Introduction

Neovim is a hyperextensible Vim-based text editor. Building plugins for it is surprisingly straightforward with Lua. In this post, I’ll walk you through creating a simple plugin.

Prerequisites

• Neovim 0.9+
• Basic Lua knowledge
• A init.lua config

Setting Up the Plugin Structure

Every Neovim plugin follows a standard directory layout:

my-plugin/
├── lua/
│   └── my-plugin/
│       └── init.lua
├── plugin/
│   └── my-plugin.lua
└── README.md

Writing the Lua Code

Here’s a minimal plugin that prints a greeting:

-- lua/my-plugin/init.lua
local M = {}

function M.greet(name)
  print("Hello, " .. name .. "!")
end

return M

And the plugin entry point:

-- plugin/my-plugin.lua
local my_plugin = require("my-plugin")

vim.api.nvim_create_user_command("Greet", function(opts)
  my_plugin.greet(opts.args)
end, { nargs = 1 })

Testing It Out

After placing the plugin in your runtime path, run:

:Greet World

You should see Hello, World! printed.

Adding Highlights

You can also define custom highlight groups:

vim.api.nvim_set_hl(0, "MyPluginHighlight", {
  fg = "#48e2d5",
  bold = true,
})

Conclusion

Building Neovim plugins is a rewarding experience. The Lua API is well-documented and the community is incredibly supportive. Start small, iterate, and share your creations!