VimTeX

VimTeX is a modern Vim and Neovim filetype and syntax plugin for LaTeX files.

Table of contents

<!-- START doctoc generated TOC please keep comment here to allow auto update --> <!-- DON'T EDIT THIS SECTION, INSTEAD RE-RUN doctoc TO UPDATE -->

• Requirements
• Installation
• Configuration
• Quick Start
  • Tutorial
  • Documentation
• Screenshots
  • GIFs
• Features
• Other relevant plugins
  • Linting and syntax checking
  • Snippets and templates
  • Tag navigation
• Alternatives

<!-- END doctoc generated TOC please keep comment here to allow auto update -->

Requirements

VimTeX requires Vim version 9.1 or Neovim version 0.10. The requirements were updated in January 2025 after the release of VimTeX 2.16. If you are stuck on older versions of Vim or Neovim, then you should not use the most recent version of VimTeX, but instead remain at the v2.15 tag (or older).

Some features require external tools. For example, the default compiler backend relies on latexmk. Users are encouraged to read the requirements section in the documentation (:h vimtex-requirements).

Installation

There are a lot of methods for installing plugins. The following explains the most common and popular approaches.

[!WARNING]

Many plugin managers provide mechanisms to lazy load plugins. Please don't use this for VimTeX! VimTeX is already lazy loaded by virtue of being a filetype plugin and by using the autoload mechanisms. There is therefore nothing to gain by forcing VimTeX to lazily load through the plugin manager. In fact, doing it will break the inverse-search mechanism, which relies on a global command (:VimtexInverseSearch).

lazy.nvim

In Neovim, lazy.nvim is probably the most popular plugin manager. To install VimTeX, add a plugin spec similar to this:

{
  "lervag/vimtex",
  lazy = false,     -- we don't want to lazy load VimTeX
  -- tag = "v2.15", -- uncomment to pin to a specific release
  init = function()
    -- VimTeX configuration goes here, e.g.
    vim.g.vimtex_view_method = "zathura"
  end
}

VimTeX is mostly implemented with Vimscript and is configured with the classical vimscript variable convention like g:vimtex_OPTION_NAME. Nowadays, Neovim is often configured with Lua, thus some users may be interested in reading :help lua-vimscript.

vim-plug

If you use vim-plug, then add one of the following lines to your configuration. The first will use the latest versions from the master branch, whereas the second will pin to a release tag.

Plug 'lervag/vimtex'
Plug 'lervag/vimtex', { 'tag': 'v2.15' }

Other

There are many other plugin managers out there. They are typically well documented, and it should be straightforward to extrapolate the above snippets.

[!NOTE]

If you use the built-in package feature, then:

• Make sure to read and understand the package feature: :help package!
• Use the /pack/foo/start subdirectory to make sure the filetype plugin is automatically loaded for the tex filetypes.
• Helptags are not generated automatically. Run :helptags to generate them.
• Please note that by default Vim puts custom /start/ plugin directories at the end of the &runtimepath. This means the built in filetype plugin is loaded, which prevents VimTeX from loading. See #1413 for two suggested solutions to this. To see which scripts are loaded and in which order, use :scriptnames.
• For more information on how to use the Vim native package solution, see here and here.

Configuration

After installing VimTeX, you should edit your .vimrc file or init.vim file to configure VimTeX to your liking. Users should read the documentation to learn the various configuration possibilities, but the below is a simple overview of some of the main aspects.

[!CAUTION]

PLEASE don't just copy this without reading the comments!

" This is necessary for VimTeX to load properly. The "indent" is optional.
" Note: Most plugin managers will do this automatically!
filetype plugin indent on

" This enables Vim's and neovim's syntax-related features. Without this, some
" VimTeX features will not work (see ":help vimtex-requirements" for more
" info).
" Note: Most plugin managers will do this automatically!
syntax enable

" Viewer options: One may configure the viewer either by specifying a built-in
" viewer method:
let g:vimtex_view_method = 'zathura'

" Or with a generic interface:
let g:vimtex_view_general_viewer = 'okular'
let g:vimtex_view_general_options = '--unique file:@pdf\#src:@line@tex'

" VimTeX uses latexmk as the default compiler backend. If you use it, which is
" strongly recommended, you probably don't need to configure anything. If you
" want another compiler backend, you can change it as follows. The list of
" supported backends and further explanation is provided in the documentation,
" see ":help vimtex-compiler".
let g:vimtex_compiler_method = 'latexrun'

" Most VimTeX mappings rely on localleader and this can be changed with the
" following line. The default is usually fine and is the symbol "\".
let maplocalleader = ","

Quick Start

The following video shows how to use VimTeX's main features (credits: @DustyTopology from #1946). The example LaTeX file used in the video is available under test/example-quick-start/main.tex and it may be instructive to copy the file and play with it to learn some of these basic functions.

https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/66584581/119213849-1b7d4080-ba77-11eb-8a31-7ff7b9a4a020.mp4

[!TIP]

If the compiler or the viewer doesn't start properly, one may type <localleader>li to view the system commands that were executed to start them. To inspect the compiler output, use <localleader>lo.

Tutorial

Both new and experienced users are encouraged to read the excellent guide by @ejmastnak: Getting started with the VimTeX plugin. The guide covers all the fundamentals of setting up a VimTeX-based LaTeX workflow, including usage of the VimTeX plugin, compilation, setting up forward and inverse search with a PDF reader, and Vimscript tools for user-specific customization.

Documentation

Users are of course strongly encouraged to read the documentation, at least the introduction, to learn about the different features and possibilities provided by VimTeX (see :h vimtex). Advanced users and potential developers may also be interested in reading the supplementary documents:

• CONTRIBUTING.md
• DOCUMENTATION.md

Screenshots

Here is an example of the syntax highlighting provided by VimTeX. The conceal feature is active on the right-hand side split. The example is made by @DustyTopology with the vim-colors-xcode colorscheme with some minor adjustments described here.

GIFs

See the file VISUALS.md for screencast-style GIFs demonstrating VimTeX's core motions, text-editing commands, and text objects.

Features

Below is a list of features offered by VimTeX. The features are accessible as both commands and mappings. The mappings generally start with <localleader>l, but if desired one can disable default mappings to define custom mappings. Nearly all features are enabled by default, but each feature may be disabled if desired. The two exceptions are code folding and formating, which are disabled by default and must be manually enabled.

• Document compilation with latexmk, latexrun, tectonic, or arara
• LaTeX log parsing for quickfix entries using
  • internal method
  • pplatex
• Compilation of selected part of document
• Support for several PDF viewers with forward search
  • MuPDF
  • Okular
  • qpdfview
  • Skim
  • SumatraPDF
  • TeXShop
  • Zathura
  • Other viewers are supported through a general interface
• Completion of
  • citations
  • labels
  • commands
  • file names for figures, input/include, includepdf, includestandalone
  • glossary entries
  • package and documentclass names based on available .sty and .cls