csvcols.nvim

Colorize CSV/TSV files by giving each column a distinct highlight color. Optional clean view mode for tabular view. Tiny, fast, written in Lua. Highlights only the visible window range and updates as you scroll or edit. Supports sticky headers with arbitry number of lines.

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Features

• Per‑column coloring for .csv and .tsv (RFC‑4180‑style quoted fields supported)
• Background or foreground coloring
• Efficient: re-highlights only visible lines on WinScrolled, CursorMoved, edits, etc.
• Zero‑config optional auto‑setup (via plugin/csvcols.lua), or explicit setup()
• Sticky headers configurable via commands or (optional) GUI buttons.
• Autodetection of separator character (can be turned off)
• "Clean View" mode renders CSV/TSV as padded, spreadsheet-like table in a synced overlay. Toggle via commands or GUI button.

Requirements

• Neovim 0.8+ (LuaJIT)

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Installation

lazy.nvim

{
  "thgrass/csvcols.nvim",
  ft = { "csv", "tsv" },
  opts = {
    -- mode = "bg",        -- or "fg"
    -- max_columns = 64,
    -- colors = { "#2e7d32", "#1565c0", "#ad1457", "#ef6c00" },
  },
}

packer.nvim

use {
  "thgrass/csvcols.nvim",
  ft = { "csv", "tsv" },
  config = function()
    require("csvcols").setup({
      -- optional overrides
    })
  end,
}

vim-plug

Plug 'thgrass/csvcols.nvim', { 'for': ['csv','tsv'] }
" after plug#end():
lua << EOF
require('csvcols').setup({
  -- optional overrides
})
EOF

dein.vim

call dein#add('thgrass/csvcols.nvim', {'on_ft': ['csv','tsv']})
autocmd FileType csv,tsv lua require('csvcols').setup()

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Usage

• Automatic: The plugin calls setup() with defaults when Neovim starts, and coloring happens whenever opening .csv/.tsv files.
• Edit Settings: Edit the code in plugin/csvcols.lua or provide your own call to setup() elsewhere. See "Configuration" right below.

Commands:

• :CsvColsRefresh - force re-colorizing the visible range
• :CsvColsClear - clear all column highlights in current buffer
• gC / :CsvCleanToggle - toggle tabular "clean view" mode
• :CsvAutoSepToggle / :CsvAutoSep {on|off} - toggle/set separator autodetection
• :CsvAutoClean / :CsvAutoEnable - toggle/set autodetection on any buffer
• :CsvHeader / :CsvHeaderToggle - set/toggle sticky header
• :CsvHeaderInc / :CsvHeaderDec - increase/decrease number of lines in sticky header

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Configuration

Default configuration (you can override any key in setup({ ... })): For example:

require('csvcols').setup({
  colors = {
    "#2e7d32", "#1565c0", "#ad1457", "#ef6c00", "#6a1b9a",
    "#00838f", "#827717", "#7b1fa2", "#37474f", "#558b2f",
    "#c62828", "#283593", "#00897b", "#5d4037", "#1976d2",
  },
  mode = "bg",                  -- "bg" or "fg" for background or foreground coloring
  max_columns = 64,             -- Soft cap for extremely wide files
  patterns = { "*.csv", "*.tsv" },
  filetypes = { "csv", "tsv" },
  default_header_lines = 1,     -- How many lines to pin as sticky header
  use_winbar_controls = true,   -- Add clickable [+]/[-] controls for header lines
  keymap = true,                -- Enable `gC` shortcut for clean view toggle
  auto_detect_separator = true, -- Enable separator autodetection
  detect_candidates = { "\t", ",", ";", "|" }, -- Supported delimiters in detector separation
  clean_view_by_default = false, -- start in clean view mode?
})

Tip: The plugin works for any buffer if you manually toggle :CsvCleanToggle or :CsvAutoSepToggle, even for files not ending in .csv or .tsv. Or set cleam_view_by_default = true.

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Repo layout

csvcols.nvim/
├─ lua/
│  └─ csvcols/
│     └─ init.lua        <-- main plugin module
├─ plugin/
│  └─ csvcols.lua        <-- auto-setup with defaults
├─ README.md
└─ LICENSE

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License

MIT © T. Grassmann