Install one of the three configs first. The second half of this page is the older walkthrough if you want to **build** a file from scratch.

Install a flavor, step by step

1. Pick one

You want Use
Neovim, Lua, Mason, Telescope Current
Vim or Neovim, modules, CoC VimScript
One init.vim, a server, a template Mini

Compare is the longer table.

2. Prerequisites

3. Clone into the config dir

Linux and macOS — pick the repo:

git clone https://github.com/AndresMpa/mu-vim.git ~/.config/nvim
# or mu-vim-vimscript, or mu-vim-mini
cd ~/.config/nvim

If ~/.config/nvim already exists, rename it first (mv ~/.config/nvim ~/.config/nvim.bak).

4. Run the installer

Current:

lua install.lua

Mini or VimScript:

./install.sh

Follow the prompts. The installer talks to your package manager (pacman, apt, dnf, or Homebrew).

5. Open the editor once

nvim

Current: pckr clones plugins. When it finishes, :qa and open nvim again.

Mini / VimScript: Startify (or a blank buffer). Then:

<Space> p i
:source %
:CocInstall

6. Check health

:checkhealth

Missing fd, a C compiler (Treesitter on Current), or Node (CoC) show up here.

7. Themes

<Space> t h opens the palette modal. Move the cursor to preview, Enter to save, Esc to cancel. The name is stored in ~/.config/muvim/active and is shared if you later switch flavors.

Defaults: Current deep-ocean, VimScript gruvbox, Mini mini.

8. Daily maps

Do this Keys
File tree (right) Space n
Find files Space t f (Current) or Space f f (Mini/VimScript)
Git status Space g s t
New terminal (left) Ctrl t
Close window / terminal Space q
Format (Current) Space f

The cheat sheet has the rest.

9. Uninstall

Current:

cd ~/.config/nvim
lua delete.lua

Mini / VimScript:

cd ~/.config/nvim
./delete.sh

Confirm with y. That also removes ~/.config/muvim. Neovim itself stays.

A longer way: write the file yourself

It’s important to understand that you are making a custom configuration. You are the person who is going to maintain those files. Downloading someone else’s config (like mine) is less work, but it also means you are not in the maintenance loop unless you change init.vim / init.lua yourself. A terminal editor without that loop is missing the useful part of it. So start with the Vim tutorial, then write the file.

If you prefer a video, there is a free Neovim course on Udemy.

Tip: vim and neovim take words as objects. When you understand that, you go faster.

You can skip this block if you already know Vim. Same tables also live on the cheat sheet.

Motion

Action Command
Move up (add a number to jump that many lines, default 1) #k or arrow up
Move down #j or arrow down
Move left #h or arrow left
Move right #l or arrow right

Writing

Action Command
Insert i or a or o or s
Replace r or R
Visual v
Copy y
Paste p or P
Undo u
Delete x or #d + motion or dd
Search /query then n

Lines

Action Command
Move to the end of a word #e
Move forward / backward a word #w / #b
Move forward a WORD (non-whitespace) W
End of current line $
Beginning of the line 0
First non-blank character ^
Column # #\|

Jumping

Action Command
Beginning of file gg or 1G
End of file G
Line # #G
Pages up / down Ctrl-b / Ctrl-f
Top / middle / bottom of the screen H M L
Sentences ( or )
Paragraphs { or }
Matching brace %

Scrolling

Action Command
Scroll 50% Ctrl-d / Ctrl-u
Scroll 100% Ctrl-f / Ctrl-b
Scroll 1 line Ctrl-e / Ctrl-y

Marks

Action Command
Set mark x at the cursor mx
Jump to the line of mark x 'x
Jump to the cursor position of mark x `x
Undo the latest jump ````
Last-changed line '.

Your own configuration file

As you can see, Neovim by default is quite simple. We make it look and feel more comfortable by adding a configuration file. Follow the next steps (this uses nvim as the example).

If you are using Vim, just type: cd && vim .vimrc

cd
mkdir -p .config/nvim
cd .config/nvim
touch init.vim
nvim init.vim

You should see an empty file. That file is going to be your Neovim configuration. Type the following, then close the editor and open that file again:

" Some static options
set sw=2 " Replace tabs with X number of spaces
set title " It shows the file title

" Number on the left
set number " Show the numbers on the left
set numberwidth=1 " Set numbers width
set relativenumber " It shows the current cursor line

" Mouse
set mouse=a " It lets you use the mouse on the terminal
set clipboard=unnamedplus " Keep what you copy on the clipboard

This is a really basic configuration that only uses set. The single " starts a comment. Comment what you did; you will forget. Your editor should already look different. We can add more.

Plugins

Now that you know how to move in files, let’s make it easier. Neovim and Vim let you use plugins, and those are most of the speed. Different people need different languages and environments, but some tools are general purpose: language support, git, window navigation, a file tree, search, a color scheme.

Plugin managers

A plugin manager is a short way to install plugins, and those plugins generally come from GitHub. I use vim-plug. Other options:

The Lua config today uses pckr.nvim. For this tutorial, vim-plug is the example.

Neovim:

" The sets you wrote before

" Plugin manager downloads dir
call plug#begin(expand('~/.config/nvim/plugged'))

" Some plugins

Vim, a directory under .config:

call plug#begin(expand('~/.config/plugged'))

It will change if you use another plugin manager.

A first plugin list

There are a lot of plugins. These cover the general-purpose list above:

Plug 'neoclide/coc.nvim', {'branch': 'release'} " Text editing support
Plug 'tpope/vim-fugitive' " Support to git commands
Plug 'christoomey/vim-tmux-navigator' " Navigation between windows
Plug 'scrooloose/nerdtree' " Navigation between files
Plug 'haya14busa/incsearch.vim' " Better way to look for words
Plug 'morhetz/gruvbox', { 'as': 'gruvbox' } " Nvim theme
Plug 'vim-airline/vim-airline' " Bar theme

Then Esc : PlugInstall. That clones the repositories you listed.

You now have a basic IDE in the terminal. Next, language servers for CoC. Add this after the plugins:

" coc
" Prettier, Emmet, HTML, CSS/Less/Sass, Json, JS/TS, Vue, Sh, Rust, Ruby, R
let g:coc_global_extensions = [
\ 'coc-prettier',
\ 'coc-emmet',
\ 'coc-html',
\ 'coc-css',
\ 'coc-json',
\ 'coc-tsserver',
\ 'coc-vetur',
\ 'coc-sh',
\ 'coc-rls',
\ 'coc-solargraph',
\ 'coc-r-lsp']

Then Esc : CocInstall. Those are language server extensions for the first plugin you installed.

Plugin settings that Mini still uses in this shape:

" NERDTree
let NERDTreeMouseMode=1 " let you use the mouse
let NERDTreeQuitOnOpen=1 " quit nerdtree when you open a file
let NERDTreeShowHidden=1 " show files or dir hidden by '.'

" incsearch
let g:incsearch#auto_nohlsearch = 1 " Remove the highlight after search

" Nvim THEME
colorscheme gruvbox
let g:gruvbox_color_column='bg0'
let g:gruvbox_contrast_dark='hard'

" vim-airline
let g:airline_theme = 'cool'
let g:airline_skip_empty_sections = 1
let g:airline#extensions#branch#enabled = 1
let g:airline#extensions#tabline#enabled = 1

if !exists('g:airline_symbols')
  let g:airline_symbols = {}
endif

Take a minute to read those if you want. That is the common way to set those plugins. It looks like a lot at the beginning and then it is just variables.

Mapping

Mapping is a combination of keys that runs something. Let’s map the plugins. Leader in MμVim is space, so these assume you set that (or you use the default and change <Leader>).

" coc
nmap <silent> cd <Plug>(coc-definition)
nmap <silent> ct <Plug>(coc-type-definition)
nmap <silent> cg <Plug>(coc-implementation)
nmap <silent> cr <Plug>(coc-references)
nmap <leader>f :Prettier<CR>
" Use <c-space> to trigger completion.
inoremap <silent><expr> <c-space> coc#refresh()

" vim-fugitive (git support)
nmap <Leader>gii :Git init<CR>
nmap <Leader>gsh :Git show<CR>
nmap <Leader>gbl :Git blame<CR>
nmap <Leader>gcm :Git commit<CR>
nmap <Leader>gst :Git status<CR>
nmap <Leader>gaa :Git add --all<CR>
nmap <Leader>grv :Git remote -v<CR>
nmap <Leader>gpl :Git pull origin dev<CR>
nmap <Leader>gps :Git push origin dev<CR>
nmap <Leader>gck :Git check<Space>
nmap <Leader>gnb :Git check -b<Space>

" NERDTree
nmap <leader>n :NERDTreeFind<CR>
nmap <leader>nt :NERDTreeToggle<CR>
nmap <leader>nc :NERDTreeToggleVCS<CR>

" incsearch
map / <Plug>(incsearch-forward)
map ? <Plug>(incsearch-backward)

" Extras
nmap <Leader>w :w<CR>
nmap <Leader>q :q!<CR>
nmap <Leader>h :bdelete<CR>
nmap <Leader>j :bprevious<CR>
nmap <Leader>k :bnext<CR>
nmap <Leader>l :ls<CR>
nmap <Leader>vj :split<CR>
nmap <Leader>vk :vsplit<CR>

Those are examples. Add plugins, or delete maps you will not use.

Can I use a terminal inside the terminal?

Yes. This helper is the one Mini/VimScript still ship. I took the function from nschurmann/configs:

function! OpenTerminal()
  execute "normal \<C-l>"
  execute "normal \<C-l>"
  execute "normal \<C-l>"
  execute "normal \<C-l>"

  let bufNum = bufnr("%")
  let bufType = getbufvar(bufNum, "&buftype", "not found")

  if bufType == "terminal"
    execute "q"
  else
    execute "vsp term://zsh"
    execute "set nonu"
    execute "set nornu"
    silent au BufLeave <buffer> stopinsert!
    silent au BufWinEnter,WinEnter <buffer> startinsert!
    execute "tnoremap <buffer> <C-h> <C-\\><C-n><C-w><C-h>"
    execute "tnoremap <buffer> <C-t> <C-\\><C-n>:q<CR>"
    execute "tnoremap <buffer> <C-\\><C-\\> <C-\\><C-n>"
    startinsert!
  endif
endfunction
nnoremap <C-t> :call OpenTerminal()<CR>

<C-t> opens or closes a vertical terminal. Change zsh if that is not your shell.

What to do after this page

You just built the spine of Mini. When init.vim gets too long, split it the way VimScript does, and when you want Neovim’s Lua API, Mason, and Telescope, that’s Current.