kickstart.nvim/README.md

# mgua's kickstart.nvim

# Introduction

This project is heavily based on TJ DeVries amazing work to promote Neovim adoption and usage.
Please see the original project nvim-lua/kickstart.nvim

In my neovim journey I recently migrated from vimscript to lua, and I am still in the process of adjusting my setup.

I am working to make this kickstart a standard for my development team, to be deployed on Windows Linux and MacOSX systems.

Kickstart.nvim is just a configuration procedure. It requires to have several components installed and prepared. In the following notes I will list the preparation activities to be performed on the different operating systems.

A possible alternative approach is to use a neovim distribution, like 
- [LazyVim](https://www.lazyvim.org/): maintained by @folke (the author of lazy.nvim package manager)

## Neovim preparation and Installation for Linux
#### Ubuntu
from root:
```
apt update
apt upgrade
apt install software-properties-common
add-apt-repository ppa:neovim-ppa/stable
apt update
apt install ripgrep fd-find
apt install neovim
(for python development): apt install python3 python3-venv python3-pip 
(for perl development): cpan install Neovim::Ext
```

#### Kali
from root:
```
apt update
apt upgrade
apt install ripgrep fd-find 
cd
mkdir neovim
cd neovim
curl -LO https://github.com/neovim/neovim/releases/latest/download/nvim.appimage
chmod +x nvim.appimage
cp nvim.appimage /usr/bin/
ln -s /usr/bin/nvim.appimage /usr/bin/nvim
apt install python3 python3-venv python3-pip (for python development) 
cpan install Neovim::Ext (for perl development)
```

#### Almalinux
from root:
```
yum update
yum install ripgrep fd-find
yum install neovim
yum install python3 python3-venv python3-pip (for python development)
cpan install Neovim::Ext (for perl development) 
```

### Neovim Kickstart Configuration for any linux distribution (in non privileged user context)
- Exit from nvim if open
```
cd $HOME/.config
mv nvim nvim_old
mkdir nvim
cd nvim
git clone https://github.com/mgua/kickstart.nvim.git .
```
- for python developers, create a dedicated environment for nvim:
```
cd
python3 -m venv venv_nvim
source ./venv_nvim/bin/activate
python -m pip install pip --upgrade
python -m pip install neovim
```
- launch nvim, and you should see the automatic download and updates by lazy

## Neovim preparation and Installation for MacOSX
(To be completed)


## Neovim preparation and Installation for windows
Actions to be executed from administrator user:
1. Chocolatey package manager installation (see https://chocolatey.org/)
  - run the following from powershell admin
  ```
  Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://community.chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))
  ```
  - close and reopen admin window
2. Winget package manager installation ( see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/package-manager/winget/ )
  - install winget from microsoft store
3. from an administrator console, execute:
  ```
  winget install gnuwin32.tar (bsdtar, installed in c:\Windows\WinSxS\.. c:\cygwin64\bin...)
  winget install gnuwin32.findutils (grep)
  winget install Microsoft.WindowsTerminal (if not from winget, it can be installed from microsoft https://aka.ms/terminal https://github.com/microsoft/terminal#other-install-methods https://github.com/microsoft/terminal (go on releases on right side...))
  choco install less bat gzip ripgrep grep fd fzf far netcat curl wget procexp mingw (choco installs the tools in c:\ProgramData\chocolatey\bin these tools are needed for lsp config)
  ```
  - nerdfonts are a nice to have extension. After font installation, they can be setup in Windows Terminal to be available for neovim interface. Go download nerdfonts https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts/releases/download/v2.3.3/Hack.zip uncompress in a temporary folder. then select all the .ttf files and press right-click then install. Open MS terminal, press the top icon on the right of the "+", then choose Profile/Defaults on the left, then Appearance and in font face set Hack Nerd Font
  ```
  choco install python (for python development. (I experienced path issues when using python.org install, maybe due to Anaconda being on my system too)) 
  winget install StrawberryPerl.StrawberryPerl (for perl development)
  cpanm -n Neovim::Ext (or cpan install Neovim::Ext) (for perl development)
  ```
  - A local node installation may be needed, for some language servers to be run. this requires the following:
  ```
  winget install OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS
  npm install -g neovim (after closing and reopening admin window)
  ```
  - And finally the neovim installation:
  ```
  winget install neovim
  ``` 

### Neovim Kickstart Configuration for Windows (in non privileged user context)

```
  cd %HOMEPATH%	(typically c:\Users\<your-username>\)
  py -m venv venv_nvim	(for python development, we create a dedicated environment for nvim)
  .\venv_nvim\Scripts\activate 	(for python)
  py -m pip install pip --upgrade (for python, upgrade pip)
  py -m pip install neovim (for python, install neovim python package)
  mkdir %HOMEPATH%\AppData\Local\nvim\	(to avoid some path not found error)
  mkdir %HOMEPATH%\AppData\Local\Temp\nvim\ (to avoid some path not found error from lsp)
  (Exit from nvim if open)
  cd %HOMEPATH%\AppData\Local\
  ren nvim nvim_old
  mkdir nvim
  cd nvim
  git clone https://github.com/mgua/kickstart.nvim.git .
  (launch nvim)
```

# Additional configurations 
Please edit Python interpreter path to match the interpreter within the dedicated venv_nvim environment
- this edit is to be carried out in nvim/lua/custom/plugins/additional_keymaps.lua
- once done execute :checkhealth from nvim to see if there are other issues

# Treesitter and LSP language parser install
After configuration, from within nvim, we can proceed to install and activate additional language parsers. This can be done with 
  - :TSInstall <TAB>
    And choosing all the language we need. My preferences are:
  ```
  :TSInstall javascript c python perl css lua vim bash php regex html awk sql make cmake sql dockerfile json markdown mermaid yaml 
  ```
  - Similar action is to be performed for LSP, whose config is managed via mason plugin. Some plugins like sqlls, intelphense, awk-language-server and others) require nodejs javascript modules to be managed via npm, therefore node installation is pre-required at the system level. 
  ```
  :MasonInstall awk_language-server bash-language-server ansible-language-server docker-compose-language-server dockerfile-language-server eslint-lsp html-lsp intelephense json-lsp lua-language-server marksman nginx-language-server perlnavigator pyright python-lsp-server sqlls vim-language-server
  ```



#### Example: Adding an autopairs plugin

In the file: `lua/custom/plugins/autopairs.lua`, add:

```lua
-- File: lua/custom/plugins/autopairs.lua

return {
  "windwp/nvim-autopairs",
  config = function()
    require("nvim-autopairs").setup {}
  end,
}
```


This will automatically install `nvim-autopairs` and enable it on startup. For more information, see documentation for [lazy.nvim](https://github.com/folke/lazy.nvim).

#### Example: Adding a file tree plugin

In the file: `lua/custom/plugins/filetree.lua`, add:

```lua
-- Unless you are still migrating, remove the deprecated commands from v1.x
vim.cmd([[ let g:neo_tree_remove_legacy_commands = 1 ]])

return {
  "nvim-neo-tree/neo-tree.nvim",
  version = "*",
  dependencies = {
    "nvim-lua/plenary.nvim",
    "nvim-tree/nvim-web-devicons", -- not strictly required, but recommended
    "MunifTanjim/nui.nvim",
  },
  config = function ()
    require('neo-tree').setup {}
  end,
}
```

This will install the tree plugin and add the command `:Neotree` for you. You can explore the documentation at [neo-tree.nvim](https://github.com/nvim-neo-tree/neo-tree.nvim) for more information.

#### Example: Adding a file to change default options

To change default options, you can add a file in the `/after/plugin/` folder (see `:help load-plugins`) to include your own options, keymaps, autogroups, and more. The following is an example `defaults.lua` file (located at `$HOME/.config/nvim/after/plugin/defaults.lua`).

```lua
vim.opt.relativenumber = true

vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>sr', require('telescope.builtin').resume, { desc = '[S]earch [R]esume' })
```

### Contribution

Pull-requests are welcome. The goal of this repo is not to create a Neovim configuration framework, but to offer a starting template that shows, by example, available features in Neovim. Some things that will not be included:

* Custom language server configuration (null-ls templates)
* Theming beyond a default colorscheme necessary for LSP highlight groups

Each PR, especially those which increase the line count, should have a description as to why the PR is necessary.

### FAQ

* What should I do if I already have a pre-existing neovim configuration?
  * You should back it up, then delete all files associated with it.
  * This includes your existing init.lua and the neovim files in `~/.local` which can be deleted with `rm -rf ~/.local/share/nvim/`
  * You may also want to look at the [migration guide for lazy.nvim](https://github.com/folke/lazy.nvim#-migration-guide)
* What if I want to "uninstall" this configuration:
  * See [lazy.nvim uninstall](https://github.com/folke/lazy.nvim#-uninstalling) information
* Are there any cool videos about this plugin?
  * Current iteration of kickstart (coming soon)
  * Here is one about the previous iteration of kickstart: [video introduction to Kickstart.nvim](https://youtu.be/stqUbv-5u2s).

### Windows Installation

Installation may require installing build tools, and updating the run command for `telescope-fzf-native`

See `telescope-fzf-native` documentation for [more details](https://github.com/nvim-telescope/telescope-fzf-native.nvim#installation)

This requires:

- Install CMake, and the Microsoft C++ Build Tools on Windows

```lua
{'nvim-telescope/telescope-fzf-native.nvim', build = 'cmake -S. -Bbuild -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release && cmake --build build --config Release && cmake --install build --prefix build' }
```