vim-plug: A Vim Script repository from Dalachowsky

A minimalist Vim plugin manager.

Pros.

Easy to set up: Single file. No boilerplate code required.
Easy to use: Concise, intuitive syntax
Super-fast parallel installation/update (with any of +job, +python, +python3, +ruby, or Neovim)
Creates shallow clones to minimize disk space usage and download time
On-demand loading for faster startup time
Can review and rollback updates
Branch/tag/commit support
Post-update hooks
Support for externally managed plugins

Installation

Download plug.vim and put it in the "autoload" directory.

Vim

Unix

curl -fLo ~/.vim/autoload/plug.vim --create-dirs \
    https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junegunn/vim-plug/master/plug.vim

You can automate the process by putting the command in your Vim configuration file as suggested here.

Windows (PowerShell)

iwr -useb https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junegunn/vim-plug/master/plug.vim |`
    ni $HOME/vimfiles/autoload/plug.vim -Force

Neovim

Unix, Linux

sh -c 'curl -fLo "${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}"/nvim/site/autoload/plug.vim --create-dirs \
       https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junegunn/vim-plug/master/plug.vim'

Linux (Flatpak)

curl -fLo ~/.var/app/io.neovim.nvim/data/nvim/site/autoload/plug.vim --create-dirs \
    https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junegunn/vim-plug/master/plug.vim

Windows (PowerShell)

iwr -useb https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junegunn/vim-plug/master/plug.vim |`
    ni "$(@($env:XDG_DATA_HOME, $env:LOCALAPPDATA)[$null -eq $env:XDG_DATA_HOME])/nvim-data/site/autoload/plug.vim" -Force

Getting Help

See tutorial page to learn the basics of vim-plug
See tips and FAQ pages for common problems and questions
See requirements page for debugging information & tested configurations
Create an issue

Usage

Add a vim-plug section to your ~/.vimrc (or stdpath('config') . '/init.vim' for Neovim)

Begin the section with call plug#begin([PLUGIN_DIR])
List the plugins with Plug commands
call plug#end() to update &runtimepath and initialize plugin system
- Automatically executes filetype plugin indent on and syntax enable. You can revert the settings after the call. e.g. filetype indent off, syntax off, etc.

Example

call plug#begin()
" The default plugin directory will be as follows:
"   - Vim (Linux/macOS): '~/.vim/plugged'
"   - Vim (Windows): '~/vimfiles/plugged'
"   - Neovim (Linux/macOS/Windows): stdpath('data') . '/plugged'
" You can specify a custom plugin directory by passing it as the argument
"   - e.g. `call plug#begin('~/.vim/plugged')`
"   - Avoid using standard Vim directory names like 'plugin'

" Make sure you use single quotes

" Shorthand notation; fetches https://github.com/junegunn/vim-easy-align
Plug 'junegunn/vim-easy-align'

" Any valid git URL is allowed
Plug 'https://github.com/junegunn/vim-github-dashboard.git'

" Multiple Plug commands can be written in a single line using | separators
Plug 'SirVer/ultisnips' | Plug 'honza/vim-snippets'

" On-demand loading
Plug 'scrooloose/nerdtree', { 'on':  'NERDTreeToggle' }
Plug 'tpope/vim-fireplace', { 'for': 'clojure' }

" Using a non-default branch
Plug 'rdnetto/YCM-Generator', { 'branch': 'stable' }

" Using a tagged release; wildcard allowed (requires git 1.9.2 or above)
Plug 'fatih/vim-go', { 'tag': '*' }

" Plugin options
Plug 'nsf/gocode', { 'tag': 'v.20150303', 'rtp': 'vim' }

" Plugin outside ~/.vim/plugged with post-update hook
Plug 'junegunn/fzf', { 'dir': '~/.fzf', 'do': './install --all' }

" Unmanaged plugin (manually installed and updated)
Plug '~/my-prototype-plugin'

" Initialize plugin system
" - Automatically executes `filetype plugin indent on` and `syntax enable`.
call plug#end()
" You can revert the settings after the call like so:
"   filetype indent off   " Disable file-type-specific indentation
"   syntax off            " Disable syntax highlighting

Reload .vimrc and :PlugInstall to install plugins.

Commands

Command	Description
`PlugInstall [name ...] [#threads]`	Install plugins
`PlugUpdate [name ...] [#threads]`	Install or update plugins
`PlugClean[!]`	Remove unlisted plugins (bang version will clean without prompt)
`PlugUpgrade`	Upgrade vim-plug itself
`PlugStatus`	Check the status of plugins
`PlugDiff`	Examine changes from the previous update and the pending changes
`PlugSnapshot[!] [output path]`	Generate script for restoring the current snapshot of the plugins

`Plug` options

Option	Description
`branch`/`tag`/`commit`	Branch/tag/commit of the repository to use
`rtp`	Subdirectory that contains Vim plugin
`dir`	Custom directory for the plugin
`as`	Use different name for the plugin
`do`	Post-update hook (string or funcref)
`on`	On-demand loading: Commands or `<Plug>`-mappings
`for`	On-demand loading: File types
`frozen`	Do not update unless explicitly specified

Global options

Flag	Default	Description
`g:plug_threads`	16	Default number of threads to use
`g:plug_timeout`	60	Time limit of each task in seconds (Ruby & Python)
`g:plug_retries`	2	Number of retries in case of timeout (Ruby & Python)
`g:plug_shallow`	1	Use shallow clone
`g:plug_window`	`vertical topleft new`	Command to open plug window
`g:plug_pwindow`	`above 12new`	Command to open preview window in `PlugDiff`
`g:plug_url_format`	`https://git::@github.com/%s.git`	`printf` format to build repo URL (Only applies to the subsequent `Plug` commands)

Keybindings

D - PlugDiff
S - PlugStatus
R - Retry failed update or installation tasks
U - Update plugins in the selected range
q - Close the window
:PlugStatus
- L - Load plugin
:PlugDiff
- X - Revert the update

Example: A small sensible Vim configuration

call plug#begin()
Plug 'tpope/vim-sensible'
call plug#end()

On-demand loading of plugins

" NERD tree will be loaded on the first invocation of NERDTreeToggle command
Plug 'preservim/nerdtree', { 'on': 'NERDTreeToggle' }

" Multiple commands
Plug 'junegunn/vim-github-dashboard', { 'on': ['GHDashboard', 'GHActivity'] }

" Loaded when clojure file is opened
Plug 'tpope/vim-fireplace', { 'for': 'clojure' }

" Multiple file types
Plug 'kovisoft/paredit', { 'for': ['clojure', 'scheme'] }

" On-demand loading on both conditions
Plug 'junegunn/vader.vim',  { 'on': 'Vader', 'for': 'vader' }

" Code to execute when the plugin is lazily loaded on demand
Plug 'junegunn/goyo.vim', { 'for': 'markdown' }
autocmd! User goyo.vim echom 'Goyo is now loaded!'

The for option is generally not needed as most plugins for specific file types usually don't have too much code in the plugin directory. You might want to examine the output of vim --startuptime before applying the option.

Post-update hooks

There are some plugins that require extra steps after installation or update. In that case, use the do option to describe the task to be performed.

Plug 'Shougo/vimproc.vim', { 'do': 'make' }
Plug 'ycm-core/YouCompleteMe', { 'do': './install.py' }

If the value starts with :, it will be recognized as a Vim command.

Plug 'fatih/vim-go', { 'do': ':GoInstallBinaries' }

If you need more control, you can pass a reference to a Vim function that takes a single argument.

function! BuildYCM(info)
  " info is a dictionary with 3 fields
  " - name:   name of the plugin
  " - status: 'installed', 'updated', or 'unchanged'
  " - force:  set on PlugInstall! or PlugUpdate!
  if a:info.status == 'installed' || a:info.force
    !./install.py
  endif
endfunction

Plug 'ycm-core/YouCompleteMe', { 'do': function('BuildYCM') }

Both forms of post-update hook are executed inside the directory of the plugin and only run when the repository has changed, but you can force it to run unconditionally with the bang-versions of the commands: PlugInstall! and PlugUpdate!.

Make sure to escape BARs and double-quotes when you write the do option inline as they are mistakenly recognized as command separator or the start of the trailing comment.

Plug 'junegunn/fzf', { 'do': 'yes \| ./install' }

But you can avoid the escaping if you extract the inline specification using a variable (or any Vimscript expression) as follows:

let g:fzf_install = 'yes | ./install'
Plug 'junegunn/fzf', { 'do': g:fzf_install }

`PlugInstall!` and `PlugUpdate!`

The installer takes the following steps when installing/updating a plugin:

git clone or git fetch from its origin
Check out branch, tag, or commit and optionally git merge remote branch
If the plugin was updated (or installed for the first time)
1. Update submodules
2. Execute post-update hooks

The commands with the ! suffix ensure that all steps are run unconditionally.

Articles

Writing my own Vim plugin manager
Vim plugins and startup time
~~Thoughts on Vim plugin dependency~~
- Support for Plugfile has been removed since 0.5.0

Collaborators

Jan Edmund Lazo - Windows support
Jeremy Pallats - Python installer

License

MIT

Dalachowsky/vim-plug

Pros.

Installation

Vim

Unix

Windows (PowerShell)

Neovim

Unix, Linux

Linux (Flatpak)

Windows (PowerShell)

Getting Help

Usage

Example

Commands

Plug options

Global options

Keybindings

Example: A small sensible Vim configuration

On-demand loading of plugins

Post-update hooks

PlugInstall! and PlugUpdate!

Articles

Collaborators

License

`Plug` options

`PlugInstall!` and `PlugUpdate!`