⛶  base.nvim  ⛶

A template for writing Neovim plugins

---

💡 Motivation

⚡️ Requirements

• Neovim ≥ 0.11
• luarocks: install Lua packages
• busted: unit testing framework for Lua
• nlua: Neovim as Lua interpreter
• lazy.nvim: plugin manager for Neovim
• lazydev.nvim (optional): enhanced plugin dev experience.
• Claude Code (optional): for automatic plugin initialization

Here are my personal scripts to install Lua dev packages on macOS: install.sh and uninstall.sh. Use at your own risk!

📦 Installation

1. Ensure you have requirements installed
2. Click "Use this template" → "Create a new repository" at the top of this page.
3. Choose a name with the .nvim extension (e.g., your-plugin.nvim).
4. Clone your new repository and cd into it.
5. Manually follow the initialization steps in init-from-template.md or run claude init-from-template.
6. Install your-plugin.nvim using your preferred plugin manager and configure Neovim for plugin development:

-- Install and configure your plugin during development
{
  "your-plugin.nvim",
  dir = "/path/to/your-plugin.nvim", -- So we are using the local version of the plugin
  branch = "main", -- Select the branch of the plugin to use
  lazy = false,
  opts = {},
  keys = {
    {
      "<leader>rb", -- Choose a key binding for reloading the plugin
      "<cmd>Lazy reload your-plugin.nvim<cr>",
      desc = "Reload your-plugin.nvim",
      mode = { "n", "v" },
    },
  },
}

-- Enable Lua language server support external libraries
{
  "folke/lazydev.nvim",
  ft = "lua",
  opts = {
    library = {
      "${3rd}/luassert/library",
      "${3rd}/busted/library",
      "your-plugin.nvim",
    }
  },
}

🚀 Usage

Get started by reading the comprehensive documentation with :help base, which covers all plugin features and configuration options.

Note

Most Vim/Neovim plugins include built-in :help documentation. If you're new to this, start with :help to learn the basics.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• nvim-best-practices: Collection of DOs and DON'Ts for modern Neovim Lua plugin development
• nvim-lua-plugin-template: another template for Neovim Lua plugins
• LuaCATS annotations: type annotations to your Lua code
• Plugin development walkthrough by TJ DeVries: it uses plenary instead of busted for testing