packix: A Vim 9+ Plugin Manager

packix is yet another plugin manager for Vim. It does not support Neovim and never will. Use lazy.nvim if you must use Neovim.

I am not using it yet, so I recommend you look elsewhere, maybe vim-packager (the migration will not be effortless, but it will be smaller than from any other plugin manager).

Requirements

• Vim 9 or later
• Git
• macOS, Windows, or Linux

Testing is performed on my machine, with MacVim 9.1 on macOS 14.5. I may do some basic testing on an Alpine Linux Docker image, but that is ongoing.

Installation

# Linux, macOS, *BSD, and WSL
git clone https://github.com/halostatue/vim-packix ~/.vim/pack/packix/opt/vim-packix

# Windows
git clone https://github.com/halostatue/vim-packix ~/vimfiles/pack/packix/opt/vim-packix

Automatic Installation

Automatic installation can be done with a bit of scripting in your vimrc. The script below will add ~/.local/share/vim/site to &packpath, and on startup will check to see if packix is installed and clone it to ~/.local/share/vim/site/packix/opt/vim-packix if not.

vim9script

const xdg_data_path = exists('$XDG_DATA_PATH') ?
    $XDG_DATA_PATH : expand('~/.local/share')
const vim_site = xdg_data_path .. '/vim/site'

if &packpath !~# vim_site
    &packpath = vim_site .. ',' .. &packpath
endif

const pack_root = vim_site .. '/pack/packix/opt'

mkdir(pack_root, 'p')

const packix_path = pack_root .. '/vim-packix'
const packix_url = "https://github.com/halostatue/vim-packix.git"

if has('vim_starting') && !isdirectory(packix_path .. '/.git')
  const command = printf('silent !git clone %s %s', packix_url, packix_path)

  silent execute command

  augroup install-vim-packix
    autocmd!
    autocmd VimEnter * if exists(':PackixInstall') == 2 | PackixInstall | endif
  augroup END
endif

Usage

As packix is written with |vim9| script, it offers typed functions for use with vim9script configuration files, and autoload-scripts for use with old-style scripts.

Package selection is offered through either Setup or Init, offering different levels of control.

After either has been set up, reload your vimrc and run :PackixInstall, which will install the selected plugins and run any post-install hooks required.

If a plugin's installation or hook fails, the plugin line in the output window will include the most recent output line. To view more, press E on the plugin line to view the whole output for the failed step.

Setup

The Setup function adds :PackixInstall, :PackixUpdate, :PackixClean, and :PackixStatus commands that use a callback Funcref or lambda to configure and run the packix manager. The only parameter to the callback is the packix manager instance.

Using vim9script:

vim9script

packadd vim-packix
import autoload 'packix.vim'

packix.Setup((px: packix.Manager) => {
  px.Add('halostatue/vim-packix', { type: 'opt' })
  px.Add('junegunn/fzf.vim', {
    requires: {
      url: 'junegunn/fzf',
      opts: { do: './install --all && ln -s $(pwd) ~/.fzf' }
    }
  })
  px.Add('vimwiki/vimwiki', { type: 'opt' })
  px.Add('morhetz/gruvbox')
  px.Add('hrsh7th/vim-vsnip-integ', { requires: ['hrsh7th/vim-vsnip'] })
  px.Local('~/my_vim_plugins/my_awesome_plugin')

  # Provide full URL; useful if you want to clone from somewhere else than
  # GitHub.
  px.Add('https://my.other.public.git/tpope/vim-fugitive.git')

  # Provide SSH-based URL; useful if you have write access to a repository
  # and wish to push to it
  px.Add('git@github.com:mygithubid/myrepo.git')

  # Loaded only for specific filetypes on demand.
  # Requires autocommand definitions to run `packadd` as required, see
  # below for examples.
  px.Add('kristijanhusak/vim-js-file-import', {
    do: 'npm install', type: 'opt'
  })
  px.Add('fatih/vim-go', { do: ':GoInstallBinaries', type: 'opt' })
  px.Add('neoclide/coc.nvim', { do: function('InstallCoc') })
  px.Add('sonph/onehalf', { rtp: 'vim/' })
})

augroup packix_filetype
  autocmd!
  autocmd FileType javascript packadd vim-js-file-import
  autocmd FielType go packadd vim-go
augroup END

Using legacy Vim script:

scriptencoding utf-8

if &compatible
  set nocompatible
endif

packadd vim-packix

call packix#Setup({ packix ->
  px.Add('halostatue/vim-packix', { 'type': 'opt' })
  px.Add('junegunn/fzf.vim',
        \ {
        \   'requires': {
        \     'url': 'junegunn/fzf',
        \     'opts': { 'do': './install --all && ln -s $(pwd) ~/.fzf' }
        \   }
        \ })
  px.Add('vimwiki/vimwiki', { 'type': 'opt' })
  px.Add('morhetz/gruvbox')
  px.Add('hrsh7th/vim-vsnip-integ', { 'requires': ['hrsh7th/vim-vsnip'] })
  px.Add('~/my_vim_plugins/my_awesome_plugin')

  " Provide full URL; useful if you want to clone from somewhere else than
  GitHub.
  px.Add('https://my.other.public.git/tpope/vim-fugitive.git')

  " Provide SSH-based URL; useful if you have write access to a repository
  and " wish to push to it
  px.Add('git@github.com:mygithubid/myrepo.git')

  " Loaded only for specific filetypes on demand.
  " Requires autocommand definitions to run `packadd` as required, see
  below for " examples.
  px.Add('kristijanhusak/vim-js-file-import',
        \ { 'do': 'npm install', 'type': 'opt' })
  px.Add('fatih/vim-go', { 'do': ':GoInstallBinaries', 'type': 'opt' })
  px.Add('neoclide/coc.nvim', { 'do': function('InstallCoc') })
  px.Add('sonph/onehalf', { 'rtp': 'vim/' })
})

" This could also be done with a function reference:

function! s:packix_init(packix)
  a:packix.Add('vimwiki/vimwiki', { 'type': 'opt' })
endfunction

call packix#Setup(function('s:packix_init'))

Init

The Init function offers full control and does not define any commands; it is up to you to define the commands for easy operation.

Using vim9script:

vim9script

def PackixInit()
  packadd vim-packix
  import autoload 'packix.vim'

  packix.Init()
  packix.Add('halostatue/vim-packix', { type: 'opt' })
  packix.Add('vimwiki/vimwiki', { type: 'opt' })
enddef

command! -nargs=* -bar PackixInstall <Cmd>PackixInit() | call packix#Install(<args>)
command! -nargs=* -bar PackixUpdate <Cmd>PackixInit() | call packix#Update(<args>)
command! -bar PackixClean <Cmd>PackixInit() | call packix#Clean()
command! -bar PackixStatus <Cmd>PackixInit() | call packix#Status()

Functions

All of the functions documented here are available via import-autoload or through autoload prefixes (packix#). Using legacy Vim script, read |legacy-import| for how to use imports. In the examples below, the Vim 9 script (assuming import autoload 'packix.vim') and autoload functions versions are shown.

packix.Setup() packix#Setup()

packix#Setup({Callback}: string | Funcref, [opts]: dict<any> = {}): void
packix.Setup({Callback}: string | Funcref, [opts]: dict<any> = {}): void

This is a small wrapper around packix.Init() and related functions, described below. It does the following:

• adds commands :PackixInstall, :PackixUpdate, :PackixClean, and :PackixStatus;
• calls packix.Init(opts) when one of the commands above is run;
• calls the provided Callback with the packix.Manager instance; and
• calls the appropriate function for the command (packix.Install(), packix.Update(), packix.Clean(), or packix.Status()).

If the {Callback} parameter is a String, packix.Setup will attempt to create a Funcref from it. See packix.Init() for the possible keys and values of the opts parameter.

packix.Init() packix#Init()

packix.Init([opts]: dict<any> = {}): void
packix#Init([opts]: dict<any> = {}): void

Initializes the packix.Manager instance. The main configuration opts are:

• depth (Number, default 5): The --depth value to use when cloning.

• jobs (Number, default 8): The maximum number of jobs that can run at the same time, where 0 is treated as unlimited.

• window_cmd (String, default vertical topleft new): The command to use to open the packix window.

Secondary opts supported but discouraged from use are:

• dir (String, default special): The directory to use for package installation. By default the dir is derived from the first directory from 'packpath', which is ~/vimfiles/pack/packix on Windows or ~/.vim/pack/packix everywhere else.

  The packix directory must be found in 'packpath', so if you wish to use a directory other than ~/.vim/pack/packix, it is better to modify 'packpath' so that your target directory is first:

  if &packpath !~# expand("$HOME/.local/share/vim/site,")
    &packpath = expand("$HOME/.local/share/vim/site,") .. &packpath
  end

• default_plugin_type (String, default start, allowed opt or start): The type option for plugins when not provided. More details can be found in packix.Add().

• disable_default_mappings (Boolean, default false): If true, all default mappings for the packix buffer are disabled.

packix.Add() packix#Add()

packix.Add({url}: string, [opts]: dict<any> = {}): void
packix#Add({url}: string, [opts]: dict<any> = {}): void

Adds the plugin found at url with opts The url may be a shorthand value, owner/repo, which is expanded to https://github.com/owner/repo. Full URLs may be provided to clone from hosts other than GitHub (https://bitbucket.org/owner/repo.git) and SSH-based URLs may be provided (git@github.com:owner/repo.git), which would allow read/write access.

Installation opts may also be provided:

• name (String, default special): An optional custom name for the plugin. If omitted, the name is derived from the last part of the URL parameter (halostatue/vim-packix becomes vim-packix; https://bitbucket.org/owner/repo.git becomes repo).

• type (String, default special, allowed opt or start): The folder opt or start where the plugin will be installed. On-demand plugins, loaded with packadd plugin-name are installed into the opt directory, whereas autoloaded plugins are in start. The default comes from the owning packix.Manager instance (which itself defaults to start).

• commit (String): The optional git commit to checkout on install or update. Higher priority than tag or branch.

• tag (String): The optional git tag to checkout on install or update. Higher priority than branch.

• branch (String): The optional git branch to checkout on install or update. Lowest priority, defaulting to the repository default branch.

• rtp (String): A custom 'runtimepath' used with some repositories (usually colour schemes) where the associated Vim plugin is in a subdirectory. Packix creates a symbolic link from the specified subdirectory to the packix plugin folder.

  If the type of the package is opt, then the command to load the plugin is packadd {plugin}__{rtp} instead of just packadd {plugin}:

  packix.Add('sonph/onehalf', { rtp: 'vim/', type: 'opt' })
  packadd onehalf__vim

• do (String or Funcref): The Hook to run after the plugin is installed or updated. See examples below.

• frozen (Boolean, default false): If true, the plugin is frozen and will not be updated after install.

• requires (special): Plugins may have other plugins that they depend on. The value of requires should be a list, but if there is only one dependency it may be specified without using a list. The values within the requires list may be either String (the plugin URL, like 'vimwiki/vimwiki') or a Dict with url and opts keys ({ url: 'vimwiki/vimwiki', opts: { type: 'opt' }). Required plugins do not inherit any options from the parent.

• on (special): On-demand plugins ({ type: 'opt' }) can be loaded with the command (String) or commands (List of String) specified in this option. The on option is ignored if the plugin type is 'start'.

  packix.Add('tpope/vim-rake', { type: 'opt', on: 'Rake' })
  packix.Add('tpope/vim-rails',
          { type: 'opt', on: ['Rails', 'Generate', 'Runner'] })

Post-install Hooks

Post-install do hooks can be defined in three ways:

1. As a Funcref that takes the plugin info as an argument.

   packix.Add('junegunn/fzf',
       { do: (plugin) => exe plugin.dir .. '/install.sh --all' })
   packix.Add('junegunn/fzf', { do: function('InstallFzf') })
   
   def InstallFzf(plugin: packix.Plugin)
     exe plugin.dir .. '/install.sh --all'
   enddef

2. As a String that starts with :, indicating a Vim command to run.

   packix.Add('fatih/vim-go', { do: ':GoInstallBinaries' })

3. As a String that does not start with :, indicating a command to run as a shell command in the plugin directory.

   packix.Add('junegunn/fzf', { do: './install --all'})
   packix.Add('kristijanhusak/vim-js-file-import', { do: 'npm install' })

packix.Local() packix#Local()

packix.Local({path}: string, [opts]: dict<any> = {}): void
packix#Local({path}: string, [opts]: dict<any> = {}): void

A variant of packix.Add() that creates a symbolic link from the provided {path} to the packix folder in 'packpath'. The path must be a String full path to the local folder, such as ~/my_plugins/my_awesome_plugin.

The opts available for installation. See packix.Add() for full details. While all options can be specified, only the options name, type, do, and frozen have any impact on local plugins.

packix.Install() packix#Install()

packix.Install([opts]: dict<any> = {}): void
packix#Install([opts]: dict<any> = {}): void

Installs plugins that are not currently installed.

Available opts are:

• on_finish (String): The Vim command to run after installation finishes. Example: packix.Install({ on_finish: 'quitall' }) will quit Vim after installation completes.

• plugins (List of String): The list of plugins to install if they are not already installed. Any plugins not in this list will be ignored. Example: packix.Install({ plugins: ['gruvbox', 'vim-signify'] }) will only install gruvbox and vim-signify if they are not already installed.

After installation finishes, two mappings are added to the packix buffer:

• D: Switches view from installation to status. This prints all plugins and the status of each (Installed, Updated, list of commits that were pulled with latest update).

• E: Views the output of the plugin on the current line. If one of the install or post-install hooks presented an error, this is shown in the preview window.

packix.Update() packix#Update()

packix.Update([opts]: dict<any> = {}): void
packix#Update([opts]: dict<any> = {}): void

Installs plugins not currently installed and updates existing plugins to the latest version (unless the plugin is frozen).

Available opts are:

• on_finish (String): The Vim command to run after update finishes. Example: packix.Update({ on_finish: 'quitall' }) will quit Vim after updates complete.

• force_hooks (Boolean, default: false): Forces do hooks to run for each package even if it is up to date. This is useful when some hooks previously failed. packix.Update({ force_hooks: true })

• plugins (List of String): The list of plugins to update. Any plugins not in this list will be ignored. Example: packix.Install({ plugins: ['gruvbox', 'vim-signify'] }) will only update or install gruvbox and vim-signify.

After update finishes, two mappings are added to the packix buffer:

• D: Switches view from update to status. This prints all plugins and the status of each (Installed, Updated, list of commits that were pulled with latest update).

• E: Views the output of the plugin on the current line. If one of the update or post-update hooks presented an error, this is shown in the preview window.

packix.Status() packix#Status()

packix.Status(): void
packix#Status(): void

Shows the status for each plugin added from the Vim configuration (vimrc). This view is reachable from the Install and Update screens by pressing D.

Each plugin can have several states:

• Not installed: the plugin directory does not exist. If something failed during the clone process, an error message is shown and the full output can be previewed with E.

• Install/update failed: something went wrong during install or update of the plugin. Press E on the plugin line to view output of the process.

• Hook failed: something went wrong with post install/update hook. Press E on the plugin line to view output of the process.

• OK: Plugin is properly installed and it doesn't have any update information.

• Updated: Plugin has some information about its last update.

packix.Clean() packix#Clean()

packix.Clean(): void
packix#Clean(): void

Removes unused plugins, prompting for confirmation before proceeding. Confirmation options include deleting all folders or prompting for each folder.

packix.Plugins() packix#Plugins()

packix.Plugins(): list<packix.PluginInfo>
packix#Plugins(): list<packix#PluginInfo>

Returns a simplified, read-only version of plugin details, containing name, type, url, dir, rev, headRef, installed, isLocal, mainBranch, and rtpDir.

packix.PluginNames() packix#PluginNames()

packix.PluginNames(): list<string>
packix#PluginNames(): list<string>

Returns a list of defined plugin names. These may or may not be installed.

packix.GetPlugin() packix#GetPlugin()

packix.GetPlugin({name}: string): packix.PluginInfo
packix#GetPlugin({name}: string): packix#PluginInfo

Gets the plugin info for a plugin identified by {name}, which may be either the plugin URL, a GitHub shorthand URL, or the resolved plugin name.

packix.GetPlugin('fatih/vim-go')
packix.GetPlugin('https://github.com/fatih/vim-go')
packix.GetPlugin('vim-go')<

packix.HasPlugin() packix#HasPlugin()

packix.HasPlugin({name}: string): bool
packix#HasPlugin({name}: string): bool

Returns true if a plugin identified by name is defined, which may be either the plugin URL, a GitHub shorthand URL, or the resolved plugin name.

packix.HasPlugin('fatih/vim-go')
packix.HasPlugin('https://github.com/fatih/vim-go')
packix.HasPlugin('vim-go')

packix.IsPluginInstalled() packix#IsPluginInstalled()

packix.IsPluginInstalled({name}: string): bool
packix#IsPluginInstalled({name}: string): bool

Returns true if a plugin identified by name is both defined and currently installed, which may be either the plugin URL, a GitHub shorthand URL, or the resolved plugin name.

packix.IsPluginInstalled('fatih/vim-go')
packix.IsPluginInstalled('https://github.com/fatih/vim-go')
packix.IsPluginInstalled('vim-go')

packix.Version() packix#Version()

packix.Version(): string
packix#Version(): string

Returns the current packix version.

Commands

Commands are only added when using packix.Setup. For :PackixInstall and :PackixUpdate, arguments are passed as written.

:PackixInstall

:PackixInstall [opts]

Sets up Packix and runs packix.Install().

:PackixInstall { 'on_finish': 'quitall' } is the same as :call packix#Install({ 'on_finish': 'quitall' }).

:PackixUpdate

:PackixUpdate [opts]

Sets up Packix and runs packix.Update().

:PackixUpdate { 'on_finish': 'quitall' } is the same as :call packix#Update({ 'on_finish': 'quitall' }).

:PackixClean

:PackixClean

Sets up Packix and runs packix.Clean().

:PackixStatus

:PackixStatus

Sets up Packix and runs packix.Status().

Keybindings

When the packix buffer is created on packix.Install(), packix.Update(), or packix.Status(), several mappings are added if they do not already exist.

• q => <Plug>(PackixQuit): Close the packix buffer

• <CR> => <Plug>(PackixOpenSha): Open a preview window with the commit referenced under the cursor.

• E => <Plug>(PackixOpenOutput): Open a preview window with the output of install/update or post-install/update hook.

• <C-j> => <Plug>(PackixGotoNextPlugin): Jumps to the next plugin

• <C-k> => <Plug>(PackixGotoPrevPlugin): Jumps to the previous plugin

• D => <Plug>(PackixStatus): Opens the status page

• O => <Plug>(PackixPluginDetails): Open a preview window for the details of the plugin under the cursor.

These mappings can be overridden by adding a FileType autocommand with the mapping. For example, to use <C-h> and <C-l> for navigating plugins, this would be added to your vimrc:

autocmd FileType packix nmap <buffer> <C-h> <Plug>(PackagerGotoNextPlugin)
autocmd FileType packix nmap <buffer> <C-l> <Plug>(PackagerGotoPrevPlugin)

Why?

As Kristijan Husak said:

There's a lot of plugin managers for Vim out there.

This was true when originally written in 2018 and it is still true now. There's vim-plug, vim-packager, minpac, and vim-jetpack – all of which work with both Vim and Neovim. There are more that are Neovim-only, the best of which is currently considered lazy.nvim.

I recently noticed that @kristijanhusak archived vim-packager in March 20204, which was my preferred package manager for Vim (on Neovim, in the rare times I use it, I manage plugins with lazy.nvim). I tried vim-jetpack, but found that it did not work with some packages which should be in pack/*/start instead of pack/*/opt (vim-jetpack installs everything into pack/*/opt and appears to run packadd … for non-optional plugins).

I have been looking for an excuse to play with Vim 9 script, so I decided to fork vim-packager and rewrite it. The Neovim developers made decisions at the beginning which have — a decade on — ensured that there will never be a GUI interface which is as usable as gvim or MacVim.app. Since MacVim.app is a core part of my workflow, I have no need for a nominally cross-editor plugin manager.

Ultimately, the answer to "Why?" is "I wanted to".

Thanks to:

• @kristijanhusak and vim-packager for the baseline code.
• @k-takata and his minpac plugin for inspiration and parts