🧊 Helpview.nvim

📖 Table of contents

• ✨ Features

• 📚 Requirements

• 📐 Installation

• 🧭 Configuration

• 🎇 Commands

• 🎨 Highlight groups

✨ Features

• Adds various decorations to make vimdoc files nicer to look at.

• No external dependencies(other than the vimdoc parser)!

• Supports a variety of vimdoc syntaxes such as,

  • Arguments.
  • Code blocks.
  • Headings(& column headings).
  • Highlight group names.
  • Horizontal rules.
  • Inline codes.
  • Keycodes.
  • Vim modeline.
  • Notes.
  • Option links.
  • Tags.
  • Tag links.

• Custom renderer support.

• Dynamic highlight groups.

• Hybrid mode for viewing & writing together.

• Splitview for side-by-side viewing of the file being edited.

• Help command wrappers(:Help, :H) to change where help is shown.

📚 Requirements

System,

• Neovim: 0.10.3

---

Colorscheme,

• Any tree-sitter based colorscheme is recommended.

External icon providers,

[!NOTE] You need to change the config to use the desired icon provider.

{
    preview = {
        icon_provider = "internal", -- "mini" or "devicons"
    }
}

• mini.icons
• nvim-web-devicons

Parsers,

[!TIP] You can use nvim-treesitter to easily install parsers. You can install all the parsers with the following command,

:TSInstall vimdoc

• vimdoc

Fonts,

• Nerd fonts are recommended.

[!TIP] It is recommended to run :checkhealth helpview after installing the plugin to check if any potential issues exist.

📐 Installation

🧩 Vim-plug

Add this to your plugin list.

Plug "OXY2DEV/helpview.nvim"

💤 Lazy.nvim

[!WARNING] Do not lazy load this plugin as it is already lazy-loaded.

Lazy-loading will cause more time for the previews to load when starting Neovim.

The plugin should be loaded after your colorscheme to ensure the correct highlight groups are used.

-- For `plugins/helpview.lua` users.
return {
    "OXY2DEV/helpview.nvim",
    lazy = false
};

-- For `plugins.lua` users.
{
    "OXY2DEV/helpview.nvim",
    lazy = false
},

🦠 Mini.deps

local MiniDeps = require("mini.deps");

MiniDeps.add({
    source = "OXY2DEV/helpview.nvim"
});

🌒 Rocks.nvim

[!WARNING] luarocks package may sometimes be a bit behind main.

:Rocks install helpview.nvim

📥 GitHub release

Tagged releases can be found in the release page.

[!NOTE] Github releases may sometimes be slightly behind main.

🚨 Development version

You can use the dev branch to use test features.

[!WARNING] Development releases can contain breaking changes and experimental changes. Use at your own risk!

return {
    "OXY2DEV/helpview.nvim",
    branch = "dev",
    lazy = false
};

🧭 Configuration

Check the wiki for the entire configuration table. A simplified version is given below.

--- Configuration for `helpview.nvim`.
---@class helpview.config
---
--- Preview options.
---@field preview? helpview.preview
---
--- Configuration options for vimdoc.
---@field vimdoc? helpview.vimdoc
---
--- Custom highlight groups.
---@field highlight_groups? table[]
---
--- Custom renderers
---@field renderers? { [string]: function }
{
    renderers = {},

    preview = {
        enable = true,
        enable_hybrid_mode = true,

        modes = { "n", "c", "no" },
        hybrid_modes = {},
        linewise_hybrid_mode = false,

        filetypes = { "help" },
        ignore_previews = {},
        ignore_buftypes = {},
        condition = nil,

        max_buf_lines = 500,
        draw_range = { 2 * vim.o.lines, 2 * vim.o.lines },
        edit_range = { 0, 0 },

        debounce = 150,
        callbacks = {},

        icon_provider = "internal",

        splitview_winopts = { split = "right" },
        preview_winopts = { width = math.floor(80) }
    },

    vimdoc = {
        arguments = {},
        code_blocks = {},
        headings = {},
        highlight_groups = {},
        horizontal_rules = {},
        inline_codes = {},
        keycodes = {},
        modelines = {},
        notes = {},
        optionlinks = {},
        tags = {},
        taglinks = {},
        urls = {}
    }
}

🎇 Commands

This plugin follows the sub-commands approach for creating commands. There is only a single :Helpview command.

It comes with the following sub-commands,

[!NOTE] When no sub-command name is provided(or an invalid sub-command is used) :Helpview will run :Helpview Toggle.

Sub-command	Arguments	Description
Start	none	Allows attaching to new buffers.
Stop	none	Prevents attaching to new buffers.
————————————	———————————————————	————————————————————————————————————————
attach	buffer, integer	Attaches to buffer.
detach	buffer, integer	Detaches from buffer.
————————————	———————————————————	————————————————————————————————————————
Enable	none	Enables preview globally.
Disable	none	Disables preview globally.
Toggle	none	Toggles preview globally.
————————————	———————————————————	————————————————————————————————————————
enable	buffer, integer	Enables preview for buffer.
disable	buffer, integer	Disables preview for buffer.
toggle	buffer, integer	Toggles preview for buffer.
————————————	———————————————————	————————————————————————————————————————
splitOpen	buffer, integer	Opens splitview for buffer.
splitClose	none	Closes any open splitview.
splitToggle	none	Toggles splitview.
splitRedraw	none	Updates splitview contents.
————————————	———————————————————	————————————————————————————————————————
Render	none	Updates preview of all active buffers.
Clear	none	Clears preview of all active buffer.
————————————	———————————————————	————————————————————————————————————————
render	buffer, integer	Renders preview for buffer.
clear	buffer, integer	Clears preview for buffer.
————————————	———————————————————	————————————————————————————————————————
toggleAll	none	Deprecated version of Toggle.
enableAll	none	Deprecated version of Enable.
disableAll	none	Deprecated version of Disable.
————————————	———————————————————	————————————————————————————————————————
traceExport	none	Exports trace logs to trace.txt.
traceShow	none	Shows trace logs in a window.

[!TIP] buffer defaults to the current buffer. So, you can run commands on the current buffer without providing the buffer.

:Helpview toggle "Toggles preview of the current buffer.

🎨 Highlight groups

helpview.nvim creates a number of primary highlight groups that are used by most of the decorations.

[!IMPORTANT] These groups are all generated during runtime and as such their colors may look different.

If you want to create your own dynamic highlight groups or modify existing ones, see the custom highlight groups section.

Highlight group	Generated from	Default
HelpviewPalette0	Normal(bg) + Comment(fg)	fg: #9399b2 bg: #35374a
HelpviewPalette0Fg	Comment(fg)	fg: #9399b2
HelpviewPalette0Bg	Normal(bg) + Comment(fg)	bg: #35374a
HelpviewPalette0Sign	Normal(bg) + Comment(fg), LineNr(bg)	fg: #9399b2
————————————————————	————————————————————————————————————————	———————————————————————————
HelpviewPalette1	Normal(bg) + markdownH1(fg)	fg: #f38ba8 bg: #4d3649
HelpviewPalette1Fg	markdownH1(fg)	fg: #f38ba8
HelpviewPalette1Bg	Normal(bg) + markdownH1(fg)	bg: #4d3649
HelpviewPalette1Sign	Normal(bg) + markdownH1(fg), LineNr(bg)	fg: #f38ba8
————————————————————	————————————————————————————————————————	———————————————————————————
HelpviewPalette2	Normal(bg) + markdownH2(fg)	fg: #f9b387 bg: #4d3d43
HelpviewPalette2Fg	markdownH2(fg)	fg: #f9b387
HelpviewPalette2Bg	Normal(bg) + markdownH2(fg)	bg: #4d3d43
HelpviewPalette2Sign	Normal(bg) + markdownH2(fg), LineNr(bg)	fg: #f9b387
————————————————————	————————————————————————————————————————	———————————————————————————
HelpviewPalette3	Normal(bg) + markdownH3(fg)	fg: #f9e2af bg: #4c474b
HelpviewPalette3Fg	markdownH3(fg)	fg: #f9e2af
HelpviewPalette3Bg	Normal(bg) + markdownH3(fg)	bg: #4c474b
HelpviewPalette3Sign	Normal(bg) + markdownH3(fg), LineNr(bg)	fg: #f9e2af
————————————————————	————————————————————————————————————————	———————————————————————————
HelpviewPalette4	Normal(bg) + markdownH4(fg)	fg: #a6e3a1 bg: #3c4948
HelpviewPalette4Fg	markdownH4(fg)	fg: #a6e3a1
HelpviewPalette4Bg	Normal(bg) + markdownH4(fg)	bg: #3c4948
HelpviewPalette4Sign	Normal(bg) + markdownH4(fg), LineNr(bg)	fg: #a6e3a1
————————————————————	————————————————————————————————————————	———————————————————————————
HelpviewPalette5	Normal(bg) + markdownH5(fg)	fg: #74c7ec bg: #314358
HelpviewPalette5Fg	markdownH5(fg)	fg: #74c7ec
HelpviewPalette5Bg	Normal(bg) + markdownH5(fg)	bg: #314358
HelpviewPalette5Sign	Normal(bg) + markdownH5(fg), LineNr(bg)	fg: #74c7ec
————————————————————	————————————————————————————————————————	———————————————————————————
HelpviewPalette6	Normal(bg) + markdownH6(fg)	fg: #b4befe bg: #3c405b
HelpviewPalette6Fg	markdownH6(fg)	fg: #b4befe
HelpviewPalette6Bg	Normal(bg) + markdownH6(fg)	bg: #3c405b
HelpviewPalette6Sign	Normal(bg) + markdownH6(fg), LineNr(bg)	fg: #b4befe
————————————————————	————————————————————————————————————————	———————————————————————————
HelpviewPalette7	Normal(bg) + @conditional(fg)	fg: #cba6f7 bg: #403b5a
HelpviewPalette7Fg	@conditional(fg)	fg: #cba6f7
HelpviewPalette7Bg	Normal(bg) + @conditional(fg)	bg: #403b5a
HelpviewPalette7Sign	Normal(bg) + @conditional(fg), LineNr(bg)	fg: #cba6f7

The source highlight group's values are turned into Lab color-space and then mixed to reduce unwanted results.

These groups are then used as links by other groups responsible for various preview elements,

[!NOTE] These groups exist for the sake of backwards compatibility and ease of use.

You will see something like fg: Normal, it means the fg of Normal was used as the fg of that group.

Highlight group	value
HelpviewCode	bg*: normal ± 5%(L)
HelpviewCodeInfo	bg*: normal ± 5%(L), fg: comment
HelpviewCodeFg	fg*: normal ± 5%(L)
HelpviewInlineCode	fg*: normal ± 10%(L)
—————————————————————————	————————————————————————————————————————
HelpviewIcon0	link**: HelpviewPalette0Fg
HelpviewIcon1	link**: HelpviewPalette1Fg
HelpviewIcon2	link**: HelpviewPalette5Fg
HelpviewIcon3	link**: HelpviewPalette4Fg
HelpviewIcon4	link**: HelpviewPalette3Fg
HelpviewIcon5	link**: HelpviewPalette2Fg
—————————————————————————	————————————————————————————————————————
HelpviewGradient0	fg: Normal
HelpviewGradient1	fg***: lerp(Normal, Title, 1/9)
HelpviewGradient2	fg***: lerp(Normal, Title, 2/9)
HelpviewGradient3	fg***: lerp(Normal, Title, 3/9)
HelpviewGradient4	fg***: lerp(Normal, Title, 4/9)
HelpviewGradient5	fg***: lerp(Normal, Title, 5/9)
HelpviewGradient6	fg***: lerp(Normal, Title, 6/9)
HelpviewGradient7	fg***: lerp(Normal, Title, 7/9)
HelpviewGradient8	fg***: lerp(Normal, Title, 8/9)
HelpviewGradient9	fg: Title

* = The color is converted to HSL and it's luminosity(L) is increased/decreased by the specified amount.

** = The background color of HelpviewCode is added to the groups.

*** = Linearly interpolated value between 2 highlight groups fg.

There are also highlight groups that are made using the default highlight groups

Highlight group	Inherited from
HelpviewTaglink	@markup.link.vimdoc
HelpviewTag	@label.vimdoc
HelpviewTag	@label.vimdoc
HelpviewOptionlink	@markup.link.vimdoc
HelpviewKeycode	@string.special.vimdoc
HelpviewArgument	@variable.parameter.vimdoc