kai.nvim

My personal Neovim configuration.

Forked off of kickstart.nvim.

Introduction

A starting point for Neovim that is:

• Small
• Single-file
• Completely Documented

NOT a Neovim distribution, but instead a starting point for your configuration.

Installation

Quick Start

# Install some dependencies
sudo apt install -y \
	make \
	unzip \
	gcc \
	fd-find \
	fonts-noto-color-emoji \
	xclip

# Install ripgrep
brew install ripgrep

# Install nvim
curl -LO https://github.com/neovim/neovim/releases/latest/download/nvim-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
sudo rm -rf /opt/nvim
sudo tar -C /opt -xzf nvim-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
rm -f nvim-linux-x86_64.tar.gz

# Install kai.nvim
git clone https://github.com/KaiNakamura/kai.nvim.git "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}"/nvim

Now launch Neovim!

nvim

Plugins should install automatically, you can use :Lazy to manage them.

System Specific Install

Neovim's configurations are located under the following paths, depending on your OS:

OS	PATH
Linux, MacOS	$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/nvim, ~/.config/nvim
Windows (cmd)	%localappdata%\nvim\
Windows (powershell)	$env:LOCALAPPDATA\nvim\

Clone kai.nvim

Linux and Mac

git clone https://github.com/KaiNakamura/kai.nvim.git "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}"/nvim

Windows

If you're using cmd.exe:

git clone https://github.com/KaiNakamura/kai.nvim.git "%localappdata%\nvim"

If you're using powershell.exe

git clone https://github.com/KaiNakamura/kai.nvim.git "${env:LOCALAPPDATA}\nvim"

Post Installation

Start Neovim

nvim

That's it! Lazy will install all the plugins you have. Use :Lazy to view the current plugin status. Hit q to close the window.

FAQ

• Why is the kickstart init.lua a single file? Wouldn't it make sense to split it into multiple files?
  • The main purpose of kickstart is to serve as a teaching tool and a reference configuration that someone can easily use to git clone as a basis for their own. As you progress in learning Neovim and Lua, you might consider splitting init.lua into smaller parts. A fork of kickstart that does this while maintaining the same functionality is available here:
    • kickstart-modular.nvim
  • Discussions on this topic can be found here:
    • Restructure the configuration
    • Reorganize init.lua into a multi-file setup

Install Recipes

Below you can find OS specific install instructions for Neovim and dependencies.

After installing all the dependencies continue with the Install Kickstart step.

Windows Installation

Windows with Microsoft C++ Build Tools and CMake

Installation may require installing build tools and updating the run command for `telescope-fzf-native`

See telescope-fzf-native documentation for more details

This requires:

• Install CMake and the Microsoft C++ Build Tools on Windows

{'nvim-telescope/telescope-fzf-native.nvim', build = 'cmake -S. -Bbuild -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release && cmake --build build --config Release && cmake --install build --prefix build' }

Windows with gcc/make using chocolatey

Alternatively, one can install gcc and make which don't require changing the config, the easiest way is to use choco:

1. install chocolatey either follow the instructions on the page or use winget, run in cmd as admin:

winget install --accept-source-agreements chocolatey.chocolatey

2. install all requirements using choco, exit the previous cmd and open a new one so that choco path is set, and run in cmd as admin:

choco install -y neovim git ripgrep wget fd unzip gzip mingw make

WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux)

wsl --install
wsl
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:neovim-ppa/unstable -y
sudo apt update
sudo apt install make gcc ripgrep unzip git xclip neovim

Linux Install

Ubuntu Install Steps

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:neovim-ppa/unstable -y
sudo apt update
sudo apt install make gcc ripgrep unzip git xclip neovim

Debian Install Steps

sudo apt update
sudo apt install make gcc ripgrep unzip git xclip curl

# Now we install nvim
curl -LO https://github.com/neovim/neovim/releases/latest/download/nvim-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
sudo rm -rf /opt/nvim-linux-x86_64
sudo mkdir -p /opt/nvim-linux-x86_64
sudo chmod a+rX /opt/nvim-linux-x86_64
sudo tar -C /opt -xzf nvim-linux-x86_64.tar.gz

# make it available in /usr/local/bin, distro installs to /usr/bin
sudo ln -sf /opt/nvim-linux-x86_64/bin/nvim /usr/local/bin/

Fedora Install Steps

sudo dnf install -y gcc make git ripgrep fd-find unzip neovim

Arch Install Steps

sudo pacman -S --noconfirm --needed gcc make git ripgrep fd unzip neovim