Denops
^{An ecosystem for Vim/Neovim enabling developers to write plugins in Deno.}

Denops (/ˈdiːnoʊps/, pronounced dee-nops) is an ecosystem for Vim / Neovim that allows developers to write plugins in TypeScript / JavaScript powered by Deno.

For users

Firstly, install the latest Deno. Refer to the Deno official manual for details.

Ensure that the deno command is executable from Vim / Neovim (hereafter, when we refer to "Vim" without restriction, we also include "Neovim"). You can confirm this using the exepath() function in Vim, as shown below:

:echo exepath('deno')
/usr/local/bin/deno

Alternatively, specify the absolute path of the Deno executable to the g:denops#deno variable, like so:

let g:denops#deno = '/usr/local/bin/deno'

Once Deno is set up, install vim-denops/denops.vim as a general Vim plugin. For example, using vim-plug:

Plug 'vim-denops/denops.vim'

Confirm if denops is working

To confirm if denops is working properly, also install vim-denops/denops-helloworld.vim like this:

Plug 'vim-denops/denops-helloworld.vim'

Then, confirm if denops is working by executing the DenopsHello command:

:DenopsHello
Hello

Once you've confirmed that denops is working, you can remove vim-denops/denops-helloworld.vim.

Shared server

You may encounter an issue where Denops plugins are slow to start up. This is because Denops requires a Deno process to start before, and the process startup can become a bottleneck, impairing usability.

In such cases, you can avoid this startup overhead by using a Shared server. To use a shared server, add the following to your .vimrc:

let g:denops_server_addr = '127.0.0.1:32123'

Now, set up the shared server by using vim-denops/denops-shared-server.vim. First, install the plugin:

Plug 'vim-denops/denops-shared-server.vim'

Then, set up the shared server by executing denops_shared_server#install():

:call denops_shared_server#install()

Note

Alternatively, you can launch the shared server manually using the denops/@denops-private/cli.ts script:

deno run -A --no-lock {path/to/denops.vim}/denops/@denops-private/cli.ts --hostname=127.0.0.1 --port=32123

Afterward, restart Vim, and you'll notice an improvement in the startup time of Denops plugins.

Windows users

If you are using Windows, you may still face an issue where Denops plugins are slow to start up, even with the shared server. One possible reason is that the antivirus software, like Windows Defender, is scanning Deno's cache directory (%LOACALAPPDATA%\deno) every time Deno starts up. To avoid this, add Deno's cache directory to the exclusion list of the antivirus software.

Refer to and follow Add an exclusion to Windows Security or your antivirus software manual to exclude Deno's cache directory from virus scans, with your own responsibility.

Support Policy

Denops determines the supported versions of Vim/Neovim/Deno based on the following support policy when updating the major version:

• For Vim, versions older than the latest version provided by Homebrew and the version distributed by vim-win32-installer
  • Windows users can install it by downloading the package from vim-win32-installer
  • macOS users can install it through Homebrew
  • Linux users have the flexibility to build any version they prefer
• Regarding Neovim/Deno, support extends to the two most recent minor versions.
  • Both Neovim and Deno adhere to semantic versioning principles.
  • Since Neovim is still in the 0.x version range, we assume that the 0.x.y version is considered part of the 0.x version, ensuring support for the latest available versions.

For plugin developers

To learn how to write Denops plugins, refer to the Denops Documentation or read the code of the following Denops plugins:

• vim-denops/denops-helloworld.vim
• lambdalisue/gin.vim
• vim-skk/skkeleton
• Shougo/ddu.vim
• Find one from the vim-denops topic

Alternatively, join the Slack workspace for vim-jp and ask questions in the #tech-denops channel. Most of the conversations are in Japanese, but most of us understand English, and you can ask questions in English.

YouTube

English slide in a talk at VimConf 2023 Tiny (with Japanese)

Misc.

Developers

Denops is mainly developed by members of vim-jp.

Inspired by

This ecosystem is strongly inspired by coc.nvim, which allows developers to write Vim/Neovim plugins in Node.js. We express our great respect and gratitude to the coc.nvim developers.

License

The code follows the MIT license, as stated in LICENSE. Contributors need to agree that any modifications sent to this repository follow the license.