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nvim-treesitter

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What is nvim-treesitter?

The nvim-treesitter plugin provides three core capabilities for Neovim:
  1. Parser management: Functions for installing, updating, and removing Tree-sitter parsers for over 300 programming languages
  2. Query collections: Curated sets of queries that enable Tree-sitter features built into Neovim (highlighting, folding, indentation, injections)
  3. Experimental features: A staging ground for Tree-sitter-based functionality considered for upstreaming to Neovim core
This plugin focuses on parser and query management. The actual Tree-sitter features (like syntax highlighting) are built into Neovim itself.

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Why use nvim-treesitter?

Tree-sitter provides several advantages over traditional regex-based syntax:
  • Accurate parsing: Tree-sitter builds a complete syntax tree, understanding your code’s structure
  • Performance: Incremental parsing means only changed portions are re-parsed
  • Consistency: The same parser powers highlighting, navigation, text objects, and more
  • Language support: Over 300 languages with actively maintained parsers

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Key capabilities

Syntax highlighting

Enable Tree-sitter-based syntax highlighting for rich, accurate code coloring

Code folding

Fold code blocks intelligently based on syntax structure

Indentation

Experimental Tree-sitter-based automatic indentation

Language injections

Support for multi-language documents like Markdown with code blocks

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Quick example

Here’s how to install parsers and enable highlighting: 
-- Install parsers for your languages
require('nvim-treesitter').install({ 'rust', 'javascript', 'python' })

-- Enable highlighting for specific filetypes
vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd('FileType', {
  pattern = { 'rust', 'javascript', 'python' },
  callback = function()
    vim.treesitter.start()
  end,
})

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Requirements

Before installing nvim-treesitter, ensure you have:
  • Neovim 0.11.0 or later (nightly builds are supported)
  • tar and curl in your PATH for downloading parsers
  • tree-sitter-cli version 0.26.1 or later
  • A C compiler for building parsers from source
The support policy covers only the latest stable and nightly releases of Neovim. Compatibility with older versions is not guaranteed.

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Supported languages

The plugin supports parsers for over 300 languages, organized into tiers:
  • Stable: Follow semantic versioning for updates
  • Unstable: Track the HEAD of the parser repository
  • Unmaintained: No automatic updates available
  • Unsupported: Known to be broken
For each language, nvim-treesitter may provide queries for:
  • Highlights
  • Folds
  • Indents
  • Injections (language injections)
  • Locals (definitions and references)
Check the supported languages list to see which features are available for your language.

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What’s next?

Quickstart

Get up and running in under 5 minutes

Installation

Detailed installation instructions for all package managers

Configuration

Learn about setup options and customization

Commands

Reference for all available commands