the handbook.

Your in-terminal IDE. Close the world. Open the Wired.

New here? This guide takes you from zero to comfortable. Looking for contributor/agent docs instead? See the NaviVim AGENTS.md.

0. The one thing to learn first: <leader>

Almost every shortcut in this book starts with <leader>. That's just a name for a prefix key — and in NaviVim it's the Space bar.

• You tap it, you don't hold it (unlike Ctrl).
• So <leader>ff means: tap Space, tap f, tap f.
• <leader>ua means: tap Space, tap u, tap a.
• Stuck? Tap Space and wait half a second — a menu pops up showing every shortcut available from there. You never have to memorize.

1. First launch

nvim

You'll land on the NaviVim dashboard — the logo boots up line by line, then cycles through the neon palette in celebration of the Wired. From there:

Key	What it does
f	Find a file by name
e	Open the file explorer
g	Search text in your project
b	Switch between open buffers
t	Open a terminal
m	Manage language servers (:Mason)
p	Manage plugins (:Lazy)
q	Quit

Each visit also shows a random tip of the day at the bottom — little shortcuts worth learning one at a time.

On first launch, also run :Mason to install language servers (Python, JavaScript, Rust, Go, C, Lua, and more). Pick what you use — everything else is optional.

2. The sidebar (file explorer)

Key	What it does
Ctrl+n	Toggle the sidebar
Space e	Toggle the sidebar (backup if Ctrl+n is swallowed by tmux)
Space o	Jump to your current file in the tree

Inside the tree:

Key	What it does
j / k	Move up / down
Enter/l	Open file / expand folder
h	Collapse folder
a	Create file / folder
d	Delete
r	Rename
x c p	Cut, copy, paste
R	Refresh
?	Full help overlay
q	Close the sidebar

3. Searching

• / — search inside the current file (n / N jump between hits, Esc clears the highlight).
• s — flash-jump: labels appear on screen, type one to teleport.
• Space ff — find files by name across the project.
• Space fg — grep text across the whole project.
• Space / — fuzzy-find inside the current file.
• Space fb — switch between open buffers.

4. Everyday editing

Key	What it does
Ctrl+s / Space w	Save
Space q	Quit
gcc	Comment / uncomment a line (gc works on selections too)
Alt+j / Alt+k	Move line / selection down / up
< / > (visual)	Indent, staying selected
Space un	Toggle relative line numbers

Autocomplete appears as you type in insert mode. Full toggle below.

5. The three toggles

These are the heart of NaviVim — flip behaviors on and off at will:

Key	What it does
Space ua	Autocomplete on / off
Space uf	Format-on-save on / off
Space un	Relative line numbers on / off

6. Code intelligence (LSP)

With a language server installed via :Mason, you get:

Key	What it does
gd	Go to definition
gr	Find references
K	Hover documentation
Space rn	Rename symbol
Space ca	Code actions
[d / ]d	Previous / next problem

7. Splits, buffers, terminal

• Space | / Space - — vertical / horizontal split.
• Ctrl+h/j/k/l — move between splits (tmux-aware).
• Shift+h / Shift+l — previous / next buffer. Space bd closes one.
• Space tt (or Ctrl+\) — floating terminal. Esc Esc gets you back out.
• Space qs — restore your last session.

8. Git

The gutter shows + added, ~ changed, _ deleted lines.

Key	What it does
Space gg	Open LazyGit (full UI)
Space gp	Preview the hunk under your cursor
Space gb	Blame the current line
]h / [h	Next / previous change

9. Theme

NaviVim ships with nightshadeNeon — neon pink #ff10f0, neon green #39ff14, cyan #00ffff, neon red #ff3131, white on black. To try something else:

echo "tokyonight" > ~/.config/omaterm/nvim.theme

Delete the file (or write nightshadeNeon into it) to come home.

10. Troubleshooting

• Ctrl+n does nothing — your terminal or tmux ate it. Use Space e.
• No autocomplete / squiggles in a language — run :Mason, install that language's server, restart.
• Something looks broken — run :checkhealth, then nvim --headless "+Lazy! sync" +qa from your shell to reinstall plugins.
• Lost? — press Space and wait half a second. A popup lists everything you can do from there.

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Present day. Present time. Happy hacking.