charVim Wiki

A personal Neovim configuration running on Neovim 0.12+, managed by lazy.nvim.

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Directory Structure

Charvim/
├── nvim/
│   ├── after/
│   │   └── ftplugin/
│   │       ├── cobol.lua           # COBOL-specific settings
│   │       └── make.lua            # Makefile-specific settings
│   ├── colors/
│   │   └── noir-cat.lua            # Custom noir-cat colorscheme
│   ├── lua/
│   │   ├── img/
│   │   │   └── charVim.txt         # ASCII art for the dashboard
│   │   ├── alpha-config.lua        # Dashboard configuration
│   │   ├── autoclose.lua           # Auto-closing brackets and quotes
│   │   ├── completion-config.lua   # nvim-cmp completion config
│   │   ├── dap-config.lua          # Debugger configuration
│   │   ├── harpoon-config.lua      # Harpoon keymaps and setup
│   │   ├── keymaps.lua             # Custom keybindings
│   │   ├── lint-config.lua         # Linter configuration (nvim-lint)
│   │   ├── lsp-config.lua          # LSP settings and handlers
│   │   ├── multicursor.lua         # Custom multi-cursor implementation
│   │   ├── options.lua             # General Neovim options
│   │   ├── plugins.lua             # Plugin definitions via lazy.nvim
│   │   ├── rename-config.lua       # Find & replace / rename UI
│   │   ├── statusline.lua          # Custom mode-aware statusline
│   │   ├── theme-switcher.lua      # Runtime theme cycling
│   │   └── treesitter-config.lua   # Treesitter setup
│   └── init.lua                    # Main entry point

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Leader Keys

Key	Value
<leader>	Space
<localleader>	\

Leader key timeout: 500ms

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Keybindings

Tip

This section covers custom keybindings. For standard Neovim motions (like h/j/k/l, w, b, etc.), please refer to the HOME.md file.

General

Keys	Mode	Action
jk	Insert	Escape to normal mode
<leader>w	Normal	Save file (:w)
<leader>q	Normal	Save and quit (:wq)
<leader>qq	Normal	Quit without saving (:q!)
;	Normal	Shortcut to shell command (:!)

Navigation

Keys	Mode	Action
[[	Normal	Go to beginning of file (gg)
]]	Normal	Go to end of file (G)
H	Normal/Visual	Custom: Go to beginning of line (0)
L	Normal/Visual	Custom: Go to end of line ($)
Alt+[	Normal/Visual	Previous paragraph ({)
Alt+]	Normal/Visual	Next paragraph (})
Ctrl+h/j/k/l	Normal	Navigate splits (also integrates with tmux panes)

Line Manipulation

Keys	Mode	Action
Alt+k / Alt+j	Normal	Move line up / down
Alt+k / Alt+j	Visual	Move selection up / down
Ctrl+k / Ctrl+j	Insert	Move line up / down
Ctrl+Shift+k / Ctrl+Shift+j	Normal	Copy (duplicate) line up / down
Ctrl+Shift+k / Ctrl+Shift+j	Visual	Copy selection up / down

File Explorer (Telescope File Browser)

Keys	Mode	Action
<leader>e	Normal	Open file browser at current file's directory
<leader>E	Normal	Open file browser at project root (.git, package.json, etc.)
<leader>t	Normal	Open new tab with file browser
:E or :Tree	Command	Open file browser

Telescope

Keys	Context	Action
<leader>g	Normal	Live grep
<leader>p	Normal	Projects picker
Ctrl+.	Telescope insert mode	Toggle hidden files
Dashboard f	Alpha	Find file
Dashboard p	Alpha	Projects
Dashboard g	Alpha	Find text (live grep)
Dashboard r	Alpha	Recent files

Hidden files are shown by default. .git/ directories are always ignored.

Harpoon 2

Keys	Mode	Action
<leader>a	Normal	Add current file to Harpoon list
<leader>ar	Normal	Remove current file from Harpoon list
<leader>ac	Normal	Clear all Harpoon marks
<leader>h	Normal	Toggle Harpoon quick menu
Alt+1 through Alt+5	Normal	Jump to Harpoon file 1–5
Alt+n / Alt+p	Normal	Next / previous Harpoon file

Multi-Cursor

Keys	Mode	Action
Ctrl+n	Normal	Enter multi-cursor mode
Ctrl+Up	Normal/Visual	Add cursor above
Ctrl+Down	Normal/Visual	Add cursor below
j / k	Normal (multi-cursor active)	Move down/up and extend cursors
Esc	Normal (multi-cursor active)	Exit multi-cursor mode

In multi-cursor mode, entering insert mode types at all cursor positions simultaneously.

Find & Replace / Rename

Keys	Mode	Action
<leader>S	Normal	Open find & replace / rename panel
<leader>S	Visual	Open panel pre-filled with selected text
:Find	Command	Same as <leader>S

The panel has three sections: Find, Replace, and a Results list with a live preview pane.

Keys	Context	Action
Tab	Any panel	Cycle focus between Find → Replace → Results
j / k or Up / Down	Results list	Navigate matches
y	Results list	Accept replacement for the highlighted match
Y	Any panel	Accept replacement for all matches
Enter	Replace panel or Results	Accept all (same as Y)
Enter	Results list	Jump to match in file
Esc / q	Any panel	Close

When the find term matches an identifier under an active LSP client with rename support, Y uses LSP rename instead of regex substitution.

Runners

Keys	Mode	Action
<leader>ob	Normal	Open HTML file in browser
<leader>rp	Normal	Run current Python file in split terminal
<leader>rj	Normal	Compile and run current Java file in split terminal

LSP

Keys	Mode	Action
K	Normal	Hover documentation
gd	Normal	Go to definition
gD	Normal	Go to declaration
gi	Normal	Go to implementation
go	Normal	Go to type definition
gr	Normal	Show references
gs	Normal	Signature help
<leader>lr	Normal	Rename symbol (LSP)
<leader>ca	Normal	Code action
<leader>le	Normal	Open diagnostic float
[d / ]d	Normal	Previous / next diagnostic
<leader>ih	Normal	Toggle inlay hints
<leader>ig	Normal	Add word under cursor to dictionary (ltex/typos_lsp)
<leader>di	Normal	Inspect diagnostics at cursor

Java (buffer-local, active in .java files)

Keys	Mode	Action
<leader>jb	Normal	Build project (Maven/Gradle/Ant auto-detected)
<leader>jt	Normal	Run tests
<leader>jc	Normal	Clean project
<leader>jw	Normal	Clean JDTLS workspace cache

Kotlin (buffer-local, active in .kt files)

Keys	Mode	Action
<leader>kb	Normal	Build project (Gradle/Maven auto-detected)
<leader>kt	Normal	Run tests
<leader>kc	Normal	Clean project
<leader>kr	Normal	Run project

Completion (nvim-cmp)

Keys	Mode	Action
Tab / Shift+Tab	Insert	Cycle through completion items
Enter	Insert	Confirm selected completion

Debugging (DAP)

Keys	Mode	Action
<leader>db	Normal	Toggle breakpoint
<leader>dB	Normal	Set conditional breakpoint
<leader>dc	Normal	Continue
<leader>dn	Normal	Step over
<leader>di	Normal	Step into
<leader>do	Normal	Step out
<leader>dr	Normal	Open REPL
<leader>dl	Normal	Run last configuration
<leader>dt	Normal	Terminate session
<leader>du	Normal	Toggle DAP UI
<leader>dp	Normal	Debug Python method under cursor

The DAP UI opens automatically when a session starts and closes when it ends.

AI (avante.nvim)

Keys	Mode	Action
Alt+Enter	Insert	Accept inline suggestion
Alt+]	Insert	Next suggestion
Ctrl+]	Insert	Dismiss suggestion

Linting

Keys	Mode	Action
Auto	BufWritePost/BufEnter	Lint file on save and entry

Themes

Keys	Mode	Action
Dashboard t	Alpha	Open theme picker
:ThemeSelect	Command	Open interactive theme picker
:Theme <name>	Command	Switch to a specific theme by name

Tree-sitter Incremental Selection

Keys	Mode	Action
gnn	Normal	Init selection
grn	Normal	Expand to next node
grc	Normal	Expand to scope
grm	Normal	Shrink selection

Dashboard

Keys	Mode	Action
<leader>d	Normal	Open Alpha dashboard

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Plugins

Plugin Manager

• lazy.nvim — Lazy-loading plugin manager. Clone depth set to 1 with 120s timeout for reliable installs.

Themes

• rose-pine (Knew-pines variant) — Transparent background, gold cursor line number.
• tokyonight (night style) — Transparent.
• catppuccin (mocha flavour) — Transparent.
• gruvbox — Transparent mode.
• noir-cat — Custom dark colorscheme defined in nvim/colors/noir-cat.lua.
• habamax — Built-in Neovim colorscheme.
• theme-switcher (custom module) — Cycle between all themes at runtime via :ThemeSelect or :Theme <name>. Selection persists across restarts.

Available theme names: Auto, Knew-pines, Noir-cat, Tokyo Night, Catppuccin, Gruvbox, Habamax.

UI

• noice.nvim — Replaces the command line with a centered popup. Messages and popupmenu backends disabled in favour of nvim-cmp.
• alpha-nvim — Dashboard/start screen with ASCII art logo and quick-access buttons (find file, projects, new file, recent files, live grep, config, lazy, mason, themes, quit).
• which-key.nvim — Displays available keybindings in a popup (modern preset).

Navigation & File Management

• telescope.nvim + telescope-file-browser.nvim — Fuzzy finder and file browser. Replaces netrw. Shows hidden files by default.
• project.nvim — Project detection and management via Telescope. Detects by LSP root or pattern (.git, Makefile, package.json, pom.xml, build.gradle, Cargo.toml).
• harpoon (v2) — Quick file bookmarking and navigation. Saves on toggle, syncs on UI close.
• vim-tmux-navigator — Seamless navigation between Neovim splits and tmux panes with Ctrl+h/j/k/l.

Editing

• nvim-surround — Add, change, and delete surrounding pairs (quotes, brackets, tags, etc.).
• multicursor (custom module) — Native multi-cursor implementation. Broadcasts insert-mode changes and dot-repeat to all cursor positions. No external dependencies.
• autoclose (custom module) — Auto-closes brackets, quotes, and backticks. Handles escape-through-closing-char, backspace-deletes-pair, and enter-opens-block. Also works in command mode and visual mode (wrap selection).
• rename-config (custom module) — Find & replace / rename panel backed by rg. Uses LSP rename when the find term is an unchanged identifier with a rename-capable LSP client, otherwise falls back to regex substitution via quickfix (cfdo).

LSP & Diagnostics

• mason.nvim — LSP server, linter, and DAP installer.
• LSP servers are registered directly with vim.lsp.config() / vim.lsp.enable() (no mason-lspconfig).
• Inlay hints enabled by default where supported (toggle with <leader>ih).
• Diagnostic noise from ltex (sentence/paragraph length, "This sentence…") is filtered out globally.

Configured LSP Servers

Server	Languages	Notes
lua_ls	Lua	Auto-installed via Mason
pyright	Python	Auto-installed via Mason
ts_ls	TypeScript / JavaScript / Vue	Auto-installed via Mason
jdtls	Java	Per-project workspace dirs, Maven/Gradle/Ant auto-detect, code lens enabled, GoogleStyle format
kotlin_language_server	Kotlin	JVM target 17, type and parameter inlay hints
gopls	Go	Unused param + shadow analysis, gofumpt, full inlay hints
clangd	C / C++ / Obj-C / Obj-C++	Auto-installed via Mason
tinymist	Typst	Exports PDF on save
sourcekit-lsp	Swift / Obj-C / Obj-C++	System binary; lazy-enabled on filetype
lemminx	XML	Auto-installed via Mason

Completion

• nvim-cmp — Completion engine with sources:
  • nvim_lsp — LSP completions
  • buffer — Buffer word completions
• LuaSnip — Snippet engine (used for LSP snippet expansion).

AI

• avante.nvim — AI-assisted code chat and editing using Anthropic Claude (claude-haiku-4-5). Auto-suggestions disabled; invoke manually via the avante UI. Requires ANTHROPIC_API_KEY set in the .env file next to nvim/.

Linting

• nvim-lint — Configurable linting via lint-config.lua. Auto-lints on BufWritePost and BufEnter.

Language	Linter
Lua	luacheck
Go	staticcheck
Python	ruff
JavaScript / TypeScript	eslint_d
Java	checkstyle
Kotlin	ktlint

Debugging (DAP)

• nvim-dap + nvim-dap-ui — Debug Adapter Protocol. UI opens automatically on session start and closes on exit.
• mason-nvim-dap — Ensures DAP adapters are installed: python, javadbg, codelldb, kotlin.

Language	Adapter	Notes
Python	dap-python	pytest as test runner
Java	jdtls built-in	Attach to process or launch by main class
C / C++	codelldb	Prompts for executable path
Swift	codelldb	Defaults to .build/debug/
Kotlin	kotlin-debug-adapter	Launch by main class or attach on port 5005

Syntax & Parsing

• nvim-treesitter — Syntax highlighting, indentation, and incremental selection. Auto-installs missing parsers. Disables highlighting for files > 100KB.
• Installed parsers: c, lua, vim, vimdoc, query, javascript, typescript, python, rust, go, html, css, json, markdown, bash, yaml, toml, xml, kotlin.
• Crystal files (.cr) fall back to Ruby syntax highlighting.
• .plist files are treated as XML.
• nvim-ts-autotag — Auto-closes and auto-renames HTML/JSX tags.

Document Authoring

• typst-preview.nvim — Live browser preview for Typst files. Custom commands: :TP (start), :TS (stop), :TU (update).

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Editor Options

Option	Value
Line numbers	On (absolute)
Relative numbers	On
Tab width	4 spaces (expandtab)
Smart indent	On
Swap files	Off
Backup files	Off
Clipboard	System clipboard (unnamedplus)
Scroll offset	10 lines
Encoding	UTF-8
Cursor line	Highlighted (number only, gold color)
Cursor shape	Block in normal/visual, vertical bar in insert, horizontal bar in replace
Command line height	0 (hidden)
Whitespace chars	Visible (tab ▸, trail ·, extends », precedes «, nbsp ␣, leading │)
Background	Transparent (both Normal and NormalFloat)
Undo	Persistent (stored in Neovim data dir)
Incremental substitute	Split preview (inccommand = split)

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Statusline

Custom-built statusline (no plugin). Displays:

• Left: Mode indicator letter + filename + modified flag [+]
• Right: Save flash (written, shown for 2s after save) + current mode name + percentage + column

Mode names: NORMAL, INSERT, VISUAL, V-LINE, V-BLOCK, COMMAND, SELECT, S-LINE, S-BLOCK, REPLACE, SHELL, TERMINAL.

Mode indicator colours:

Mode	Colour
Normal	Gold #f6c177
Insert	Foam #9ccfd8
Visual	Iris #c4a7e7
Command	Love #eb6f92
Replace	Love #eb6f92

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Filetype-Specific Settings

COBOL (after/ftplugin/cobol.lua)

• Tab width: 8 spaces
• Color columns at 7 and 73 (traditional fixed-format margins)
• Text width: 72
• Absolute line numbers, no relative numbers

Makefile (after/ftplugin/make.lua)

• Makefile-specific settings and options.

Crystal

• .cr files mapped to crystal filetype
• Falls back to Ruby syntax highlighting

Java

• Build system auto-detected (Maven pom.xml, Gradle build.gradle/build.gradle.kts, Ant build.xml)
• JDTLS workspace directories stored in ~/.cache/nvim/jdtls/<project_name>
• Code lens enabled, GoogleStyle format profile
• Buffer-local build keymaps: <leader>jb/jt/jc/jw

Kotlin

• Build system auto-detected (Gradle or Maven)
• Buffer-local build keymaps: <leader>kb/kt/kc/kr

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Custom Commands

Command	Action
:E	Open Telescope file browser
:Tree	Open Telescope file browser
:Find	Open find & replace / rename panel
:TP	Start Typst preview
:TS	Stop Typst preview
:TU	Update Typst preview
:ThemeSelect	Open interactive theme picker
:Theme <name>	Switch to a specific theme
:OpenInBrowser	Open current HTML file in browser
:RunPython	Run current Python file
:RunJava	Run current Java file

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Notes

• Plugin versions are locked in nvim/lazy-lock.json. Run :Lazy update to update and :Lazy restore to roll back.
• Mason-managed tools are stored in Neovim's data directory (~/.local/share/nvim/mason/).
• The autoclose, multicursor, and rename-config modules are custom implementations (not plugins).
• ANTHROPIC_API_KEY must be set in the .env file adjacent to nvim/ for avante.nvim to work.
• Theme selection is persisted to Neovim's data directory and restored on next launch.