Nvim-Tmux Nav

Navigate through tmux panes and nvim windows with the same keybindings.

Configuration

Tmux

tmux needs to be configured to detect if nvim is running and, if so, send keys to nvim allowing it to handle switching windows.

Add the following to your tmux config at ~/.config/tmux/tmux.conf or ~/.tmux.conf, adjusting the keybindings to your liking.

is_vim='#{m/ri:^(vim?|view|vimdiff|nvim)$,#{pane_current_command}}'
bind-key -n M-h if-shell -F "$is_vim" { send-keys M-h } { select-pane -L }
bind-key -n M-j if-shell -F "$is_vim" { send-keys M-j } { select-pane -D }
bind-key -n M-k if-shell -F "$is_vim" { send-keys M-k } { select-pane -U }
bind-key -n M-l if-shell -F "$is_vim" { send-keys M-l } { select-pane -R }

To turn these bindings on or off with an environment variable, such as VIM_TMUX_NAV, use the following instead.

%if "$VIM_TMUX_NAV"
  is_vim='#{m/ri:^(vim?|view|vimdiff|nvim)$,#{pane_current_command}}'
  bind-key -n M-h if-shell -F "$is_vim" { send-keys M-h } { select-pane -L }
  bind-key -n M-j if-shell -F "$is_vim" { send-keys M-j } { select-pane -D }
  bind-key -n M-k if-shell -F "$is_vim" { send-keys M-k } { select-pane -U }
  bind-key -n M-l if-shell -F "$is_vim" { send-keys M-l } { select-pane -R }
%else
  bind-key -n M-h select-pane -L
  bind-key -n M-j select-pane -D
  bind-key -n M-k select-pane -U
  bind-key -n M-l select-pane -R
%endif

Nvim

Add the following to your nvim config file at ~/.config/nvim/init.lua. The keybindings here should match those set in your tmux config.

require("nvimtmuxnav").setup {
  keybindings = {
    left = "<M-h>",
    down = "<M-j>",
    up = "<M-k>",
    right = "<M-l>",
  }
}