🏎️ Windovigation.nvim

This enables you to switch buffers based on a buffer history scoped to the window split / pane, like VScode and Evil Emacs, instead of a global buffer list.

This is a replacement for your current keymaps that you use to switch or kill buffers. And complements all the other vim like movement like cursor, definition jumps. 👌

✨ Features

• 🏎️ Buffers scoped to the window for faster, more reliable and muscle memory friendly switching.
• 🚀 Switch to the previous or the next buffer based on an order of which file was written in that window.
• 🪦 Kill a buffer to return to the previously entered file in that window.
• 💾 Session Restoration support for any of your session plugins.
• 📡 Lua api for all actions performed by the plugin.
• 📋 Supports Tabs: windovigation.nvim respects Neovim buffer > window > tab hierarchy.
• ⌨️ Keymaps to switch or kill buffers on [b, ]b, [B, ]B, <leader>bk that can be adjusted in the options.

📦 Installation

1. Add the plugin to your config with disabled lazy loading, for example LazyVim:

{
  "volskaya/windovigation.nvim",
  lazy = false,
  opts = {},
}

2. If you use a session restoration plugin that provides something like a pre save hook, you should add our persist_state to its config.

💡 For example LazyVim's default folke/persistence.nvim

{
  "folke/persistence.nvim",
  event = "BufReadPre",
  opts = {
    pre_save = function()
      require("windovigation.actions").persist_state()
    end,
  },
}

3. Add "buffers", "blank", "help", "terminal", "winsize", "tabpages" to your global sessionoptions.

⚠️ For this plugin to restore state properly, your window layout must match between close and restore. 👆

If your session restoration plugin isn't wrapped around :mksession or ignores sessionoptions, refer to their README on how to handle this properly, if needed.

💡 Example (place it together with your other global options)

vim.opt.sessionoptions = {
  -- Windovigation required options.
  "buffers",
  "help",
  "blank",
  "terminal",
  "winsize",
  "tabpages",
  -- Other options.
  "curdir",
  "globals",
  "folds",
}

⚙️ Options

{
  -- Auto restore state on SessionLoadPost.
  --
  -- When using plugins with custom session handling,
  -- use require("windovigation.actions").restore_state().
  auto_restore_state = true,

  -- Auto persist state on VimLeavePre.
  --
  -- This only persists it vim global variables and
  -- does not create the session file for you! It's
  -- expected you have something else actually handle
  -- the session file.
  --
  -- When using plugins with custom session handling,
  -- use require("windovigation.actions").persist_state().
  auto_persist_state = true,

  -- When toggled on, closing a file will switch to the most
  -- recent entered file, not the recently written file.
  after_close_file_switch_to_recent = true,

  -- Prevents the move actions from working when the current
  -- buffer type is nofile, that's usually on buffers like
  -- the Neotree or git diffs.
  prevent_switching_nofile = true,

  -- The files, where their path contains one of these values,
  -- won't be scoped in our history
  no_scope_filter = {
    -- This is here to workaround git diff for a split second opening some kind
    -- of a normal looking file in /private that shouldn't be scoped.
    "/private/var/folders*",
  },

  -- Prevents the buffer from closing, when there aren't any
  -- of our tracked windows still scoping their file.
  --
  -- This only respects special buffer types.
  --
  -- For example if you wish to stop terminal buffers from
  -- being closed, set this to {"terminal"}.
  no_close_buftype = {},

  -- Options for the built in keymaps that get
  -- reattached to every buffer on enter, to avoid
  -- lazy loaded packages from stealing them.
  --
  -- Set this to nil if you wish to set keymaps by yourself.
  keymaps = {
    bracket_movement_key = "b", -- Like [b, ]b, [B, ]B
    buffer_close_key = "k", -- Like <leader>bk
  },
}

💾 Session Restoration

By default the plugin automatically restores state on SessionLoadPost, that's called by Neovim when restoring a session. But you can handle this manually with lua.

require("windovigation.actions").persist_state()
require("windovigation.actions").restore_state()

⌨️ Default Keymaps

• [b - Switches to the previous file.
• ]b - Switches to the next file.
• [B - Switches to the first file.
• ]B - Switches to the last file.
• <leader>bk - Closes the current file and destroys the buffer, if no other window has this file open.

🚀 Commands

• :WindovigationPreviousFile - Switches to the previous file.
• :WindovigationNextFile - Switches to the next file.
• :WindovigationFirstFile - Switches to the first file.
• :WindovigationLastFile - Switches to the last file.
• :WindovigationCloseFile - Closes the current file and destroys the buffer, if no other window has this file open.

📡 Lua Actions

require("windovigation.actions").move_to_previous_file()
require("windovigation.actions").move_to_next_file()
require("windovigation.actions").move_to_first_file()
require("windovigation.actions").move_to_last_file()

require("windovigation.actions").close_current_file()

require("windovigation.actions").restore_state()
require("windovigation.actions").persist_state()

🔎 Custom File Picker Integration

Integrating with your file picker is optional.

But it's expected that switching to a file through a file picker or a text search, bumps the file to the front of that windows history.

In Neovim there really isn't a consistent "File Picked" event, so this case needs to be handled manually in your config with require("windovigation.handlers").handle_file_picked.

💡 Example

require("windovigation.handlers").handle_file_picked({
  buf = vim.api.nvim_get_current_buf(),
  file = file_name, -- A file name that was provided by your file picker.
})

🔭 Telescope Integration Example

I use Telescope, so I've included utilities that you should be able to add out of the box to your config or use it as reference.

💡 Telescope bultin picker example by passing attach_mappings to their options

require("telescope.builtin").find_files({
  -- Windovigation mappings that will bump the file in the active history, when selected.
  attach_mappings = require("windovigation.telescope-utils").attach_mappings,
})

💡 File browser extension by passing actions to telescope opts

{
  extensions = {
    file_browser = {
      mappings = {
        ["n"] = {
          ["<Enter>"] = require("windovigation.telescope-file-picker-utils").open_dir_or_file_action,
          ["l"] = require("windovigation.telescope-file-picker-utils").open_dir_or_file_action,
        },
      },
    },
  }
}