Snippy

A minimalist snippets plugin for Neovim 0.7.0+ written in Lua.

Features

• Uses the built-in extmarks feature
• Supports defining multiple snippets in a single file
• Supports for expanding LSP-provided snippets
• Full support for the syntax and file format used by SnipMate
• No dependencies

Installation

Install using your favorite plugin manager.

For example, using vim-plug:

Plug 'dcampos/nvim-snippy'

There are no snippets installed by default. You can create your own, or install vim-snippets:

Plug 'honza/vim-snippets'

If you want to use Snippy with nvim-cmp, please install and configure cmp-snippy.

Usage

Snippy comes with no mappings activated by default, so you need to define some.

For example, to use <Tab> to expand and jump forward, <S-Tab> to jump back:

imap <expr> <Tab> snippy#can_expand_or_advance() ? '<Plug>(snippy-expand-or-advance)' : '<Tab>'
imap <expr> <S-Tab> snippy#can_jump(-1) ? '<Plug>(snippy-previous)' : '<S-Tab>'
smap <expr> <Tab> snippy#can_jump(1) ? '<Plug>(snippy-next)' : '<Tab>'
smap <expr> <S-Tab> snippy#can_jump(-1) ? '<Plug>(snippy-previous)' : '<S-Tab>'
xmap <Tab> <Plug>(snippy-cut-text)

When using Lua, you can wrap the above block in a vim.cmd([[...]]) call, or use standard :h vim.keymap.set() with Lua functions:

local map = vim.keymap.set

map({ 'i', 's' }, '<Tab>', function()
    return require('snippy').can_expand_or_advance() and '<Plug>(snippy-expand-or-advance)' or '<Tab>'
end, { expr = true })
map({ 'i', 's' }, '<S-Tab>', function()
    return require('snippy').can_jump(-1) and '<Plug>(snippy-previous)' or '<S-Tab>'
end, { expr = true })
map('x', '<Tab>', '<Plug>(snippy-cut-text)')

You can also define separate mappings to expand and jump forward. See :help snippy-usage and also the mapping examples on the Wiki.

Configuration

Snippy provides an optional setup() function for customization. See :help snippy-usage-setup for the available options.

require('snippy').setup({
    -- Custom options
})

Adding snippets

Normally, you should place your custom snippets in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/nvim/snippets. However, any snippets directory in runtimepath will be searched for snippets. Files with the .snippet extension contain a single snippet, while files with the .snippets extension (most common) can be used to declare multiple snippets.

A basic lua.snippets file for Lua, demonstrating some of the plugin's features, would look like this:

# Comments are possible
snippet fun
    function ${1:name}(${2:params})
        ${0:$VISUAL}
    end
# Tabstop transformations
snippet upcase
    local ${1:var} = '${1/.*/\U\0/g}'
# Selection menu for predefined choices
snippet choices
    print('My favorite language is: ${1|JavaScript,Lua,Rust|}')
# Eval blocks (Vimscript)
snippet date
    Current date is `strftime('%c')`
# Eval blocks (Lua)
snippet date
    Current date is `!lua os.date()`
# Custom tabstop order
snippet repeat
    repeat
        ${2:what}
    while ${1:condition}

You can find extensive example snippets in the honza/vim-snippets repository, which, if installed, Snippy will also automatically recognize as a source of snippets.

See :help snippy-usage-snippets and :help snippy-snippet-syntax for the details.

Expanding LSP snippets

The LSP snippet syntax is almost fully supported. If you use a completion plugin like nvim-cmp, please install the respective integration plugin listed above in the Installation section.

You can also expand LSP snippets present in completion items provided by Neovim's built-in vim.lsp.omnifunc. See :help snippy.complete_done() for details.

Running tests

There are some functional and unit tests available. To run them, use either:

make functionaltest

Or:

make unittest

You need to have vusted installed for running the unit tests.

Advantages

These are some of the advantages of this plugin when compared with other snippet plugins for Vim/Neovim:

• Core Neovim only, no external dependencies.
• Built-in extmarks integration, avoiding insertion of markers in the text.
• Straighforward snippet file format: no need to edit JSON files by hand.
• Eliminates the need to define snippets in Lua or Vimscript code.
• Clean and standard snippet syntax.

FAQ

Is feature X from Ultisnips available?

This question is sometimes asked, and the answer is usually no. UltiSnips is a great snippet manager for those who want advanced snippet features, such as Python code evaluation. However, this comes with the cost of being heavy and complex, whereas Snippy aims to be minimal and simple. That said, UltiSnips does have some useful features—like auto-trigger—that have been or may be added in the future to Snippy to improve usability.

How can I make Select mode work as in other editors?

In Select mode, some keys may behave differently than in other editors (see :help Select-mode). Check our Wiki section for tips to improve the experience: Select mode mappings.

See also: issues with label .

Known bugs

• There is a bug in Neovim where extmarks are extended to the beginning of the completed item when the complete() function is called and a completion menu is shown, even if the user does not select or confirm anything. See the bug report for more information.

Acknowledgements

• The legacy snippet parsing code is based on vsnip's.
• This plugin would not be possible without all the foundation provided by SnipMate.

License

MIT license.