Frozen Neovim

A repository-local, pinned Neovim configuration derived from a LazyVim prototype. LazyVim is not a runtime dependency. The current target is Linux x86_64.

Install and run

The production installer supports Linux x86-64 and intentionally exits if nvim is already on PATH. It installs the official binary distribution by merging its bin, lib, and share payload directly into ~/.local. Thus ~/.local/bin/nvim is the actual upstream executable, not a wrapper or symlink. Configuration and runtime data use the normal XDG user directories. The script prints every resolved destination before it writes; this matters when the shell explicitly sets XDG variables.

./install.sh
./verify.sh

The host needs curl, git, tar, gzip, sha256sum, and a C compiler. The compiler builds the pinned Tree-sitter grammars; nothing is installed globally.

The installer refuses an existing Neovim configuration by default. If Neovim is no longer installed but an old configuration remains, preserve it and install with:

./install.sh --backup-config

This moves the old Neovim configuration, data, state, and cache directories to timestamped siblings before installing. Keeping the old plugin and parser data out of the new installation is necessary for a reproducible result. It does not bypass the existing-nvim safety check.

For isolated repository testing, use ./bin/nvim and verify it with ./verify.sh --test. The test launcher redirects HOME and the XDG data paths to test_home while retaining access to the host Wayland clipboard.

Updating the configuration

Edit only config/nvim in this repository. To deploy those files to an installed copy, run:

./bin/sync-config

The command accepts only an installation marked as managed by this repository, backs up the previous complete config under the XDG cache directory, and then deploys an exact replacement. Use ./bin/sync-config --test to refresh the isolated test copy. Config sync deliberately changes configuration only.

When adding a plugin or changing a pinned plugin commit, synchronize the plugin checkouts before deploying the matching configuration:

./bin/sync-plugins
./bin/sync-config
./verify.sh

Use --test with both synchronization commands for the isolated test copy. sync-plugins reads the repository's authoritative manifest and fetches only the exact commits recorded there. It does not run Lazy update or select newer versions. Parser-list changes still require the parser installation procedure. These synchronization commands are development tools, not the distribution mechanism for a frozen release.

Buffer and tab navigation

The optional interface features are controlled independently in config/nvim/lua/frozen/settings/features.lua. The default bindings are:

• \ff: find files in the project
• \fg: search text in the project
• \xx: show diagnostics for the current buffer; Enter jumps to a diagnostic
• K: show the richest available hover information from the symbol, its definition, or its type definition
• gd: navigate to the definition's existing tab, or open it in a new tab; \cp previews its signature and documentation in a compact float
• \ba: all normal listed buffers
• \bb: displayed file buffers; Enter navigates to their existing tab/window
• \bo: orphaned file buffers; Enter loads one in the originating editor window
• \bm: modified file buffers; each entry states whether Enter navigates or loads
• \tr: name the current real Neovim tab; an empty name restores its automatic label
• In the file explorer, t switches to an existing tab displaying the file or opens a new tab; Ctrl-s and Ctrl-v open horizontal and vertical splits

Inside any buffer menu's result-list mode, t navigates to an existing tab or opens a new one, Ctrl-s/Ctrl-v open splits, and d safely deletes the selected buffer. The menus open in result-list mode; / or i focuses the search input. Enter or Escape finishes searching and returns to the list without opening anything, after which Enter, t, d, or a split command performs the selected action. The top tab line contains real Neovim tabpages only; buffer names are not substituted for tabs. The bottom status line reports the number of modified buffers and how many of those are currently orphaned.

The file and text-search menus start in their search input. Enter or Escape finishes typing and moves to the result list without opening anything. In the list, Enter opens the result normally, t navigates to an existing tab showing that file or opens a new tab, and Ctrl-s/Ctrl-v open splits. The diagnostics menu is limited to the current buffer and retains its normal Enter-to-location behavior.

The tab line uses the full terminal width and shortens every tab name as the number of tabs grows. It keeps all tabs visible while each name can retain at least four display cells; only under tighter space pressure may it elide distant tabs. The selected tab uses a different highlight from the other tabs.

Frozen components

• Neovim 0.12.4 official Linux x86_64 tarball
• tree-sitter CLI 0.26.8 official Linux x86_64 binary
• ripgrep 15.1.0 official static Linux x86-64 binary, kept in Neovim's private data directory so it does not replace a system rg
• lazy.nvim at an immutable commit
• every prototype plugin URL and immutable commit in config/nvim/lua/frozen/plugins.lua
• blink.cmp v1.10.2 and its verified prebuilt x86-64 GNU/Linux fuzzy matcher

The external tools are private and separated by when they are needed:

~/.local/share/nvim/frozen-nvim/
├── runtime-bin/rg
└── install-bin/tree-sitter

lua/frozen/tools.lua prepends runtime-bin only to Neovim's process environment, so plugins find the pinned rg. Child processes, including :terminal, inherit that private rg; the parent shell does not. The installer temporarily exposes install-bin only while compiling parsers, so the private Tree-sitter CLI is not visible during normal Neovim use. Neither tool can satisfy or conflict with RPM/deb package dependencies. Blink's matcher and the compiled parsers are shared libraries loaded directly and never enter PATH.

Uninstall

./uninstall.sh

The installer records every file merged from the official Neovim archive. The uninstaller requires that ownership manifest and removes only those files, plus this installation's plugins, parsers, private tools, and installer cache. It also removes the installer's private runtime state. It retains configuration, unrelated Neovim data, Neovim state, and Neovim cache by default. To remove all Neovim configuration/data/state/cache too:

./uninstall.sh --purge

Purge refuses a configuration without this repository's ownership marker. Timestamped directories created by --backup-config are never deleted or automatically restored.

The checksums in versions.env are published by the respective GitHub releases. Plugin source archives are not yet vendored, so a first install still requires GitHub availability.

config/nvim/lua/frozen/plugins.lua is authoritative. The installer reads that Lua file directly and checks out each commit before starting the configured editor. It does not run Lazy sync, consult a LazyVim-generated lockfile, or allow a distribution to select plugin revisions. lazy.nvim remains only the runtime plugin loader. All active runtime configuration lives under config/nvim/lua/frozen; see MIGRATION.md for the prototype migration status.

Portability boundary

The official Neovim 0.12.4 x86_64 tarball requires glibc 2.34. Linux distributions with an older glibc, musl-based distributions, and non-x86_64 systems are not currently supported. Arm64 Linux (including Raspberry Pi and Jetson/DGX ARM systems) and macOS require separately pinned upstream artifacts and checksums; they must also compile or install native parsers for their own architecture instead of reusing x86_64 .so files.

Mason is not used. Language servers are installed separately and their executables must be on PATH when Neovim starts. This keeps the frozen editor independent of Mason's moving registry while allowing distro packages, npm, pip, cargo, upstream binaries, or archived binaries to provide each server.

Language servers

The configuration knows the following servers. At startup it enables a server only when its command is on PATH, so installing a server and restarting Neovim is sufficient. Missing servers cause no editor errors.

Language	LSP configuration	Default command
C/C++	clangd	clangd
Python	basedpyright	basedpyright-langserver
Rust	rust_analyzer	rust-analyzer
Dart	dartls	dart (included in the Dart or Flutter SDK)
JavaScript/TypeScript	ts_ls	typescript-language-server
HTML	html	vscode-html-language-server
JSON	jsonls	vscode-json-language-server
YAML	yamlls	yaml-language-server
TOML	taplo	taplo
XML	lemminx	lemminx
Lua	lua_ls	lua-language-server

Here, "default command" means the command supplied by nvim-lspconfig. Install the server by any suitable method and ensure that command resolves on PATH. Server-specific arguments such as --stdio remain in the repository's LSP configuration; they do not belong in the symlink.

If an installed executable has to be exposed under the default command name, run:

./bin/link-lsp

The helper asks for the desired command name and the executable's absolute path, then creates a symlink in ~/.local/bin. It refuses to overwrite an existing file or shadow a command already on PATH. Ensure ~/.local/bin is on PATH before starting Neovim.

Known-working language-server versions can be recorded as they are tested, but the editor does not reject other versions. To add another language, add its nvim-lspconfig server name and executable to the table in config/nvim/lua/frozen/plugin_specs/lsp.lua. A nonstandard command name can be selected with that server's cmd setting.

For the three immediate target languages:

• The Dart or Flutter SDK supplies both the dart command and Dart language server. A Dart project needs pubspec.yaml for project-root detection.
• Install clangd for C/C++. For accurate include paths and compiler flags, make the build produce compile_commands.json in the project root or its build directory.
• With rustup, rustup component add rust-analyzer rust-src supplies the Rust server and standard-library sources.

Open a source file and run :LspInfo to confirm attachment. Diagnostics, completion, rename (\\cr), and code actions (\\ca) use the attached server.

Sources used for the initial freeze

• Neovim release and checksums: https://github.com/neovim/neovim/releases/tag/v0.12.4
• Neovim XDG paths: https://neovim.io/doc/user/starting.html#standard-path
• LazyVim prototype configuration: https://www.lazyvim.org/configuration/lazy.nvim
• nvim-treesitter requirements: https://github.com/nvim-treesitter/nvim-treesitter
• tree-sitter release and checksums: https://github.com/tree-sitter/tree-sitter/releases/tag/v0.26.8
• Dart SDK and language tooling: https://dart.dev/tools
• clangd installation and project setup: https://clangd.llvm.org/installation
• rust-analyzer installation: https://rust-analyzer.github.io/book/installation.html