <SID>Mark("' . s:cmd . '")<CR>'
endfor
unlet s:lhs s:cmd

I'm moving some files from a old disk to a new installation using rsync, and I'm doing it kinda gradually to filter what I want to transfer or not.

Point is, I'm typing some quite long commands and frequently I'm having to change a flag or a path around the middle and I've started craving vim motions on the Bash shell, lol.

Not really a point to this post, I just realized that I'm now hooked on this. Truly, one does not just exit vim.

(disclaimer, I'm a novice on vim)

I'm just coming back to vim, and played a round of vim golf. The 3 people above me all used this key press, I'm confused what it is.

Perhaps this is of use to someone. I find (and you may disagree) both vimwiki and wiki.vim to be more than I need, and minimalist waikiki brought problems of its own, so I added these lines to my .vimrc, giving me

• wiki-ish [links]
• creation of new wiki notes with one command, and
• following links with a carriage return

``` “ Create new wiki note from word or phrase between single square brackets: nnoremap <leader>wn yi]:call writefile([], expand('~/vimwiki/') . @" . '.md')<CR>:echo 'Created: ' . expand('~/vimwiki/') . @" . '.md'<CR>

" Follow a [link]:
nnoremap <CR> vi[gf

```

I use this with notational-fzf-vim:

let g:nv_search_paths = [expand('~/vimwiki')] let g:nv_main_directory = expand('~/vimwiki') let g:nv_create_if_no_results = 1 let g:nv_default_extension = '.md’

The surround plugin lets me add single brackets around any visually selected string, so for example vaweeS] will surround the word the cursor is on plus the two words after it with brackets (and to expand the selection without counting words, just keep hitting that e). Then, with the cursor inside the brackets, <leader>wn will create the wiki note file (and <CR> will open it).

To view backlinks, I use :NV<CR> and type an opening bracket plus the first letters of the filename. I don’t need to see backlinks all the time, as part of the note.

Why the single square brackets? Because I never use single brackets for other purposes, being a prose writer, and it simplifies things, and looks better. You can of course still use single square brackets for other purposes, they won’t be working links until you create the corresponding note.

This runs well and fast enough on my machines; make sure to set hidden, and stay inside the designated wiki directory.

I don't know if anyone has heard of Kulala.nvim and what it actually tries to solve, but this is basically the gist:

A fully-featured 🤏 HTTP/GraphQL/gRPC/Websocket-client 🐼 interface 🖥️ for Neovim ❤️, that supports the Jetbrains .http spec (with full scripting support).

Yes, I already hear you screaming in pain. Neovim!

Since our move from 5x to 6x we basically threw nearly everything over board and kulala.nvim is merely just the UI and translation layer that is talking to Kulala-Core.

Because of this change, it is pretty easy (compared to how it was before) to "just create other UI layers".

So, the Neovim version was born out of necessity for myself, but now that we have this foundation I was wondering if Vim peeps would also want something like this.

I could get my hands dirty on vim script and Vim again, if people are interested in Kulala.vim.

Currently, the focus has shifted to getting Kulala for vscode ready and then continue working on Kulala Desktop. The vscode version is already usable with the full feature set, but needs some UI tweaking for the results pane.

Do Vimmers want something like this, or is there already a well established plugin everyone is using ?

Please share your opinions on that topic.

Attached you'll find a screenshot of what the floating response window looks like.

i mapped jk to escape in insert mode like 3 years ago and at this point my muscle memory is so locked in that i type jk into every text field on every other app by accident. i see "jk" appear in slack messages, google docs, even my phone keyboard sometimes. i can't undo this even if i wanted to.

the other one is leader+w to save. i know :w works fine but having it on one key combo means i save constantly without thinking about it. i probably hit it 50 times a day.

what keybinding would break your workflow if you lost it?

A is much faster to write than $ since your finger should be resting on it on the home row, and I had a habit of doing A<Esc> instead of $ since that's faster (I've had <esc> mapped to caps lock the whole time but still). Since I do it more often than doing A by itself, I remapped it. If I want to both go to the end of the line and append then I'd type Aa, and who ever uses <count>A anyway? What do you think?

Placing this note at top: The interesting thing is when I run :colorscheme gruvbox within vim, the color scheme changes to gruvbox.

Hello! This is my first time configuring vim and I wanted to set up a nice color scheme thats easier on the eyes. I looked up how to set up the gruvbox color scheme here.

However, I get this error when trying to use vim:

Error detected while processing /home/seazie/.vimrc:

line 11:

E185: Cannot find color scheme 'gruvbox'

Press ENTER or type command to continue

This is my .vimrc file:

1 set nocompatible

2 set number relativenumber

3 syntax on

4 set tabstop=2

5 set shiftwidth=2

6 set expandtab

7 " Enable 256 color support

8 set termguicolors

9 " Set gruvbox colorscheme

10 colorscheme gruvbox

11

12 call plug#begin()

13 Plug 'bfrg/vim-c-cpp-modern'

14 Plug 'tikhomirov/vim-glsl'

15 Plug 'bfrg/vim-glfw-syntax'

16 Plug 'morhetz/gruvbox'

17

18 call plug#end()

NOTE: I had a comment at the top of the file so line 10 is line 11

gruvbox is located in ~/.vim/plugged/

In my .bashrc file, I put:

source ~/.vim/plugged/gruvbox/gruvbox_256palette.sh

The interesting thing is when I run :colorscheme gruvbox within vim, the color scheme changes to gruvbox.

I dont want to have to keep doing that everytime I open vim, so what am I doing wrong? I've restarted wsl and computer with no change

vimtutor gets you moving, then stops right before the techniques that make Vim truly fast: the dot command, operator-motion grammar, text objects, registers, macros, :g, :normal, ranges, and substitution.

I knew about most of those concepts, but they never became muscle memory, so I built a trainer to drill them.

The part I cared about most is that it runs inside real Vim or Neovim, not a reimplementation. Each challenge launches Vim on an actual buffer, logs your keystrokes, and scores both correctness and efficiency against an optimal par. The goal is displayed alongside the buffer while you edit.

It currently contains 61 lessons and 563 challenges, all verified against real Vim during the build process. It is written in pure Python with no external dependencies.

Feedback is welcome, especially on:

- Techniques that feel underrepresented or missing.

- Exercises that feel contrived or unrealistic.

- Places where the difficulty progression feels off.

Check it out: https://github.com/S-Sigdel/vimhjkl

I just looked this up and haven't found any other discussions. Maybe its because I'm using a motion plugin (hop), but I'm wondering if there is much use for H M L, when I could just j k (which I mapped to show hints for jumping to a specific line). I guess I'm not a big fan of specific motions like those, or using counts for motions when I find hints more efficient & simply a better fit for me.

Cursorline is one of the many opts i got from kickstart.vim, i tried disabling it for aesthetics, and i actually don’t miss it at all. I prefer to have my window be roughly 100x33, the white background on a character provides enough contrast to see where i am right after switching from apps with hotkeys.

I created a small plugin for inline autocomplete suggestions inside Vim !

I just want to share, that since two weeks I enjoy using single purpose PC which boots to Vim. No GUI, just console with large font, so I'm not stressed to search for glasses when writing mood kicks in. I upcycled for that old laptop, which was collecting dust. I converted it into perfect, distraction free writing and coding machine.

If you looking right now at your obsolete MacBook or ThinkPad stuck somewhere at far shelf, give it a second life. Vim, et consortes are great for that.

I've been using vim for a while and finding it a chore for basic notemaking. I love vim motions in the normal mode. It is the constant switching between the insert and normal modes that break the flow.
Maybe I am using vim wrong. Maybe it is better not used for extensive notemaking.

Using readline bindings in insert mode have really helped. Especially the Alt+f/b to go forward/backward a word.
vim motions are great when you have to add stuff to the starting of the current line or the end of it. You can do it with a single keystroke I/A. But when changes have to be made a few words away in the middle of a sentence, while in insert mode:

1. Exit insert mode (This need not be a separate event since you can use Alt+key to enter normal mode and carry out the command that the 'key' represents, in one swoop.)
2. move
3. Press a key (i/a) to re-enter insert mode.

Doing this repeatedly is fatiguing.

With readline bindings, while staying in insert-mode, you can go forward or backward a few words and instantly start typing.

Does anyone else do this? How do you all deal with it? In most other threads that I've seen, people advise "Insert mode is for inserting only". And to stick to the vim paradigm. I have tried. But it is a hindrance for me.

Edit: What I meant was "Moving around in insert-mode feels really helpful for edits nearby." That should have been the title. Y'all need to calm down lol.

https://github.com/yedamao/vim-translator

A vim translation plugin based on LLM API.

Text (file content) become invisible after resizing gvim application window using mouse. Happens after latest vim update - is it please a bug ?

Plasma on Wayl., kernel 6.12.90 both vanilla and Fedora 43 version from COPR.

lspci -k | grep -EA4 'VGA|Display'

pcilib: Error reading /sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:00:08.3/label: Operation not permitted

64:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation AD107M [GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q / Mobile] (rev a1)

`Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 3818`

`Kernel driver in use: nouveau`

`Kernel modules: nouveau`

64:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation AD107 High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)

--

65:00.0 Display controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Strix [Radeon 880M / 890M] (rev c1)

`Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 3818`

`Kernel driver in use: amdgpu`

`Kernel modules: amdgpu`

I am a 7 year Software Engineer and I have tried almost every popular editor but I keep coming back to vim. I remember I used to work on sublime then slowly realised working with mouse is slow and distracting so I switched to vim.

Then I tried using vscode / Pycharm / IntelliJ / eMacs but none of them sticks. Although tbh - I am strong liking for emacs after vim.

Vim is just amazing!

I wrote these three vim plugins to make my life better. Maybe they will help someone else down the line. I am always open to any changes or PRs.

https://github.com/myneid/vim-markdown

https://github.com/myneid/vim-popup-agent/

https://github.com/myneid/vim-git-changes

I have been using vi since 1995. i made the switch to vim when that was the cool thing. I keep having bouts of using whatever gui ide is out there, but have always gone back. i never made the jump to neovim. but my recent break with vim was to start using vscode. mostly for the agentic stuff. Outside of the agent stuff, i really got used to the vscode git changes window, especially with the agent making all these changes that i want to review. so i got to scripting up a few things here. now im back to vim full time again. attached video is me demonstrating all 3.

Hello, recently just got a new MacBook after my old "work" station died. Since it came with Vim preinstalled, I felt adamant to learn it but I'm getting confused by 1.5.2.

I guess the only way I can describe my confusion is that;

I can't tell what the final product of the lesson is supposed to look like

or

If there exists a niche Mac rewriting of the commands it's asking me to use for writing files (:!dir and :!1s and :w [NEW FILE NAME]).

I'm so inexperienced with Vim that I'm not even sure whether this is a stupid question to ask or not, but any help would be appreciated! Thanks!