tabby.nvim

A highly configurable, and neovim style tabline plugin. Use your nvim tabs as a workspace multiplexer!

Compatibility and Versions

Compatibility has always been a key consideration for tabby.nvim. Since its inception during the Neovim 0.5 era, the landscape of plugin management and semantic versioning has not been widely adopted; hence, we have made every effort to maintain backward compatibility with each release.

However, since then, numerous Neovim APIs have been added, altered, or deprecated, and the design philosophy of tabby.nvim has also gone through several iterations. Maintaining complete backward compatibility has become increasingly challenging. Therefore, starting from this version, tabby.nvim will adhere to semantic versioning. Within the same major version, no breaking changes will be introduced.

At next major version, v3, tabby.nvim will cleaner all deprecated apis and remove all vimscript.

Features

Tabline, not bufferline

A line for the vim tab page, not for buffers. A tabpage in vim holds one or more windows(not buffers). You can easily switch between tab pages to have several collections of windows to work on different things.

Tabline can help you use multiple tabs. Meanwhile, the bufferline is simply an array of opened files. As a result, Bufferline limits the power of vim, especially when editing a large workspace with many opened files.

For example, you are writing a backend service:

- Tab1: nvim-tree, controller/user.go, entity/user.go
- Tab2: nvim-tree, pkg/cache.go, redis/client.go
- Tab3: Terminal
- Tab4: Neogit.nvim

Highly configurable

Tabby provides a highly configurable way to set up your personalized tabline. There is no DSL for config; you can write any lua codes following the type hint. But also, Tabby provides some presets for quick start and as your example.

Tab rename

You can rename a tab by Tabby rename_tab <tabname>. Display the tab name by tab.name() (reference: Tab) in your config. Config fallback name by Line-Option

Window picker

Use command Tabby pick_window to open a selector to pick window in tabpages. This picker use native neovim selector, you can use a general UI plugin to enhance the appearance.

Jump mode for tabs

Inspired by barbar.nvim. Type one key to jump to a tabpage.

Use command Tabby jump_to_tab to get into jump mode. In jump mode, each tab have a key which displayed in tabline by tab.jump_key(). You can check if in jump mode by tab.in_jump_mode(). (reference: Tab)

For example in your config:

tab.in_jump_mode() and tab.jump_key() or tab.number()

The jump char is also displayed in presets.

Playground

Want to try your new config with no fear? Want to reproduct/debug a problem? Want to contribute? Use the playground!

Clone this repository, or open the directory your plugin manager installed tabby.nvim.
Put your config in 'playground/config.lua'
Execute make play, into a temporary neovim to check the config.
Use make clear-play to clean the change.

Install

Use your favorite plugin manager or script to installing 'nanozuki/tabby.nvim'. If you use lazy.nvim, you can refer the following example:

{
  'nanozuki/tabby.nvim',
  config = function()
    -- configs...
  end,
}

Or you can use opts to setup:

{
  'nanozuki/tabby.nvim',
  ---@type TabbyConfig
  opts = {
    -- configs...
  },
}

Optional Dependencies

If you use file_icon() in your config, you need to install one of these dependencies:

Lazy load

You don't need lazy load since 'tabby.nvim' is not slow. If you really want, you can use VimEnter or VeryLazy or anything else you like. Some of them (like VeryLazy) will make the raw tabline render first, and re-render to tabby's line quickly.

Setup

Tabline option

At default, neovim only display tabline when there are at least two tab pages. If you want always display tabline:

vim.o.showtabline = 2

Save and restore in session

You can save and restore tab layout and tab names in session, by adding word tabpages(for layout) and globals(for tab names) to vim.opt.sessionoptions. This is a valid sessionoptions:

vim.opt.sessionoptions = 'curdir,folds,globals,help,tabpages,terminal,winsize'

Setup tabby.nvim

And you can setup your own tabline like this (check Customize for more details):

local theme = {
  fill = 'TabLineFill',
  -- Also you can do this: fill = { fg='#f2e9de', bg='#907aa9', style='italic' }
  head = 'TabLine',
  current_tab = 'TabLineSel',
  tab = 'TabLine',
  win = 'TabLine',
  tail = 'TabLine',
}
require('tabby').setup({
  line = function(line)
    return {
      {
        { '  ', hl = theme.head },
        line.sep('', theme.head, theme.fill),
      },
      line.tabs().foreach(function(tab)
        local hl = tab.is_current() and theme.current_tab or theme.tab
        return {
          line.sep('', hl, theme.fill),
          tab.is_current() and '' or '󰆣',
          tab.number(),
          tab.name(),
          tab.close_btn(''),
          line.sep('', hl, theme.fill),
          hl = hl,
          margin = ' ',
        }
      end),
      line.spacer(),
      line.wins_in_tab(line.api.get_current_tab()).foreach(function(win)
        return {
          line.sep('', theme.win, theme.fill),
          win.is_current() and '' or '',
          win.buf_name(),
          line.sep('', theme.win, theme.fill),
          hl = theme.win,
          margin = ' ',
        }
      end),
      {
        line.sep('', theme.tail, theme.fill),
        { '  ', hl = theme.tail },
      },
      hl = theme.fill,
    }
  end,
  -- option = {}, -- setup modules' option,
})

In recent versions, we use require('tabby.tabline').set(fn, opt?) to set up the tabline. You can continue to use this.

Examples and Gallery

These are some awesome examples shared by tabby.nvim users! Also welcome to share your own!

Discussions: show and tell

Presets

If you want to quick start? That's fine, you can Use Preset Configs. And you can use theme of lualine in presets.

Commands

Tabby rename_tab <tabname>: Rename tab. Use name in line by tab.name() (ref: Tab). Config fallback name by Line-Option
Tabby pick_window: Open a selector to pick window in tabpages.
Tabby jump_to_tab: Get one key to jump to tabpage, each keys are displayed in tabline by tab.jump_key()

Key mapping example

Tabby uses native nvim tab, so you can directly use nvim tab operation. Maybe you want to map some operation. For example:

vim.api.nvim_set_keymap("n", "<leader>ta", ":$tabnew<CR>", { noremap = true })
vim.api.nvim_set_keymap("n", "<leader>tc", ":tabclose<CR>", { noremap = true })
vim.api.nvim_set_keymap("n", "<leader>to", ":tabonly<CR>", { noremap = true })
vim.api.nvim_set_keymap("n", "<leader>tn", ":tabn<CR>", { noremap = true })
vim.api.nvim_set_keymap("n", "<leader>tp", ":tabp<CR>", { noremap = true })
-- move current tab to previous position
vim.api.nvim_set_keymap("n", "<leader>tmp", ":-tabmove<CR>", { noremap = true })
-- move current tab to next position
vim.api.nvim_set_keymap("n", "<leader>tmn", ":+tabmove<CR>", { noremap = true })

And in fact, vim has some built-in keymapping, it's better to read :help tabline. Here are some useful mappings:

gt					*i_CTRL-<PageDown>* *i_<C-PageDown>*
		Go to the next tab page.  Wraps around from the last to the
		first one.
{count}gt	Go to tab page {count}.  The first tab page has number one.
g<Tab>		Go to previous (last accessed) tab page.
gT		Go to the previous tab page.  Wraps around from the first one
		to the last one.

The {count} is the number displayed in presets.

Customize

Customize tabby with require('tabby').setup(opts):

tabline.setup({opts})                                            *tabby.setup()*
    Set tabline renderer function

    Parameters: ~
      • {opts}   Options dict:
                 • line (funtion) required: renderer function, receive a line
                   (|tabby.object.line|), return a node (|tabby.object.node|).
                 • option (|LineOption|) optional: renderer option.

All you need is to provide a render function, that use the variable line (ref: Line) to complete tabline node (ref: Node). The line variable gathered all features the tabby provided. And you can use opt (ref: [Line Option](#Line Option)) to customize some behaviors.

The render function will be called every time the nvim redraws tabline. You can use any valid neovim lua code to contracture the Node in this function. For example, if you want display current directory in tabline, you can do like this:

require('tabby').setup({
  line = function(line)
    local cwd = ' ' .. vim.fn.fnamemodify(vim.fn.getcwd(), ':t') .. ' '
    return {
        {
            { cwd, hl = theme.head },
            line.sep('', theme.head, theme.line),
        },
        ".....",
    }
  end,
  option = {},
})

Line

line.tabs()                                                  *tabby.line.tabs()*

    Return: ~

Tabby.nvim

Install / Use

README