pile.nvim

Display buffer vertically. It aims to be as easy to use as a stack of books.

Overview

pile.nvim is a Neovim plugin that provides a vertical buffer sidebar, similar to how books are stacked in a pile. It offers an intuitive and simple way to browse, rename, and manage open buffers. Inspired by the user-friendly experience of oil.nvim, but designed for vertical organization.

Features

• ✅ Session Management: Auto-restore previous buffers on startup
• ✅ Named Sessions: Save and switch between different buffer sets
• ✅ Custom Buffer Order: Freely reorder buffers and persist the order
• ✅ Vertical sidebar listing all open buffers
• ✅ Easily switch between buffers with keyboard shortcuts
• ✅ Smart duplicate filename resolution
• ✅ Visual window indicators
• 🚧 Editable buffer names within the sidebar for quick renaming (not implemented yet)
• 🚧 Automatically updates file names when a buffer is renamed (not implemented yet)
• 🚧 LSP integration: Automatically updates import paths when a file is renamed (not implemented yet)

Requirements

• Neovim 0.5 or later
• nui.nvim - Required for UI components
• LSP configuration for full renaming functionality (optional)

Installation

Using Lazy.nvim

{
  'shabaraba/pile.nvim',
  dependencies = {
    'MunifTanjim/nui.nvim', -- Required dependency
  },
  opts = {}
}

Using Packer.nvim

use {
  'shabaraba/pile.nvim',
  requires = { 'MunifTanjim/nui.nvim' }, -- Required dependency
  config = function()
    require('pile').setup()
  end
}

Using vim-plug

Plug 'MunifTanjim/nui.nvim'  " Required dependency
Plug 'shabaraba/pile.nvim'

Setup and Configuration

To configure pile.nvim, add the following setup function to your Neovim config:

require('pile').setup({
  -- Session management
  session = {
    auto_save = true,         -- Auto-save session on exit
    auto_restore = true,      -- Auto-restore session on startup
    preserve_order = true,    -- Preserve buffer order
  },

  -- Window indicator
  window_indicator = {
    enabled = true,           -- Show window indicators
    colors = {                -- Color palette for indicators
      "#E06C75", "#98C379", "#E5C07B", "#61AFEF",
      "#C678DD", "#56B6C2", "#D19A66", "#ABB2BF",
    },
  },

  -- Debug settings
  debug = {
    enabled = false,
    level = "info",           -- "error", "warn", "info", "debug", "trace"
  },
})

Key Features:

1. Open Buffers: The sidebar shows all open buffers, with the current buffer highlighted.

Usage

Basic Commands

:PileToggle              " Toggle the sidebar
:PileGoToNextBuffer      " Switch to next buffer
:PileGoToPrevBuffer      " Switch to previous buffer

Session Management Commands

:PileSaveSession [name]          " Save current buffers to session
:PileRestoreSession [name]       " Restore session
:PileCreateSession <name>        " Create new named session
:PileSwitchSession <name>        " Switch to another session
:PileDeleteSession <name>        " Delete a session
:PileListSessions                " List all sessions

Buffer Reordering Commands

:PileMoveBufferUp                " Move current buffer up in sidebar
:PileMoveBufferDown              " Move current buffer down in sidebar

Keybindings

Set up convenient keybindings in your init.lua:

-- Basic operations
vim.api.nvim_set_keymap('n', '<leader>ps', ':PileToggle<CR>', { noremap = true, silent = true })
vim.api.nvim_set_keymap('n', '<leader>pn', ':PileGoToNextBuffer<CR>', { noremap = true, silent = true })
vim.api.nvim_set_keymap('n', '<leader>pp', ':PileGoToPrevBuffer<CR>', { noremap = true, silent = true })

-- Session management
vim.api.nvim_set_keymap('n', '<leader>pss', ':PileSaveSession<CR>', { noremap = true, silent = true })
vim.api.nvim_set_keymap('n', '<leader>psr', ':PileRestoreSession<CR>', { noremap = true, silent = true })
vim.api.nvim_set_keymap('n', '<leader>psl', ':PileListSessions<CR>', { noremap = true, silent = true })

-- Buffer reordering
vim.api.nvim_set_keymap('n', '<leader>pmu', ':PileMoveBufferUp<CR>', { noremap = true, silent = true })
vim.api.nvim_set_keymap('n', '<leader>pmd', ':PileMoveBufferDown<CR>', { noremap = true, silent = true })

Sidebar Keybindings

While in the sidebar:

• <CR>: Open the selected buffer
• q / <Esc>: Close sidebar

Buffer Operations (Vim-like):

• dd: Cut buffer (delete + save to register)
• yy: Yank buffer (copy to register without deleting)
• p: Paste buffers below cursor
• P: Paste buffers above cursor
• D: Delete buffer immediately (without saving to register)
• d (visual mode): Cut multiple selected buffers
• y (visual mode): Yank multiple selected buffers

Buffer Reordering:

• Normal mode:
  • <C-j>: Move current buffer down
  • <C-k>: Move current buffer up
• Visual mode:
  • V or Shift+V: Select line (start visual line mode)
  • j/k: Extend selection
  • <C-j>: Move selected buffers down
  • <C-k>: Move selected buffers up

Note: The register is automatically cleared when you leave the sidebar window.

How Sessions Work

• Auto-save: When you exit Neovim, current buffers are saved to the "default" session
• Auto-restore: On startup, buffers from the last session are automatically restored
• Named sessions: Create multiple sessions for different projects or workflows
• Buffer order: Your custom buffer order is preserved across sessions

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues, feature requests, or pull requests.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.