qlean.nvim

qlean is a Neovim plugin that prevents the “only auxiliary UI windows remain” problem when you close your last keep-designated window.

It runs only when there is exactly one keep-designated window.

What it does

• On :q, if only one keep-designated window remains and the current window is keep-designated
  • It closes non-keep-designated windows (help/quickfix/tree, etc.)
• It still performs cleanup even if buffers are modified
  • Whether :q succeeds is left to Neovim

qlean does not force quitting.

Installation

lazy.nvim

{
  "kyoh86/qlean.nvim",
}

(For other plugin managers, use the same placement.)

Basic usage

No extra commands are needed. qlean hooks into QuitPre.

Configuration

Minimal setup (recommended)

If you don't set anything, buftype == '' is treated as keep.

local rule = require("qlean.rule")

require("qlean").setup({})

• Normal files (buftype == '') are treated as keep-designated buffers
• Windows showing other buffers (help/quickfix/tree, etc.) are closed before quit

What is keep

keep is a function that decides whether a buffer should be kept at quit time.

• keep(ctx) == true
  • Treated as a keep-designated buffer and not auto-closed
• keep(ctx) == false
  • Not a keep-designated buffer, so the window showing that buffer is closed

Common examples

Treat terminal buffers as keep-designated buffers

keep = rule.any(
  rule.buftype(""),
  rule.buftype("terminal")
)

Include gitcommit/gitrebase as keep-designated buffers

keep = rule.any(
  rule.buftype(""),
  rule.filetype("gitcommit", "gitrebase")
)

Always close file trees (neo-tree, etc.)

keep = rule.all(
  rule.buftype(""),
  rule.not(rule.bufname("^neo%-tree://"))
)

Write your own predicate

keep = function(ctx)
  -- ctx includes bufnr / buftype / filetype / bufname, etc.
  -- See the lua/qlean/type.lua for details.
  return ctx.bo.buftype == "" and ctx.bufname:match("/keep/") ~= nil
end

rule module

qlean.rule provides utilities to build predicates for keep.

Composition

rule.all(p1, p2, ...)
rule.any(p1, p2, ...)
rule.not(p)

Predicate builders

rule.buftype(value, ...)
rule.filetype(value, ...)
rule.bufname(pattern)
rule.buflisted(bool)
rule.bufhidden(value, ...)
rule.modified(bool)
rule.modifiable(bool)
rule.bvar(key, value?)

x can be a string. Pass multiple strings as varargs.

Acknowledgements

Inspired by kawarimidoll's article. Thank you.

• https://zenn.dev/vim_jp/articles/ff6cd224fab0c7

Notes

• Does not affect :q!/:qa!
• Does not automate saving or discarding buffers