fresh-pretty-vim

A compact Fresh setup for single-file editing: Fresh built-in Vi mode, Markdown page view, minimal chrome, and a Nerd Font statusline.

Architecture

fresh_pretty_vim is now a pure appearance/profile shell around Fresh's built-in vi_mode plugin.

• Fresh built-in vi_mode provides all Vim behavior: modes, keymaps, counts, operators, motions, registers, text objects, visual selections, repeat, and : command behavior.
• fresh_pretty_vim provides only the statusline appearance and profile defaults.
• This repository does not patch or duplicate Fresh's Vim implementation.

What it changes

• Enables Fresh built-in vi_mode and configures it to auto-start.
• Keeps the compact left mode chip:  NORMAL,  INSERT,  VISUAL.
• Keeps a compact right status area: language, cursor position, and Fresh's built-in encoding token.
• Uses Fresh's native vertical scrollbar for scroll progress.
• Disables Fresh's cursor-jump trail animation and keeps plugin motion short.
• Hides the menu bar and tab bar while keeping Fresh's native vertical scrollbar visible.
• Enables Markdown page view and line wrap.

Files

plugins/fresh_pretty_vim.ts            # appearance/statusline only
plugins/fresh_pretty_vim.i18n.json     # legacy translations retained for compatibility
types/fresh.d.ts                       # Fresh plugin API types for local checking
config/config.json                     # Fresh UI, built-in vi_mode, and plugin config
shell/fish/functions/fe.fish           # Optional fish wrapper, creates missing local files
install.sh                             # Copy files into ~/.config/fresh
setup.ps1                              # Copy files into $env:APPDATA\fresh on Windows

Quick Setup

Windows PowerShell

git clone https://github.com/NihilDigit/fresh-pretty-vim.git
cd fresh-pretty-vim
powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\setup.ps1

The Windows setup script installs into $env:APPDATA\fresh, which is the config directory reported by fresh --cmd config paths. To install somewhere else, set FRESH_CONFIG_DIR before running it.

macOS / Linux

git clone https://github.com/NihilDigit/fresh-pretty-vim.git
cd fresh-pretty-vim
./install.sh

Both installers back up existing target files with a timestamped .bak suffix, then copy the plugin and config into the Fresh config directory.

Restart Fresh after installing.

Configuration

The installed config/config.json keeps fresh_pretty_vim enabled for the statusline and profile defaults, and enables Fresh built-in vi_mode with auto-start:

"plugins": {
  "vi_mode": {
    "enabled": true,
    "settings": {
      "autoStart": true
    }
  },
  "fresh_pretty_vim": {
    "enabled": true
  }
}

The right status bar uses the plugin's appearance-only info token plus Fresh's native encoding token:

"status_bar": {
  "right": ["{fresh_pretty_vim:info}", "{encoding}"]
}

Do not add Vim keymaps to fresh_pretty_vim; configure or improve Vim behavior in Fresh's built-in vi_mode upstream.

Optional fish wrapper

cp shell/fish/functions/fe.fish ~/.config/fish/functions/fe.fish

fe missing.md creates missing.md first, then opens it with Fresh. Fresh location syntax also works, for example fe notes.md:12.

The wrapper only skips obvious non-file arguments such as flags, -, URLs, and scp-style remote paths. If you pass a plain positional argument that is not meant to be a file, it may still create a local file. Set FE_CREATE_MISSING=0 to disable automatic creation for one shell session.

Requirements

• Fresh with the built-in vi_mode plugin and its autoStart setting.
• A Nerd Font in the terminal.
• marksman, if you want Markdown LSP support.