chopsticks

Flowing vim for any machine — SSH servers included. Solarized · vim-lsp (no Node.js) · Markdown-first · One-command install.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/m1ngsama/chopsticks/main/get.sh | bash

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Contents

• Design Principles
• Requirements
• Installation
• LSP
• Key Mappings
• Markdown
• Features
• Plugins
• Customization
• Troubleshooting

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Design Principles

Principle	What it means
Flowing writing	Every plugin earns its place by reducing interruptions to thought
No Node.js	vim-lsp runs on pure VimScript — works on any machine, including SSH servers
Solarized	One palette, everywhere — vim statusline matches tmux bar exactly
TTY-aware	SSH and console environments degrade gracefully without breaking
KISS	No icon fonts, no Nerd Font glyphs — plain ASCII throughout

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Requirements

Tool	Role
Vim 8.0+	Required — install.sh installs it if missing
git	Required
curl	Required
ripgrep	Recommended — enables ,rg project search
fzf	Recommended — enables Ctrl+p fuzzy finder
Node.js	Optional — enables npm formatters (prettier, eslint)

install.sh detects your environment and installs missing dependencies.

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Installation

One command

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/m1ngsama/chopsticks/main/get.sh | bash

Non-interactive / CI:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/m1ngsama/chopsticks/main/get.sh | bash -s -- --yes

Git clone

git clone https://github.com/m1ngsama/chopsticks.git ~/.vim
cd ~/.vim && ./install.sh

What the installer does

1. Detects OS and package manager
2. Verifies or installs curl, git, vim
3. Backs up existing ~/.vimrc, then symlinks ~/.vimrc → ~/.vim/.vimrc
4. Installs vim-plug and runs :PlugInstall
5. Offers to install system tools (ripgrep, fzf, ctags, shellcheck, hadolint, marksman)
6. Offers to install npm formatters (prettier, eslint, etc.) — requires Node.js
7. Offers to install Python formatters/linters (black, isort, flake8, etc.)
8. Offers to install Go tools (gopls, goimports, staticcheck)
9. Offers to append vim-tmux-navigator bindings to ~/.tmux.conf

Supported platforms: macOS (Homebrew), Debian/Ubuntu (apt), Arch (pacman), Fedora (dnf).

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LSP

Code intelligence is provided by vim-lsp — a pure VimScript LSP client with no Node.js dependency. It works on any machine, including servers accessed via SSH.

Install a language server for the current file:

:LspInstallServer   " auto-detects filetype and installs the correct server
:LspStatus          " check server status

Supported languages and their servers:

Language	Server
Python	pylsp / pyright
JavaScript / TypeScript	typescript-language-server
Go	gopls
Rust	rust-analyzer
C / C++	clangd
Shell	bash-language-server
HTML	vscode-html-language-server
CSS / SCSS	vscode-css-language-server
JSON	vscode-json-language-server
YAML	yaml-language-server
Markdown	marksman
SQL	sqls

Note: While vim-lsp itself needs no Node.js, some language servers (TypeScript, HTML, CSS, JSON, YAML) are npm packages that require Node.js to run. Python (pylsp), Go (gopls), and Rust (rust-analyzer) language servers do not need Node.js.

Markdown LSP requires marksman as a standalone binary:

brew install marksman    # macOS
sudo pacman -S marksman  # Arch
# or: install.sh handles it automatically

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Key Mappings

Leader key: , (comma)

Press ,? at any time to open the built-in cheat sheet.

Files and Buffers

Key	Action
Ctrl+p	Fuzzy file search — git-aware (FZF)
,e	Open netrw file browser
,E	Open netrw in vertical split
,b	Search open buffers (FZF)
,rg	Project-wide search (ripgrep + FZF)
,rG	Ripgrep word under cursor (fixed-string)
,,	Switch to last file
,l / ,h	Next / previous buffer
,bd	Close current buffer (preserves window layout)
,wa	Save all open buffers
,cd	Change working directory to current file's directory

Code Intelligence (vim-lsp)

Key	Action
gd	Go to definition
gy	Go to type definition
gi	Go to implementation
gr	Show references
K	Hover documentation
[g / ]g	Previous / next LSP diagnostic
[e / ]e	Previous / next ALE error
,rn	Rename symbol
,f	Format buffer / selection
,ca	Code action
,o	File outline (symbols)
,ws	Workspace symbols
Tab / Shift+Tab	Navigate completion popup
Enter	Confirm completion

Markdown

Key	Action
,mp	Open live preview in browser (previm)
,mt	Table of contents (side window)
zr / zm	Unfold / fold all headings

Git (vim-fugitive)

Key	Action
,gs	Git status
,gc	Git commit
,gp	Git push
,gl	Git pull
,gd	Git diff
,gb	Git blame

Editing

Key	Action
s + 2 chars	EasyMotion — jump anywhere on screen
gc	Toggle comment (visual mode too)
Space	Toggle code fold
Y	Yank to end of line
Ctrl+d / Ctrl+u	Half-page scroll, cursor centred
Alt+j / Alt+k	Move line down / up (normal and visual)
,u	Undo tree (visual branch history)
F2	Toggle paste mode
F3 / F4	Toggle line numbers / relative numbers
F5	Toggle undo tree
F6	Toggle invisible characters
gV	Reselect last paste
//	Search visual selection

Survival

Key	Action
jk	Exit insert mode
Esc	Exit insert / visual mode
jk	Exit insert mode
Ctrl+s	Save (any mode)
,w	Save
,x	Save and quit
,q	Quit
,?	Open cheat sheet

Windows, Tabs, tmux

Key	Action
Ctrl+h/j/k/l	Navigate Vim splits and tmux panes
,tv / ,th	Open terminal (vertical / horizontal split)
Esc Esc	Exit terminal mode
,tn / ,tc	New tab / close tab
,tl	Toggle to last tab
,ev / ,sv	Edit / reload ~/.vimrc
,cp / ,cf	Copy file path / filename to clipboard
,*	Search and replace word under cursor
,F	Re-indent entire file
,W	Strip trailing whitespace
,ms	Open scratch markdown buffer
,ss	Toggle spell checking

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Markdown

chopsticks treats Markdown as a first-class language.

In-buffer rendering (concealment)

vim-markdown hides syntax markers and renders formatting inline:

• **bold** displays as bold text
• # Heading hides the # characters
• Tables align automatically

The raw syntax reappears when the cursor enters that line.

Live browser preview (previm)

,mp    " open rendered preview in browser — updates on every save

No Node.js required. Uses open (macOS) or xdg-open (Linux).

Table of contents

,mt    " open TOC in a side window — press Enter to jump to heading

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Features

Statusline

A native, hand-written statusline using the Solarized palette:

 N  ~/.vimrc [+]                  main  [vim]  42:7  68%

• Mode block changes colour by mode (Normal=yellow, Insert=blue, Visual=magenta, Replace=red)
• Git branch via vim-fugitive
• Background matches tmux status bar for a seamless bottom band

Session Management

:Obsess     " start tracking the current session
:Obsess!    " stop tracking

Sessions auto-restore when you open Vim in the same directory.

Project-Local Config

Drop a .vimrc in any project root to override settings:

" my-project/.vimrc
set shiftwidth=2
let g:ale_python_black_options = '--line-length=100'

tmux Integration

Ctrl+h/j/k/l navigates seamlessly between Vim splits and tmux panes.

Add to ~/.tmux.conf (or let install.sh append it):

is_vim="ps -o state= -o comm= -t '#{pane_tty}' | grep -iqE '^[^TXZ ]+ +(\S+\/)?g?(view|n?vim?x?)(diff)?$'"
bind-key -n 'C-h' if-shell "$is_vim" 'send-keys C-h' 'select-pane -L'
bind-key -n 'C-j' if-shell "$is_vim" 'send-keys C-j' 'select-pane -D'
bind-key -n 'C-k' if-shell "$is_vim" 'send-keys C-k' 'select-pane -U'
bind-key -n 'C-l' if-shell "$is_vim" 'send-keys C-l' 'select-pane -R'

TTY / SSH Support

Detected automatically when $TERM is unset, dumb, linux, screen, or contains builtin. In TTY mode:

• True colour and cursorline disabled
• FZF preview windows disabled
• IndentLine guides disabled
• Simplified statusline (no colour)
• Syntax column limit reduced to 120 characters

Large File Handling

Files over 10 MB automatically disable syntax highlighting, undo history, and linting to prevent stalling.

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Plugins

Navigation

• fzf + fzf.vim — fuzzy finder for files, buffers, tags, ripgrep

Git

• vim-fugitive — full Git integration
• vim-gitgutter — diff signs in the sign column

LSP and Completion

• vim-lsp — pure VimScript LSP client
• vim-lsp-settings — auto-configures language servers
• asyncomplete.vim — async completion engine
• asyncomplete-lsp.vim — LSP completion source

Linting and Formatting

• ALE — async linting and format-on-save

Markdown

• vim-markdown — folding, concealment, table alignment
• previm — live browser preview

Language Syntax

• vim-javascript — enhanced JS syntax
• yats.vim — TypeScript syntax
• vim-go — Go syntax and tooling

Editing

• vim-surround — change/delete/add surroundings
• vim-commentary — gc to toggle comments
• vim-repeat — repeat plugin maps with .
• vim-unimpaired — bracket shortcut pairs
• targets.vim — additional text objects
• auto-pairs — auto-close brackets and quotes
• vim-easymotion — s + 2 chars to jump anywhere

UI

• vim-solarized8 — color scheme (truecolor support)
• undotree — visual undo branch history
• vim-startify — startup dashboard and session list
• indentLine — indent guides (non-TTY)

Session and Navigation

• vim-obsession — session tracking
• vim-tmux-navigator — seamless Vim/tmux pane navigation

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Customization

Per-project overrides

Create .vimrc in your project root:

" project/.vimrc
set shiftwidth=2
let g:ale_python_black_options = '--line-length=120'

Modify keybindings

Edit ~/.vimrc directly (,ev opens it from inside Vim). Reload with ,sv.

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Troubleshooting

Plugins not loading

:PlugInstall    " install missing plugins
:PlugUpdate     " update all plugins

LSP server not starting

:LspInstallServer   " install server for current filetype
:LspStatus          " check server status

Markdown preview not opening

previm uses open (macOS) or xdg-open (Linux). Make sure a browser is set as the default handler for HTML files.

Colors look wrong

export TERM=xterm-256color       # add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
export COLORTERM=truecolor       # for true colour

ALE linters not found

which flake8 black prettier eslint   # verify tools are on PATH

Ctrl+s freezes the terminal

Add stty -ixon to your ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or ~/.config/fish/config.fish.

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License

MIT © m1ng