Neovim Configuration

Neovim configuration lives in ~/.config/nvim/init.lua (Lua) or init.vim (Vimscript). Modern Neovim defaults to Lua, which is more powerful and readable than Vimscript.

~/.config/nvim/
├── init.lua              # main config file
├── lua/
│   └── user/
│       ├── settings.lua  # options
│       └── keymaps.lua   # keybindings
└── after/
    └── ftplugin/
        └── python.lua    # file-type specific

Start simple with just init.lua.

Set options with vim.opt:

-- ~/.config/nvim/init.lua
vim.opt.number = true              -- show line numbers
vim.opt.relativenumber = true       -- relative numbers
vim.opt.expandtab = true            -- spaces, not tabs
vim.opt.shiftwidth = 4              -- indent size
vim.opt.tabstop = 4                 -- tab display width
vim.opt.ignorecase = true           -- case-insensitive search
vim.opt.smartcase = true            -- case-sensitive if uppercase in search
vim.opt.wrap = false                -- no line wrap
vim.opt.termguicolors = true        -- true color support

Each option corresponds to a :set command (:set number is the ex equivalent of vim.opt.number = true).

-- Set colorscheme (requires plugin or built-in)
vim.cmd.colorscheme "slate"

Popular colorschemes: slate, desert, torte (built-in). Plugins like tokyonight, gruvbox add more. Install via plugin manager (see Neovim Plugins).

Basic keymapping:

vim.keymap.set('n', '<Space>w', ':w<CR>')     -- save with Space+w
vim.keymap.set('n', '<C-s>', ':w<CR>')        -- save with Ctrl+s
vim.keymap.set('i', 'jk', '<Esc>')            -- exit insert with jk

Modes: 'n' (normal), 'i' (insert), 'v' (visual), 'c' (command), 'o' (operator pending).

Options:

vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>x', ':e<CR>', { noremap = true, silent = true })

• noremap — prevent recursion (map to built-in, not other maps)
• silent — no message in status bar
• buffer — local to current buffer only

Leader is a custom prefix for personal keybindings (default \). Remap to space (common):

vim.g.mapleader = ' '
vim.g.maplocalleader = ','

Then <leader>e expands to <Space>e.

Lua comments use --:

-- This is a comment

VimScript uses ":

" This is a comment

After editing init.lua, reload with :source ~/.config/nvim/init.lua or restart Neovim.

For development, split config into files (settings.lua, keymaps.lua) and require them:

require('user.settings')
require('user.keymaps')

This keeps init.lua clean and modular.