install()

Download, compile, and install treesitter parsers

install(languages, opts)

Download, compile, and install the specified treesitter parsers and copy the corresponding queries to a directory on runtimepath, enabling their use in Neovim.

This operation is performed asynchronously by default. For synchronous operation (e.g., in a bootstrapping script), you need to wait() for it.

Parameters

languages · string|string[] · required

Language(s) to install. Can be:

• A single language name (e.g., "rust")
• An array of language names (e.g., { "rust", "javascript", "python" })
• A tier name: "stable", "unstable", "unmaintained", or "all" (not recommended)

The special value "all" installs all available parsers.

opts · table

Installation options

Show properties

force · boolean · default: "false"

Force installation even if the parser is already installed. Useful for reinstalling parsers.

generate · boolean · default: "false"

Generate parser.c from grammar.json or grammar.js before compiling.

Useful for languages where the provided parser.c is outdated or uses an unsupported ABI version.

max_jobs · integer

Limit the number of parallel installation tasks.

Useful in combination with generate on memory-limited systems. Defaults to 100.

summary · boolean · default: "false"

Print a summary of successful and total operations when installing multiple languages.

Returns

success · boolean

Returns true if all installations were successful, false otherwise.

Note: This function returns an awaitable object when called asynchronously.

Usage

Basic Installation

-- Install a single parser
require('nvim-treesitter').install('rust')

-- Install multiple parsers
require('nvim-treesitter').install({ 'rust', 'javascript', 'python' })

Synchronous Installation

For bootstrapping scripts or when you need to wait for installation to complete:

require('nvim-treesitter').install({ 'rust', 'javascript', 'zig' })
  :wait(300000) -- max 5 minutes

Force Reinstall

require('nvim-treesitter').install('rust', { force = true })

Generate from Grammar

require('nvim-treesitter').install('c', { 
  generate = true,
  max_jobs = 4  -- Limit parallel jobs on low-memory systems
})

Install with Summary

require('nvim-treesitter').install(
  { 'lua', 'vim', 'vimdoc', 'query' },
  { summary = true }
)

Installation Process

The install function performs these steps for each language:

1. Download: Fetches the parser source from the configured repository (usually GitHub)
2. Extract: Unpacks the tarball to a temporary cache directory
3. Generate (optional): Runs tree-sitter generate if requested or required
4. Compile: Builds the parser using tree-sitter build
5. Install: Copies the compiled parser to the installation directory
6. Queries: Links or copies query files to make them available to Neovim

The function automatically handles parser dependencies. If a parser requires other parsers, they will be installed automatically.

Requirements

• curl - for downloading parser sources
• tar - for extracting archives
• tree-sitter CLI - for compiling parsers (and optionally generating from grammar)
• A C compiler - used by tree-sitter for compilation

See Also

• update() - Update installed parsers to latest versions
• uninstall() - Remove installed parsers
• get_available() - List available parsers