tree-sitter-manager.nvim

A lightweight Tree-sitter parser manager for Neovim.

Why this plugin?

Although Neovim 0.12 integrated Tree-sitter into the core, it still lacks a built-in parser installer. With nvim-treesitter/nvim-treesitter now archived, this plugin provides a lightweight, actively maintained alternative that makes installing parsers and adding new languages effortless.

tree-sitter-manager.nvim provides a minimal alternative for:

• Installing and removing Tree-sitter parsers
• Automatically copying queries for syntax highlighting
• Managing parsers through a clean TUI interface

Features

• Install parsers directly from Tree-sitter repositories
• Dynamic FileType autocmd registration for installed parsers
• Works with any plugin manager (lazy, packer, vim-plug, native packages)
• Custom/fork repositories: Override any language or add new ones via setup()
• Repository queries: Set queries to the relative path of the queries directory in the repo

Requirements

Mandatory

• Neovim 0.12+
• tree-sitter CLI
• git (for cloning parser repositories)
• C compiler (gcc/clang for building parsers)

Optional

• Nerd Font (for proper display of icons ✅❌📦)

Installation

lazy.nvim

{
  "romus204/tree-sitter-manager.nvim",
  dependencies = {}, -- tree-sitter CLI must be installed system-wide
  config = function()
    require("tree-sitter-manager").setup()
  end,
}

vim.pack

vim.pack.add {
  { src = "https://github.com/romus204/tree-sitter-manager.nvim" }
}

require("tree-sitter-manager").setup()

Default Options

require("tree-sitter-manager").setup({
  -- Default Options
  parser_dir = vim.fn.stdpath("data") .. "/site/parser",
  query_dir = vim.fn.stdpath("data") .. "/site/queries",
  assume_installed = {}, -- blacklist languages
  ensure_installed = {}, -- parsers to install at startup
  auto_install = false, -- auto-install when a new filetype is encountered
  noauto_install = {}, -- blacklist from auto_install
  highlight = true, -- enable treesitter highlighting (use list to whitelist)
  nohighlight = {}, -- blacklist from highlight
  languages = {}, -- override or add new parser sources
  nerdfont = true, -- use Nerd Font icons in the manager UI
  border = "rounded", -- border style for the TUI window
  min_width = 78, -- minimum size of the TUI
  min_height = 40,
})

Custom / Fork Repositories

You can override built-in language definitions or add entirely new ones via the languages option in setup(). This keeps repos.lua clean — no changes to the plugin repository are needed.

Override a built-in language with a fork

require("tree-sitter-manager").setup({
  languages = {
    cpp = {
      install_info = {
        url = "https://github.com/myfork/tree-sitter-cpp",
        revision = "abc1234",
        queries = "queries",
      },
    },
  },
})

Add a language not in the built-in list

require("tree-sitter-manager").setup({
  languages = {
    mylang = {
      install_info = {
        url = "https://github.com/someone/tree-sitter-mylang",
        queries = "queries/subdir",
      },
    },
  },
})

queries behaviour

If queries is unset or nil bundled runtime/queries/<lang>/ will be symlinked to the query_dir location. Set it to the relative path of the queries directory in the repository, often "queries", to use the shipped queries.

Automatic Installation

You can automatically install missing parsers upon editing a new file by setting auto_install = true. To opt-out of some languages, while auto-install is enabled, use the noauto_install option.

require("tree-sitter-manager").setup({
  auto_install = true,
  -- Use built-in Neovim treesitter parsers
  noauto_install = {
    "c", "lua", "markdown", "markdown_inline", "query", "vim", "vimdoc"
  },
})

Treesitter Highlighting

Treesitter highlighting is enabled by default. If you prefer to use standard regex highlighting for specific languages, use the nohighlight option.

require("tree-sitter-manager").setup({
  -- Use regex highlighting for these languages
  nohighlight = { "yaml", "zsh" },
})

Alternatively, if you prefer an "opt-in" approach, use the highlight option.

require("tree-sitter-manager").setup({
  -- Only enable treesitter highlighting for these languages
  highlight = { "lua", "c" },

  -- Disable treesitter highlighting
  -- highlight = {},
})

Usage

:TSManager - Open the parser management interface
:TSInstall - Install parsers provided as arguments
:TSUninstall - Uninstall parsers
:TSUpdate - Update parsers. Add bang to force update all.

Keybindings

i - Install parser under cursor
x - Remove parser under cursor
u - Update parser under cursor
r - Refresh installation status
q / <Esc> - Close window

Queries

Syntax highlighting queries (highlights.scm, injections.scm, etc.) were sourced from the archived nvim-treesitter repository and placed in runtime/queries/.

Parser Repository Links

Parser repository URLs in repos.lua are sourced from the archived nvim-treesitter repository.

Warning

These links are provided as-is. Due to the large number of parsers, each URL cannot be manually verified for current availability or compatibility. If you encounter a broken link, outdated revision, or build failure, please:

• Open an issue with details
• Or submit a pull request with a fix

Your contributions help keep this plugin reliable for everyone.

Known Limitations

• Unix-first development: Primarily tested on macOS/Linux. Windows support may require additional testing.
• Requires tree-sitter CLI: Ensure tree-sitter is available in your $PATH.
• No auto-updates: To update a parser, update it manually (u) or remove (x) and reinstall (i) it.

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome! Especially for:

• Adding new languages to repos.lua
• UI/UX improvements
• Bug fixes