Skip to main content
nvim-treesitter provides queries for highlighting, folding, and indentation. These features are not automatically enabled. You must explicitly enable them for each language or filetype.

​
Enabling Highlighting

Tree-sitter highlighting is provided by Neovim core. There are two ways to enable it:

​
Method 1: Using ftplugin Files

Create a file at ~/.config/nvim/ftplugin/<filetype>.lua with:
python.lua
vim.treesitter.start()
This enables highlighting automatically when you open Python files. 
vim.treesitter.start()

​
Method 2: Using FileType Autocommands

Add this to your init.lua to enable highlighting for specific filetypes:
init.lua
vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd('FileType', {
  pattern = { 'python', 'lua', 'javascript' },
  callback = function() 
    vim.treesitter.start() 
  end,
})
Replace the pattern array with the filetypes you want to enable highlighting for.

​
Enable for All Supported Languages

To enable highlighting for all languages with available parsers:
init.lua
vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd('FileType', {
  pattern = '*',
  callback = function()
    local ok = pcall(vim.treesitter.start)
    if not ok then
      -- Parser not available for this filetype
    end
  end,
})

​
Enabling Folds

Tree-sitter-based folding is also provided by Neovim core.

​
Method 1: Using ftplugin Files

Create ~/.config/nvim/ftplugin/<filetype>.lua:
python.lua
vim.wo[0][0].foldexpr = 'v:lua.vim.treesitter.foldexpr()'
vim.wo[0][0].foldmethod = 'expr'

​
Method 2: Using FileType Autocommands

init.lua
vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd('FileType', {
  pattern = { 'python', 'lua', 'javascript', 'rust' },
  callback = function()
    vim.wo[0][0].foldexpr = 'v:lua.vim.treesitter.foldexpr()'
    vim.wo[0][0].foldmethod = 'expr'
  end,
})
The [0][0] syntax sets the option for the current window and buffer.

​
Enabling Indentation

Tree-sitter-based indentation is provided by nvim-treesitter and is experimental.
Tree-sitter indentation is experimental and may not work perfectly for all languages. Test it before committing to it in your workflow.

​
Method 1: Using ftplugin Files

Create ~/.config/nvim/ftplugin/<filetype>.lua:
python.lua
vim.bo.indentexpr = "v:lua.require'nvim-treesitter'.indentexpr()"
Note the specific quote usage: double quotes outside, single quotes inside.

​
Method 2: Using FileType Autocommands

init.lua
vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd('FileType', {
  pattern = { 'python', 'lua' },
  callback = function()
    vim.bo.indentexpr = "v:lua.require'nvim-treesitter'.indentexpr()"
  end,
})

​
Complete Example: All Features

Here’s how to enable all three features for specific languages: 
-- Enable highlighting
vim.treesitter.start()

-- Enable folding
vim.wo[0][0].foldexpr = 'v:lua.vim.treesitter.foldexpr()'
vim.wo[0][0].foldmethod = 'expr'

-- Enable indentation (experimental)
vim.bo.indentexpr = "v:lua.require'nvim-treesitter'.indentexpr()"

​
Language Injections

Injections allow tree-sitter to parse multiple languages in a single file (e.g., JavaScript in HTML, SQL in Python strings).
Injections work automatically once you enable highlighting. No additional setup is needed.
For example, with highlighting enabled for HTML and JavaScript: 
<script>
  // This JavaScript code is highlighted correctly
  console.log('Hello!');
</script>

​
Verifying Enabled Features

1

Check if highlighting is active

Use :Inspect to see which highlight groups are applied at the cursor position. Tree-sitter captures will be shown.
2

Test folding

Try folding a function or block with zc (close fold) and zo (open fold).
3

Check indentation

Open a new line in a block and verify the indentation is correct using o or O.

​
Troubleshooting

​
Highlighting Not Working

  1. Verify the parser is installed: :TSInstallInfo
  2. Check if highlighting queries exist: :echo nvim_get_runtime_file('queries/' . &filetype . '/highlights.scm', v:true)
  3. Run :checkhealth nvim-treesitter

​
Folding Not Working

  1. Check if fold queries exist for your language
  2. Verify foldmethod is set to 'expr': :set foldmethod?
  3. Ensure foldexpr is set correctly: :set foldexpr?

​
Indentation Issues

Remember that tree-sitter indentation is experimental. You may want to fall back to filetype-specific indentation if you encounter issues.
-- Disable treesitter indentation for a specific filetype
vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd('FileType', {
  pattern = 'python',
  callback = function()
    -- Use Python's built-in indentation instead
    vim.bo.indentexpr = ''
    vim.bo.autoindent = true
    vim.bo.smartindent = true
  end,
})

​
Feature Availability by Language

Not all languages support all features. To check what’s available: 
-- List all installed parsers
vim.print(require('nvim-treesitter.config').get_installed())

-- Check if a specific query file exists
vim.print(vim.api.nvim_get_runtime_file('queries/python/highlights.scm', false))

​
Next Steps