📝 Vim Configuration

A modular vim configuration split into two main files for better organization and flexibility.

📂 Files Overview

• config.vim - Core vim settings, mappings, and basic functionality
• plugins.vim - Plugin management, installation, and plugin-specific configurations
• AUDIT.md - Known issues found by code audit
• CLAUDE.md - Guidance for AI assistants working on this config

📋 Requirements

• Vim 8.2+ (config.vim uses smoothscroll, which needs Vim 9.0.0640+; on older versions that one line reports E518 and the rest of the config still loads)
• curl and git - required to bootstrap vim-plug and fetch plugins

Optional, per plugin:

Needed for	Requirement
Tagbar (<F8>)	ctags (universal-ctags recommended)
vim-airline symbols	A powerline-patched or Nerd Font
ALE JavaScript fixers	node + eslint
<F5> / <F6> runners	python3, node, bash, ruby, or perl

⚡️ Setup Instructions

Clone the repository. The paths below assume ~/config_vim — adjust them if you clone elsewhere:

git clone https://github.com/Code-Samples-Galore/Config-Vim.git ~/config_vim

1️⃣ Option 1: Basic Configuration (No Plugins)

If you only want the core vim settings without plugins, add this to your ~/.vimrc:

" Source basic vim configuration
source ~/config_vim/config.vim

2️⃣ Option 2: Full Configuration (With Plugins)

For the complete setup including automatic plugin management, add this to your ~/.vimrc:

" Source plugin management and configurations
source ~/config_vim/plugins.vim

" Source basic vim configuration
source ~/config_vim/config.vim

Note: Source plugins.vim first to ensure plugins are loaded before the main configuration.

On first launch, vim-plug is downloaded automatically and the plugins are installed. Expect a few errors on that very first start (the gruvbox colorscheme does not exist yet) — restart Vim once installation finishes.

✨ Features

⚙️ Core Configuration (config.vim)

• Optimized display settings with line numbers and syntax highlighting
• Smart indentation and formatting rules
• Enhanced search functionality
• Custom key mappings and leader shortcuts
• Automatic file handling and backup management
• Custom status line showing mode, git branch and file size
• Auto-closing brackets and quotes
• File-type specific settings

The custom status line is only visible in the no-plugin setup. With Option 2, vim-airline replaces it with its own.

🔌 Plugin Management (plugins.vim)

• Automatic vim-plug installation
• Auto-installation of missing plugins
• Periodic plugin updates (every 7 days)
• Configured plugins:
  • gruvbox - Color scheme
  • NERDTree - File explorer
  • vim-airline - Enhanced status line
  • vim-polyglot - Language pack
  • vim-commentary - Easy commenting
  • vim-surround - Surround text objects
  • ALE - Asynchronous linting
  • Tagbar - Code structure overview
  • IndentLine - Visual indentation guides

⌨️ Key Mappings

The leader key is , (comma).

Editing

Mapping	Action
jj	Exit insert mode
<space>	Enter command mode (types :)
o / O	Open a blank line below/above and stay in normal mode
Y	Yank from cursor to end of line
j / k	Move by display line (gj/gk)
<CR>	Clear search highlighting
n / N	Next/previous search match, centered
<leader>,	Jump back to the last cursor position

Files and buffers

Mapping	Action
<leader>w	Save
<leader>q	Quit
<leader>x	Save and quit
<leader>e	Open the built-in file explorer (:Explore)
<leader>bn / <leader>bp	Next / previous buffer
<leader>bd	Delete buffer
<leader>P	Print the current file to the default printer (Linux lp)

Windows and folds

Mapping	Action
<C-h> <C-j> <C-k> <C-l>	Move between splits
<C-Up> <C-Down> <C-Left> <C-Right>	Resize the current split
<leader>v / <leader>s	Vertical / horizontal split
<leader>f / <leader>F	Toggle fold / toggle fold recursively

Toggles

Mapping	Action
<leader>n	Toggle line numbers
<leader>r	Toggle relative line numbers
<leader>pp	Toggle paste mode
<leader>c	Toggle copy mode (hide line numbers, listchars and signs)
<leader>bg	Toggle dark/light background

Running code

Mapping	Action
<F5>	Save and run the current file with python3
<F6>	Run the current file based on its filetype (python, javascript, sh, ruby, perl)

Plugins

Mapping	Action
<C-t>	Toggle NERDTree
<F8>	Toggle Tagbar

Auto-closing pairs (insert mode)

Typing ', `, ", (, [ or { inserts the matching pair. Suffixes change the result:

Typed	Result
(	() with the cursor inside
(;	(); with the cursor inside
(,	(), with the cursor inside
(<Tab>	() with the cursor after the pair
(<CR>	Multi-line block with the cursor on a blank middle line

Because these mappings share prefixes, Vim waits timeoutlen (500 ms) after each opening character. Use <leader>pp before pasting into a terminal Vim, otherwise pasted brackets and quotes are duplicated.

📋 Copying text

Whitespace dots (·), end-of-line marks (¬) and line numbers are drawn on screen only — they are never part of the buffer, so Vim's own yank never includes them. If they show up when you paste, the selection was made by the terminal rather than by Vim.

• Select with the mouse and press y. mouse=a is enabled, so dragging creates a Vim visual selection and y copies the real text to the system clipboard. This is the clean path.
• Shift-drag bypasses Vim and uses the terminal's own selection, which copies whatever is painted on screen. Press <leader>c first to hide the line numbers, listchars and sign column, and the terminal selection comes out clean too. Press it again to restore.

Yanking a whole line with V or yy is linewise and carries a trailing newline with it. To copy just the text, use ^vg_y (first to last non-blank character) or y$ from the start of the line.

Clipboard integration needs a Vim built with +clipboard — check with vim --version | grep clipboard. If it shows -clipboard, install a full build (vim-gtk3 on Debian/Ubuntu) or use <leader>c plus terminal copy.

🧩 Commands

Command	Action
:UpdatePluginsNow	Force a plugin update, ignoring the 7-day interval

🤖 Auto-Features

• Automatic plugin installation on first run
• Periodic plugin updates (every 7 days, see g:plug_update_interval)
• Auto-creation of necessary directories (~/.vim/backup, ~/.vim/swap, ~/.vim/undo)
• Trailing whitespace removal on save — skipped for markdown, diff, gitcommit, gitsendemail and mail, where trailing whitespace is meaningful
• ALE applies its configured fixers on save (eslint --fix for JavaScript)
• Cursor position restoration when reopening files
• NERDTree opens automatically when Vim starts without a file argument

🛠️ Customization

Edit the configuration files directly or override settings in your ~/.vimrc after sourcing these files.

Useful knobs:

• g:plug_update_interval (plugins.vim) - seconds between automatic plugin updates
• g:plug_auto_update - set to 0 in your ~/.vimrc to skip the update check on startup and update only via :UpdatePluginsNow
• g:ale_fix_on_save - set to 0 to stop ALE rewriting files on save
• mapleader (config.vim) - the leader key, currently ,

📄 License

MIT License