nvtmux

NOTE: This plugin is alpha quality and probably not ready for public consumption.

nvtmux is short for Neovim terminal multiplexor.

Rationale

I use the terminal a lot and I want to have the full power of vim at my disposal to navigate its contents. Even the most popular terminal apps (e.g. Alacritty, Kitty, Wezterm) have a fraction of the capabilities of vim when it comes to navigating text. So, I use Neovim's terminal emulator.

I also like the multiplexing capabilities of tools like tmux, such as tabs and windows. Vim also has these capabilities but the out-of-the-box experience is not at all ergonomic when used in conjunction with the terminal emulator. The aim of this plugin is to improve this workflow.

Installation

Minimal lazy.nvim config:

{
  'thiru/nvtmux.nvim',

  -- See below for why cond is used
  cond = vim.g.nvtmux_auto_start == true,

  -- Used by the SSH connection picker (optional)
  depedencies = {'nvim-telescope/telescope.nvim'},

  ---@type nvtmux.Config
  opts = {},
}

Configuration

See config.lua for details on the configuration.

Usage

You likely don't want this plugin to start every time you run Neovim as it alters the appearance and behaviour considerably in order to behave as a terminal multiplexor. This is the purpose of the cond expression in the Lazy config above.

I would recommend creating an alias or shortcut in your OS to start Neovim with Nvtmux like so:

nvim --cmd 'lua vim.g.nvtmux_auto_start = true'

As in tmux, nvtmux uses a prefix for many of its commands so that they don't conflict with possibly nested vim instances. By default this is set to <C-space>.

Keymap	Description
<C-space>t	New terminal (tab)
<C-space>v	New terminal (vertical split)
<C-space>h	New terminal (horizontal split)
<C-space>r	Rename current tab
<C-space>p	Paste from system clipboard
<C-space>l	Go to last accessed tab
<C-space>s	Launch SSH connection picker
<C-space>q	Safe quit (confirm if multiple terminals open)

Non-leader key bindings:

Keymap	Description
<C-;>	Escape terminal mode
<C-t>	New terminal (tab)
<C-S-t>	New terminal (vertical split)
<C-S-h>	New terminal (horizontal split)
<C-S-r>	Rename current tab
<C-v>	Paste from system clipboard
<C-TAB>	Next tab
<C-S-k>	Next tab
<C-S-TAB>	Previous tab
<C-S-j>	Previous tab
<C-[NUM]>	Go to the specified numbered tab
<C-tilde>	Go to last accessed tab
<C-,>	Move current tab to the left
<C-.>	Move current tab to the right

SSH Connection Picker

To start the Telescope SSH connection picker use the keymap defined above or run:

:SshPicker

All actions will start an instance of Neovim's terminal emulator. The default action (<CR>) will use the current buffer. You can also use Telescope's alternative actions to open the SSH connection in a new:

• tab (<C-t>)
• horizontal split (<C-x>)
• vertical split (<C-v>)

Note, the above bindings are Telescope defaults. You can change these in your Telescope config.