Open At Startup

Opening nvim-tree At Neovim Startup

It can be useful to open nvim-tree when you start neovim.

nvim-tree cannot reliably do this on setup due to race conditions at startup and the overwhelming variety of user and plugin configurations.

Behaviour at startup is also a quite personal choice, with no means to provide mechanisms to suit everyone.

Hence we now leave it to you, the power user, to configure your startup behaviour.

Recipes

The VimEnter event should be used for the startup functionality: nvim-tree setup will have been called and other plugins will have started. It's the best time for you to define the behaviour you desire.

vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd({ "VimEnter" }, { callback = open_nvim_tree })

The VimEnter callback will be passed a table with the following pertinent data:

buf the buffer number of the currently focused buffer

file the name of the buffer

event always VimEnter

Always Open nvim-tree

local function open_nvim_tree()

  -- open the tree
  require("nvim-tree.api").tree.open()
end

Open For Files And [No Name] Buffers

local function open_nvim_tree(data)

  -- buffer is a real file on the disk
  local real_file = vim.fn.filereadable(data.file) == 1

  -- buffer is a [No Name]
  local no_name = data.file == "" and vim.bo[data.buf].buftype == ""

  if not real_file and not no_name then
    return
  end

  -- open the tree
  require("nvim-tree.api").tree.open()

  -- find the file if it exists
  require("nvim-tree.api").tree.find_file(data.file)
end

Open For Directories And Change Neovim's Directory

local function open_nvim_tree(data)

  -- buffer is a directory
  local directory = vim.fn.isdirectory(data.file) == 1

  if not directory then
    return
  end

  -- create a new, empty buffer
  vim.cmd.enew()

  -- wipe the directory buffer
  vim.cmd.bw(data.buf)

  -- change to the directory
  vim.cmd.cd(data.file)

  -- open the tree
  require("nvim-tree.api").tree.open()
end

Useful Tests

Following are some tests that can help you make your decisions:

An actual, real file on the disk:

vim.fn.filereadable(data.file) == 1

A directory:

vim.fn.isdirectory(data.file) == 1

&buftype:

vim.bo[data.buf].buftype

&filetype:

vim.bo[data.buf].ft

A [No Name] new:

data.file == "" and vim.bo[data.buf].buftype == ""

Legacy Migration

The following legacy options, soon to be removed, defined behaviour to open nvim-tree when setup was called. Please remove these options.

*nvim-tree.open_on_setup*
Will automatically open the tree when running setup if startup buffer is
a directory, is empty or is unnamed. nvim-tree window will be focused.
  Type: `boolean`, Default: `false`

*nvim-tree.open_on_setup_file*
Will automatically open the tree when running setup if startup buffer is a file.
File window will be focused.
File will be found if update_focused_file is enabled.
  Type: `boolean`, Default: `false`

*nvim-tree.ignore_buffer_on_setup*
Will ignore the buffer, when deciding to open the tree on setup.
  Type: `boolean`, Default: `false`

*nvim-tree.ignore_ft_on_setup*
List of filetypes that will prevent `open_on_setup` to open.
You can use this option if you don't want the tree to open
in some scenarios (eg using vim startify).
  Type: {string}, Default: `{}`

Following are some recipes you can drop-in to replicate these options.

open_on_setup

local function open_nvim_tree(data)

  -- buffer is a [No Name]
  local no_name = data.file == "" and vim.bo[data.buf].buftype == ""

  -- buffer is a directory
  local directory = vim.fn.isdirectory(data.file) == 1

  if not no_name and not directory then
    return
  end

  -- change to the directory
  if directory then
    vim.cmd.cd(data.file)
  end

  -- open the tree
  require("nvim-tree.api").tree.open()
end

open_on_setup_file

local function open_nvim_tree(data)

  -- buffer is a real file on the disk
  local real_file = vim.fn.filereadable(data.file) == 1

  -- buffer is a [No Name]
  local no_name = data.file == "" and vim.bo[data.buf].buftype == ""

  -- only files please
  if not real_file and not no_name then
    return
  end

  -- open the tree
  require("nvim-tree.api").tree.open()
end

open_on_setup_file and ignore_ft_on_setup

local function open_nvim_tree(data)
  local IGNORED_FT = {
    "markdown",
  }

  -- buffer is a real file on the disk
  local real_file = vim.fn.filereadable(data.file) == 1

  -- buffer is a [No Name]
  local no_name = data.file == "" and vim.bo[data.buf].buftype == ""

  -- &ft
  local filetype = vim.bo[data.buf].ft

  -- only files please
  if not real_file and not no_name then
    return
  end

  -- skip ignored filetypes
  if vim.tbl_contains(IGNORED_FT, filetype) then
    return
  end

  -- open the tree
  require("nvim-tree.api").tree.open()
end

open_on_setup.* and ignore_buffer_on_setup

local function open_nvim_tree()

    -- always open the tree
    require("nvim-tree.api").tree.open()
end