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Terminal Support in NeoVim

Shaik Zahid
7 min readFeb 21, 2023

--

Toggle term for Neovim

Terminal Integration in Neovim can be done using a plugin called Toggle-term. It was developed by Akin. One can configure toggle-term in either horizontal, vertical or float mode.

Requirements

  • Neovim ≥ 0.7

Installation

  • Install the plugin by adding the github reference to plugins.lua file.
return {

    -- Alpha (Dashboard)
    {
        "goolord/alpha-nvim",
        lazy = true,
    },

    -- Bufferline
    {
        'akinsho/bufferline.nvim',
        dependencies = {
            'nvim-tree/nvim-web-devicons'
        },
    },

    -- Colorscheme
    {
        'folke/tokyonight.nvim',
    },

    -- Hop (Better Navigation)
    {
        "phaazon/hop.nvim",
        lazy = true,
    },


    -- Lualine
    {
        'nvim-lualine/lualine.nvim',
        dependencies = {
            'nvim-tree/nvim-web-devicons'
        },
    },

    -- Language Support
    {
        'VonHeikemen/lsp-zero.nvim',
        branch = 'v1.x',
        dependencies = {
            -- LSP Support
            {'neovim/nvim-lspconfig'},             -- Required
            {'williamboman/mason.nvim'},           -- Optional
            {'williamboman/mason-lspconfig.nvim'}, -- Optional

            -- Autocompletion
            {'hrsh7th/nvim-cmp'},         -- Required
            {'hrsh7th/cmp-nvim-lsp'},     -- Required
            {'hrsh7th/cmp-buffer'},       -- Optional
            {'hrsh7th/cmp-path'},         -- Optional
            {'saadparwaiz1/cmp_luasnip'}, -- Optional
            {'hrsh7th/cmp-nvim-lua'},     -- Optional

            -- Snippets
            {'L3MON4D3/LuaSnip'},             -- Required
            {'rafamadriz/friendly-snippets'}, -- Optional
        }
    },


    -- Nvimtree (File Explorer)
    {
        'nvim-tree/nvim-tree.lua',
        dependencies = {
            'nvim-tree/nvim-web-devicons',
        },
    },

    -- Telescope (Fuzzy Finder)
    {
        'nvim-telescope/telescope.nvim',
        dependencies = {
            {'nvim-lua/plenary.nvim'},
        }
    },

  
    -- Toggle Term
    -- Added this plugin.
    {
        'akinsho/toggleterm.nvim',
        tag = "*",
        config = true
    },


    -- Treesitter
    {
        "nvim-treesitter/nvim-treesitter",
    },

    -- Which-key
    {
        'folke/which-key.nvim',
        lazy = true,
    },

}
  • Save and Install toggle-term using shift+i , then we will move on to configure it.
Toggle-term using Lazy

Configuration

Add Plugins

  • Create a new file in Lua directory named toggleterm-config.lua file.
  • Add this code to configure toggle-term.
-- toggleterm-config.lua

local status_ok, toggleterm = pcall(require, "toggleterm")
if not status_ok then
 return
end

toggleterm.setup({
 size = 20,
 open_mapping = [[<c-\>]],
 hide_numbers = true,
 shade_filetypes = {},
 shade_terminals = true,
 shading_factor = 2,
 start_in_insert = true,
 insert_mappings = true,
 persist_size = true,
 direction = "float",
 close_on_exit = true,
 shell = vim.o.shell,
 float_opts = {
  border = "curved",
  winblend = 0,
  highlights = {
   border = "Normal",
   background = "Normal",
  },
 },
})

function _G.set_terminal_keymaps()
  local opts = {noremap = true}
  vim.api.nvim_buf_set_keymap(0, 't', '<esc>', [[<C-\><C-n>]], opts)
  vim.api.nvim_buf_set_keymap(0, 't', 'jk', [[<C-\><C-n>]], opts)
  vim.api.nvim_buf_set_keymap(0, 't', '<C-h>', [[<C-\><C-n><C-W>h]], opts)
  vim.api.nvim_buf_set_keymap(0, 't', '<C-j>', [[<C-\><C-n><C-W>j]], opts)
  vim.api.nvim_buf_set_keymap(0, 't', '<C-k>', [[<C-\><C-n><C-W>k]], opts)
  vim.api.nvim_buf_set_keymap(0, 't', '<C-l>', [[<C-\><C-n><C-W>l]], opts)
end

vim.cmd('autocmd! TermOpen term://* lua set_terminal_keymaps()')

local Terminal = require("toggleterm.terminal").Terminal
local lazygit = Terminal:new({ cmd = "lazygit", hidden = true })

function _LAZYGIT_TOGGLE()
 lazygit:toggle()
end

local node = Terminal:new({ cmd = "node", hidden = true })

function _NODE_TOGGLE()
 node:toggle()
end

local python = Terminal:new({ cmd = "python3", hidden = true })

function _PYTHON_TOGGLE()
 python:toggle()
end

Main Configuration

  • Source above file to main configuration init.lua file.
require "options"
require "keymaps"
require "lazy-config"
require "alpha-config"
require "bufferline-config"
require "hop-config"
require "nvim-tree-config"
require "lualine-config"
require "lsp-config"
require "telescope-config"
require "toggleterm-config"
require "treesitter-config"
require "whichkey"

Keybindings in Which-Key

  • Let’s add some keybindings to easily invoke terminal settings whenever we need.

    --Toggle Term
    t = {
        name = "Terminal",
        n = { "<cmd>lua _NODE_TOGGLE()<cr>", "Node" }, -- Node Terminal
        t = { "<cmd>lua _HTOP_TOGGLE()<cr>", "Htop" }, -- (Optional) Htop, If you have htop in linux
        p = { "<cmd>lua _PYTHON_TOGGLE()<cr>", "Python" }, -- Python Terminal
        f = { "<cmd>ToggleTerm direction=float<cr>", "Float" }, -- Floating Terminal

        -- Play with size according to your needs.
        h = { "<cmd>ToggleTerm size=10 direction=horizontal<cr>", "Horizontal" } -- Horizontal Terminal,
        v = { "<cmd>ToggleTerm size=80 direction=vertical<cr>", "Vertical" }, -- Vertical Terminal
    },
  • The updated which-key looks like this…

-- whichkey.lua

local status_ok, which_key = pcall(require, "which-key")
if not status_ok then
    return
end

local setup = {
    plugins = {
        marks = true, -- shows a list of your marks on ' and `
        registers = true, -- shows your registers on " in NORMAL or <C-r> in INSERT mode
        spelling = {
            enabled = true, -- enabling this will show WhichKey when pressing z= to select spelling suggestions
            suggestions = 20, -- how many suggestions should be shown in the list?
        },
        -- the presets plugin, adds help for a bunch of default keybindings in Neovim
        -- No actual key bindings are created
        presets = {
            operators = false, -- adds help for operators like d, y, ... and registers them for motion / text object completion
            motions = true, -- adds help for motions
            text_objects = true, -- help for text objects triggered after entering an operator
            windows = true, -- default bindings on <c-w>
            nav = true, -- misc bindings to work with windows
            z = true, -- bindings for folds, spelling and others prefixed with z
            g = true, -- bindings for prefixed with g
        },
    },
    -- add operators that will trigger motion and text object completion
    -- to enable all native operators, set the preset / operators plugin above
    -- operators = { gc = "Comments" },
    key_labels = {
        -- override the label used to display some keys. It doesn't effect WK in any other way.
        -- For example:
        -- ["<space>"] = "SPC",
        -- ["<cr>"] = "RET",
        -- ["<tab>"] = "TAB",
    },
    icons = {
        breadcrumb = "»", -- symbol used in the command line area that shows your active key combo
        separator = "➜", -- symbol used between a key and it's label
        group = "+", -- symbol prepended to a group
    },
    popup_mappings = {
        scroll_down = "<c-d>", -- binding to scroll down inside the popup
        scroll_up = "<c-u>", -- binding to scroll up inside the popup
    },
    window = {
        border = "rounded", -- none, single, double, shadow
        position = "bottom", -- bottom, top
        margin = { 1, 0, 1, 0 }, -- extra window margin [top, right, bottom, left]
        padding = { 2, 2, 2, 2 }, -- extra window padding [top, right, bottom, left]
        winblend = 0,
    },
    layout = {
        height = { min = 4, max = 25 }, -- min and max height of the columns
        width = { min = 20, max = 50 }, -- min and max width of the columns
        spacing = 3, -- spacing between columns
        align = "left", -- align columns left, center or right
    },
    ignore_missing = true, -- enable this to hide mappings for which you didn't specify a label
    hidden = { "<silent>", "<cmd>", "<Cmd>", "<CR>", "call", "lua", "^:", "^ " }, -- hide mapping boilerplate
    show_help = true, -- show help message on the command line when the popup is visible
    triggers = "auto", -- automatically setup triggers
    -- triggers = {"<leader>"} -- or specify a list manually
    triggers_blacklist = {
        -- list of mode / prefixes that should never be hooked by WhichKey
        -- this is mostly relevant for key maps that start with a native binding
        -- most people should not need to change this
        i = { "j", "k" },
        v = { "j", "k" },
    },
}

local opts = {
    mode = "n", -- NORMAL mode
    prefix = "<leader>",
    buffer = nil, -- Global mappings. Specify a buffer number for buffer local mappings
    silent = true, -- use `silent` when creating keymaps
    noremap = true, -- use `noremap` when creating keymaps
    nowait = true, -- use `nowait` when creating keymaps
}

local mappings = {

    ["a"] = { "<cmd>Alpha<cr>", "Alpha" },
    ["e"] = { "<cmd>NvimTreeToggle<cr>", "Explorer" }, -- File Explorer
    ["k"] = { "<cmd>bdelete<CR>", "Kill Buffer" },  -- Close current file
    ["m"] = { "<cmd>Mason<cr>", "Mason" }, -- LSP Manager
    ["p"] = { "<cmd>Lazy<CR>", "Plugin Manager" }, -- Invoking plugin manager
    ["q"] = { "<cmd>wqall!<CR>", "Quit" }, -- Quit Neovim after saving the file
    ["r"] = { "<cmd>lua vim.lsp.buf.format{async=true}<cr>", "Reformat Code" },
    ["w"] = { "<cmd>w!<CR>", "Save" }, -- Save current file

    -- Language Support
    l = {
        name = "LSP",
        i = { "<cmd>LspInfo<cr>", "Info" },
        r = { "<cmd>lua vim.lsp.buf.rename()<cr>", "Rename" },
        s = { "<cmd>Telescope lsp_document_symbols<cr>", "Document Symbols" },
        S = {
            "<cmd>Telescope lsp_dynamic_workspace_symbols<cr>",
            "Workspace Symbols",
        },
    },

    -- Telescope
    f = {
        name = "File Search",
        c = { "<cmd>Telescope colorscheme<cr>", "Colorscheme" },
        f = { "<cmd>lua require('telescope.builtin').find_files()<cr>", "Find files" },
        t = { "<cmd>Telescope live_grep <cr>", "Find Text Pattern" },
        r = { "<cmd>Telescope oldfiles<cr>", "Recent Files" },
    },

    s = {
        name = "Search",
        h = { "<cmd>Telescope help_tags<cr>", "Find Help" },
        m = { "<cmd>Telescope man_pages<cr>", "Man Pages" },
        r = { "<cmd>Telescope registers<cr>", "Registers" },
        k = { "<cmd>Telescope keymaps<cr>", "Keymaps" },
        c = { "<cmd>Telescope commands<cr>", "Commands" },
    },

  --Toggle Term
    t = {
        name = "Terminal",
        n = { "<cmd>lua _NODE_TOGGLE()<cr>", "Node" }, -- NodeJS Terminal
        p = { "<cmd>lua _PYTHON_TOGGLE()<cr>", "Python" }, -- Python Terminal
        f = { "<cmd>ToggleTerm direction=float<cr>", "Float" }, -- Floating Terminal

        -- Play with size according to your needs.
        h = { "<cmd>ToggleTerm size=10 direction=horizontal<cr>", "Horizontal" } -- Horizontal Terminal,
        v = { "<cmd>ToggleTerm size=80 direction=vertical<cr>", "Vertical" }, -- Vertical Terminal
    },

}

which_key.setup(setup)
which_key.register(mappings, opts)

Some Features of Toggle Term

  • Node Terminal
Node Terminal
  • Horizontal Terminal
Horizontal Terminal
  • Floating Terminal
Floating terminal
  • Vertical Terminal
  • Python Terminal

Keybindings

  • Space + t + h :- Horizontal Terminal
  • Space + t + v :- Vertical Terminal
  • Space + t + f :- Floating Terminal
  • Space + t + n :- NodeJS Terminal
  • Space + t + p :- Python Terminal

Neovim From Scratch

  • If you want a complete installation and configuration of Neovim from Scratch, then you can head over to my NEOVIM SERIES.
  • This series is updated regularly, with updates and inclusion of newer plugins which improves the wholesome IDE experience of Neovim.
Vim
Neovim
Terminal
Editor
Ide

--

--

Shaik Zahid

Written by Shaik Zahid

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