Vim Floaterm

Use (neo)vim terminal in the floating/popup window.

• Features
• Requirements
• Installation
• Get started
  • Commands
  • Options
  • Keymaps
  • Highlights
  • Autocmd
• Advanced Topics
  • Use with command line tools
  • Use with other plugins
  • How to define more wrappers
  • How to write sources for fuzzy finder plugins
• Contributing
• FAQ
• Breaking changes
• Related projects
• Credits
• License

Features

• Support neovim floatwin and vim8 popupwin
• Manage multiple terminal instances
• Customizable terminal window style
• Switch/preview floating terminal buffers using fuzzy-finder plugins such as denite.nvim or fzf, etc.
• Use with other external command-line tools(ranger, fzf, ripgrep etc.)
• Use as a custom task runner for asynctasks.vim or asyncrun.vim

Requirements

• Vim or neovim with terminal feature

Installation

• packer.nvim

use 'voldikss/vim-floaterm'

• vim-plug

Plug 'voldikss/vim-floaterm'

• dein.nvim

call dein#add('voldikss/vim-floaterm')

Get Started

Use :FloatermNew to open a terminal window, use :FloatermToggle to hide/reopen that. The filetype of the terminal buffer is floaterm.

If you've opened multiple floaterm instances, they will be attached to a double-circular-linkedlist. Then you can use :FloatermNext or : FloatermPrev to switch between them.

❗️Note: Long-running jobs (e.g. yarn watch) inside the builtin terminal would probably slowdown your operation. It's recommended to put them into the external terminals.

Commands

:FloatermNew[!] [options] [cmd] Open a floaterm window.

• If ! is given, execute cmd in $SHELL. Try :FloatermNew python and : FloatermNew! python to learn about the difference.
• If execute without cmd, open $SHELL.
• The options is formed as --key[=value], it is used to specify local attributes of a specific floaterm instance. Note that in order to input space, you have to form it as \ followed by space, and \ must be typed as \\
  • cwd working directory that floaterm will be opened at. Accepts a path, the literal <root> which represents the project root directory, the literal <buffer> which specifies the directory of the active buffer, or the literal <buffer-root> which corresponds to the project root directory of the active buffer.
  • name name of the floaterm
  • silent If --silent is given, spawn a floaterm but not open the window, you may toggle it afterwards
  • disposable If --disposable is given, the floaterm will be destroyed once it is hidden.
  • title see g:floaterm_title
  • width see g:floaterm_width
  • height see g:floaterm_height
  • opener see g:floaterm_opener
  • wintype see g:floaterm_wintype
  • position see g:floaterm_position
  • autoclose see g:floaterm_autoclose
  • borderchars see g:floaterm_borderchars
  • titleposition see g:floaterm_titleposition
• This command basically shares the consistent behaviors with the builtin :terminal:
  • The special characters(:help cmdline-special) such as % and <cfile> will be auto-expanded, to get standalone characters, use \ followed by the corresponding character(e.g., \%).
  • Note that <bar>(i.e., |) will be seen as an argument of the command, therefore it can not be followed by another Vim command.
• If execute this command with a range, i.e., '<,'>:FloatermNew ..., the selected lines will be sent to the created floaterm. For example, see python repl use case below.
• Use <TAB> to get completion.

For example, the command

:FloatermNew --height=0.6 --width=0.4 --wintype=float --name=floaterm1 --position=topleft --autoclose=2 ranger --cmd="cd ~"

will open a new floating/popup floaterm instance named floaterm1 running ranger --cmd="cd ~" in the topleft corner of the main window.

The following command allows you to compile and run your C code in the floaterm window:

:FloatermNew --autoclose=0 gcc % -o %< && ./%<

:FloatermPrev Switch to the previous floaterm instance

:FloatermNext Switch to the next floaterm instance

:FloatermFirst Switch to the first floaterm instance

:FloatermLast Switch to the last floaterm instance

:FloatermUpdate [options] Update floaterm window attributes(height, width, etc.).

• The options is the same as in :FloatermNew (except --silent).
• Use <TAB> to get completion.

:[N]FloatermToggle[!] [floaterm_name] Open or hide the floaterm window.

• If N is given, toggle the floaterm whose buffer number is N
• If floaterm_name is given, toggle the floaterm instance whose name attribute is floaterm_name. Otherwise create a new floaterm named floaterm_name.
• Use <TAB> to get completion.
• If ! is given, toggle all floaterms (:FloatermHide! or : FloatermShow!)

:[N]FloatermShow[!] [floaterm_name] Show the current floaterm window.

• If N is given, show the floaterm whose buffer number is N
• If floaterm_name is given, show the floaterm named floaterm_name.
• If ! is given, show all floaterms (If multiple floaterms have the same position attribute, only one of them will be show)

:[N]FloatermHide[!] [floaterm_name] Hide the current floaterms window.

• If N is given, hide the floaterm whose buffer number is N
• If floaterm_name is given, show the floaterm named floaterm_name.
• If ! is given, hide all floaterms

:[N]FloatermKill[!] [floaterm_name] Kill the current floaterm instance

• If N is given, kill the floaterm whose buffer number is N
• If floaterm_name is given, kill the floaterm instance named floaterm_name.
• If ! is given, kill all floaterms

:FloatermSend[!] [--name=floaterm_name] [cmd] Send command to a job in floaterm.

• If --name=floaterm_name is given, send lines to the floaterm instance whose name is floaterm_name. Otherwise use the current floaterm.
• If cmd is given, it will be sent to floaterm and selected lines will be ignored.
• This command can also be used with a range, i.e., '<,'>:FloatermSend [--name=floaterm_name] to send selected lines to a floaterm.
  • If cmd is given, the selected lines will be ignored.
  • If use this command with a !, i.e., '<,'>:FloatermSend! [--name=floaterm_name] the common white spaces in the beginning of lines will be trimmed while the relative indent between lines will still be kept.
• Use <TAB> to get completion.
• Examples

  :FloatermSend                        " Send current line to the current floaterm (execute the line in the terminal)
  :FloatermSend --name=ft1             " Send current line to the floaterm named ft1
  :FloatermSend ls -la                 " Send `ls -la` to the current floaterm
  :FloatermSend --name=ft1 ls -la      " Send `ls -la` to the floaterm named ft1
  :23FloatermSend ...                  " Send the line 23 to floaterm
  :1,23FloatermSend ...                " Send lines between line 1 and line 23 to floaterm
  :'<,'>FloatermSend ...               " Send lines selected to floaterm(visual block selection are supported)
  :%FloatermSend ...                   " Send the whole buffer to floaterm
  

Options

g:floaterm_shell

Type String. Default: &shell

g:floaterm_title

Type String. Show floaterm info(e.g., 'floaterm: 1/3' implies there are 3 floaterms in total and the current is the first one) at the top left corner of floaterm window.

Default: 'floaterm: $1/$2'($1 and $2 will be substituted by 'the index of the current floaterm' and 'the count of all floaterms' respectively)

Example: 'floaterm($1|$2)'

g:floaterm_wintype

Type String. 'float'(nvim's floating or vim's popup) by default. Set it to 'split' or 'vsplit' if you don't want to use floating or popup window.

g:floaterm_width

Type Number (number of columns) or Float (between 0 and 1). If Float, the width is relative to &columns.

Default: 0.6

g:floaterm_height

Type Number (number of lines) or Float (between 0 and 1). If Float, the height is relative to &lines.

Default: 0.6

g:floaterm_position

Type String. The position of the floating window. Available values:

• If wintype is split/vsplit: 'leftabove', 'aboveleft', 'rightbelow', 'belowright', 'topleft', 'botright'. Default: 'botright'.

  It's recommended to have a look at those options meanings, e.g. :help :leftabove.

• If wintype is float: 'top', 'bottom', 'left', 'right', 'topleft', 'topright', 'bottomleft', 'bottomright', 'center', 'auto'(at the cursor place). Default: 'center'

In addition, there is another option 'random' which allows to pick a random position from above when (re)opening a floaterm window.

g:floaterm_borderchars

Type String. 8 characters of the floating window border (top, right, bottom, left, topleft, topright, botright, botleft).

Default: ─│─│┌┐┘└

g:floaterm_rootmarkers

Type List of String. Markers used to detect the project root directory for --cwd=<root> or --cwd=<buffer-root>.

Default: ['.project', '.git', '.hg', '.svn', '.root']

g:floaterm_giteditor

Type Boolean. Whether to override $GIT_EDITOR in floaterm terminals so git commands can open open an editor in the same neovim instance. See git for details.

Default: v:true

g:floaterm_opener

Type String. Command used for opening a file in the outside nvim from within :terminal.

Available: 'edit', 'split', 'vsplit', 'tabe', 'drop' or user-defined commands

Default: 'split'

g:floaterm_autoclose

Type Number. Whether to close floaterm window once the job gets finished.

• 0: Always do NOT close floaterm window
• 1: Close window if the job exits normally, otherwise stay it with messages like [Process exited 101]
• 2: Always close floaterm window

Default: 1.

g:floaterm_autohide

Type Number. Whether to hide previous floaterms before switching to or opening a another one.

• 0: Always do NOT hide previous floaterm windows
• 1: Only hide those whose position (b:floaterm_position) is identical to that of the floaterm which will be opened
• 2: Always hide them

Default: 1.

g:floaterm_autoinsert

Type Boolean. Whether to enter Terminal-mode after opening a floaterm.

Default: v:true

g:floaterm_titleposition

Type String. The position of the floaterm title.

Available: 'left', 'center', 'right'.

Default: 'left'

Keymaps

This plugin doesn't supply any default mappings. Here are the configuration examples.

" Configuration example
let g:floaterm_keymap_new    = '<F7>'
let g:floaterm_keymap_prev   = '<F8>'
let g:floaterm_keymap_next   = '<F9>'
let g:floaterm_keymap_toggle = '<F12>'

You can also use other keys as shown below:

let g:floaterm_keymap_new = '<Leader>ft'

All options for the mappings are listed below:

• g:floaterm_keymap_new
• g:floaterm_keymap_prev
• g:floaterm_keymap_next
• g:floaterm_keymap_first
• g:floaterm_keymap_last
• g:floaterm_keymap_hide
• g:floaterm_keymap_show
• g:floaterm_keymap_kill
• g:floaterm_keymap_toggle

Note that the key mappings are set from the plugin/floaterm.vim, so if you are using on-demand loading feature provided by some plugin-managers, the keymap above won't take effect(:help load-plugins). Then you have to define the key bindings by yourself. For example,

nnoremap   <silent>   <F7>    :FloatermNew<CR>
tnoremap   <silent>   <F7>    <C-\><C-n>:FloatermNew<CR>
nnoremap   <silent>   <F8>    :FloatermPrev<CR>
tnoremap   <silent>   <F8>    <C-\><C-n>:FloatermPrev<CR>
nnoremap   <silent>   <F9>    :FloatermNext<CR>
tnoremap   <silent>   <F9>    <C-\><C-n>:FloatermNext<CR>
nnoremap   <silent>   <F12>   :FloatermToggle<CR>
tnoremap   <silent>   <F12>   <C-\><C-n>:FloatermToggle<CR>

Highlights

There are two highlight-groups to specify the color of floaterm (also the border color if g: floaterm_wintype is 'float') window.

To customize, use hi command together with the colors you prefer.

" Configuration example

" Set floaterm window's background to black
hi Floaterm guibg=black
" Set floating window border line color to cyan, and background to orange
hi FloatermBorder guibg=orange guifg=cyan

Demo

Besides, there is a neovim only highlight group which can be used to configure no-current-focused window(:help NormalNC).

" Configuration example

" Set floaterm window foreground to gray once the cursor moves out from it
hi FloatermNC guifg=gray

Demo

Autocmd

autocmd User FloatermOpen        " triggered after opening a new/existed floaterm

Advanced Topics

Use with command line tools

The following cases should work both in Vim and NeoVim unless otherwise specifically noted.

floaterm

Normally if you run vim/nvim somefile.txt within the builtin terminal, you would get another nvim/vim instance running in the subprocess.

Floaterm, which is a builtin script in this plugin, allows you to open files from within : terminal without starting a nested nvim. To achieve that, just literally replace vim/nvim with floaterm, e.g. floaterm somefile.txt

P.S.

• #208 describes how to use gf in the floating terminal window.
• floaterm is too long to type? set alias in your bashrc, e.g. alias f=floaterm
• For configurable open action, refer to g:floaterm_opener

Demo

git

Execute git commit in the terminal window without starting a nested vim/nvim.

Refer to g:floaterm_giteditor to disable this behavior.

Refer to g:floaterm_opener for configurable open action

Demo

fzf

This plugin has implemented a wrapper for fzf command. So it can be used as a tiny fzf plugin.

Try :FloatermNew fzf or even wrap this to a new command like this:

command! FZF FloatermNew fzf

Demo

ripgrep

Requirements:

• fzf
• vim-ripgrep

This plugin has implemented a wrapper for rg command.

Try :FloatermNew rg or create yourself a new command like this:

command! Rg FloatermNew --width=0.8 --height=0.8 rg

or map via .vimrc

" Hotkey: \ + rg
nmap <leader>rg :Rg<CR>

Demo

You can use Alt-A to select all files and Alt-D to deselect them. Use Ctrl-/ to toggle preview.

broot

This plugin has implemented a wrapper for broot.

Try :FloatermNew broot or create yourself a new command like this:

command! Broot FloatermNew --width=0.8 --height=0.8 broot

Demo

fff

There is also an fff wrapper

Try :FloatermNew fff or define a new command:

command! FFF FloatermNew fff

Demo

nnn

There is also an nnn wrapper

Try :FloatermNew nnn or define a new command:

command! NNN FloatermNew nnn

Demo

xplr

There is also an xplr wrapper

Try :FloatermNew xplr or define a new command:

command! XPLR FloatermNew xplr

Demo

lf

There is also an lf wrapper. It is recommened to use lf.vim which is an lf wrapper with more features (Overriding netrw, Lfcd, etc.).

Try :FloatermNew lf or define a new command:

command! LF FloatermNew lf

Demo

ranger

This plugin can also be a handy ranger plugin since it also has a ranger wrapper

Try :FloatermNew ranger or define a new command:

command! Ranger FloatermNew ranger

Demo

joshuto

This plugin can also be a handy joshuto plugin since it also has a joshuto wrapper

Try :FloatermNew joshuto or define a new command:

command! Joshuto FloatermNew joshuto

vifm

There is also a vifm wrapper

Try :FloatermNew vifm or define a new command:

command! Vifm FloatermNew vifm

Demo

yazi

There is also a yazi wrapper

Try :FloatermNew yazi or define a new command:

command! Yazi FloatermNew yazi

lazygit

Furthermore, you can also use other command-line programs, such as lazygit, htop, ncdu, etc.

Use lazygit for instance:

Demo

python

Use :FloatermNew python to open a python shell. After that you can use : FloatermSend to send lines to the Python interactive shell.

Or you can just select lines and execute :'<,'>FloatermNew --wintype=split python, then the selected lines will be sent and executed once a python repl floaterm window is opened.

This can also work for other languages which have interactive shells, such as lua, node, etc.

Demo

Use with other plugins

vim-clap

Use vim-clap to switch/preview floating terminal buffers.

Install clap-floaterm and try :Clap floaterm

Demo

denite.nvim

Use denite to switch/preview/open floating terminal buffers.

Install denite-floaterm and try :Denial floaterm

Demo

coc.nvim

Use CocList to switch/preview/open floating terminal buffers.

Install coc-floaterm and try :CocList floaterm

Demo

fzf

Install fzf-floaterm and try :Floaterms

LeaderF

Install LeaderF-floaterm and try :Leaderf floaterm

asynctasks.vim | asyncrun.vim

This plugin can be a runner for asynctasks.vim or asyncrun.vim. See asyncrun.extra for the installation and usage.

Demo

How to define more wrappers

The wrapper script must be located in autoload/floaterm/wrapper/ directory, e.g., autoload/floaterm/wrapper/fzf.vim.

There are two ways for a command to be spawned:

• To be executed after spawning $SHELL. Here is the old implementation of fzf wrapper

  function! floaterm#wrapper#fzf#(cmd, jobopts, config) abort
    return [v:true, 'floaterm $(fzf)']
  endfunction
  

  The code above returns a list. floaterm $(fzf) is the command to be executed. v:true means the command will be executed after the &shell startup.

• To be executed through termopen()/term_start() function, in that case, a callback option can be provided. See fzf wrapper

  function! floaterm#wrapper#fzf#(cmd, jobopts, config) abort
    let s:fzf_tmpfile = tempname()
    let cmd = a:cmd . ' > ' . s:fzf_tmpfile
    let a:jobopts.on_exit = funcref('s:fzf_callback')
    return [v:false, cmd]
  endfunction
  
  function! s:fzf_callback(...) abort
    if filereadable(s:fzf_tmpfile)
      let filenames = readfile(s:fzf_tmpfile)
      if !empty(filenames)
        if has('nvim')
          call floaterm#window#hide(bufnr('%'))
        endif
        let locations = []
        for filename in filenames
          let dict = {'filename': fnamemodify(filename, ':p')}
          call add(locations, dict)
        endfor
        call floaterm#util#open(locations)
      endif
    endif
  endfunction
  

  In the example above, after executing :FloatermNew fzf, function floaterm#wrapper#fzf# will return

  [v:false, 'fzf > /tmp/atmpfilename'].
  

  Here v:false means cmd

  fzf > /tmp/atmpfilename
  

  will be passed through termopen()(neovim) or term_start()(vim). As the result, an fzf interactive will be opened in a floaterm window.

  When user picks a file using ENTER, fzf exits and the filepath will be written in /tmp/atmpfilename and s:fzf_callback() will be invoked to open the file. Note that the function s: fzf_callback() is registered by

  let a:jobopts.on_exit = funcref('s:fzf_callback')
  

  The variable a:jobopts in the above code will be eventually passed to termopen()(neovim) or term_start()(vim). For more info, see :help jobstart-options(neovim) or :help job-options(vim)

How to write sources for fuzzy finder plugins

Function floaterm#buflist#gather() returns a list contains all the floaterm buffers.

Function floaterm#terminal#open_existing({bufnr}) opens the floaterm whose buffer number is {bufnr}.

For reference, see floaterm source for LeaderF.

Contributing

• Improve the documentation
• Help resolve issues labeled as help wanted

FAQ

https://github.com/voldikss/vim-floaterm/issues?q=label%3AFAQ

Breaking Changes

https://github.com/voldikss/vim-floaterm/issues?q=label%3A%22breaking+change%22

Related projects

• vim-floaterm-repl
• coc-floaterm
• fzf-floaterm
• popc-floaterm
• LeaderF-floaterm

Credits

• Vim and Neovim the editor God

• vim-terminal-help

• edita.vim

License

MIT