Using lazy.nvim to manage non Neovim related repositories 🤔

[mikavilpas]

I have found out that lazy.nvim can also be used to manage git repositories that are not related to neovim in any way. I'm not sure if this is supported intentionally, but I find it quite useful.

The way it works is the following:

1. add a lazy.nvim specification for the repo to your config

   {
     "path-to/git-repo",
     lazy = true, -- so neovim doesn't try to load it
     build = function(plugin)
       -- when the plugin is installed, symlink it to the desired location
       -- if the symlink already exists, do nothing
       require("my-helper").symlink_plugin(plugin, { target = "~/.config/foo" })
     end,
   }

2. run :Lazy to install the plugin

3. later on, run :Lazy to update the plugin, etc.

4. the repo is now available on your system for whatever you need it for

With lazy.nvim, I can benefit from the following features:

• manage everything from within neovim instead of manually
  • I use the ui for updating my neovim plugins already
• preview upcoming changes with the lazy.nvim ui (with lazygit support)
• lockfile support for rollbacks (excellent)

Some fun use cases include:

• managing my personal dotfiles
• managing plugins for other applications. Example: https://github.com/mikavilpas/yazi.nvim/blob/master/documentation/plugin-manager.md which manages plugins for a terminal file manager (experimental)

This seems to be working well, but I'm not sure what to make of it. Am I missing something obvious, is this a bad idea? Are there better options available?

I'm interested in hearing your (anyone's) thoughts.

[folke]

That's pretty cool indeed! Never thought of that :)
Should have pretty much zero overhead performance-wise

[pidgeon777]

I also opened this topic with the very same idea:

#1724

I didn't know this topic existed at first. Anyway, I was wondering if this will be a built-in feature, or some hacks may still be needed.

Also, is the require("my-helper").symlink_plugin() code available somewhere?

[mikavilpas]

The code is available here https://github.com/mikavilpas/yazi.nvim/blob/main/lua/yazi/plugin.lua

You can also find the unit/integration tests for that code in the repository.

[pidgeon777]

Additionally, if I understand correctly, with the above setup the repository will be downloaded into the lazy.nvim plugin directory, and after creation, a symlink will be created to it in the ~/.config/foo folder. However, if I already have the repository cloned in a different directory (not in the lazy.nvim plugin directory), how should I configure everything to perform update operations, etc.? Furthermore, will it be necessary to create a symlink within the lazy.nvim plugin folder pointing to my local repository? Or can everything function correctly without creating the symlink?

[mikavilpas]

Yes, that's right. In my case some yazi plugins that I manage are downloaded by lazy.nvim into /Users/mikavilpas/.local/share/nvim/lazy/easyjump.yazi, and they are symlinked to /Users/mikavilpas/.config/yazi/plugins/easyjump.yazi, where the yazi program can find them.

I haven't implemented anything else beyond this, so I think your use cases are slightly different. But I think symlinks are quite versatile so I think those ideas could work.

[pidgeon777]

Yes, that's right. In my case some yazi plugins that I manage are downloaded by lazy.nvim into /Users/mikavilpas/.local/share/nvim/lazy/easyjump.yazi, and they are symlinked to /Users/mikavilpas/.config/yazi/plugins/easyjump.yazi, where the yazi program can find them.

I haven't implemented anything else beyond this, so I think your use cases are slightly different. But I think symlinks are quite versatile so I think those ideas could work.

I did this test: cloned ghdl repository on a different local folder, then created a symlink to it inside the lazy.nvim plugins directory, and I obtained:

  Failed (1)
    ○ ghdl 
        ...cal/nvim-data/lazy/lazy.nvim/lua/lazy/manage/task/fs.lua:9: C:/Users/<USERNAME>/AppData/Local/nvim-data/lazy/ghdl should be a directory!

Config:

return {
  {
    "ghdl/ghdl",
    lazy = true,
    enabled = true,
  },
}

I prefer to keep my repository outside the plugins folder, I have not found a way to do that so far. Hopefully @folke can help. Target is being able to manage non-plugin repositories with lazy.nvim, without having to clone the repository inside the lazy.nvim plugin root directory. The problem is that if I use this config:

return {
  {
    "ghdl/ghdl",
    dir = "C:/Work/Repositories/GitHub/ghdl/ghdl",
    lazy = true,
    enabled = true,
  },
}

then lazy.nvim "loads" it but:

1. When I press "u" to update a repository, it disappears from the plugin list without actually completing the pull. Upon the next restart of LazyVim, the repository reappears with the same commits as before.
2. Despite lazy.nvim indicating available updates for the repository, the repository name does not appear in the notify list of available updates when starting neovim. Only updates for actual plugins are displayed.

@mikavilpas if you have a chance maybe you could also try, to see if this is a Windows only bug (?) or not.

[Paulobsufpe]

I fix this in my config, @pidgeon777! Just use the variable url.
In your case, i think it will be like:

return {
  {
    "ghdl/ghdl",
    -- just substitute `dir` per `url`
    url = "C:/Work/Repositories/GitHub/ghdl/ghdl",
    lazy = true,
    enabled = true,
  },
}

For me it works nicely

[pidgeon777]

I fix this in my config, @pidgeon777! Just use the variable url. In your case, i think it will be like:

return {
  {
    "ghdl/ghdl",
    -- just substitute `dir` per `url`
    url = "C:/Work/Repositories/GitHub/ghdl/ghdl",
    lazy = true,
    enabled = true,
  },
}

For me it works nicely

Thanks for the reply @Paulobsufpe, but by doing so it will "clone" (copy) the repository from the folder C:/Work/Repositories/GitHub/ghdl/ghdl to the C:/Users/<USERNAME>/AppData/Local/nvim-data/lazy/ghdl folder, thus there will be two copies of the repository. Am I wrong?

But that should be avoided. Some repositories could be very large and it would be a waste of space to have two copies of the same repository.

Maybe @folke can help? (sorry for the ping)

[pidgeon777]

Upon completing the cloning process for the LazyVim plugins, the following details were observed:

    ○ ghdl 
        Directory: C:/Users/<USERNAME>/AppData/Local/nvim-data/lazy/ghdl
        URL:       C:/Work/Repositories/GitHub/ghdl/ghdl
        Tag:       nightly
        Branch:    master
        Commit:    aff90eb
        Readme:    README.md

      ✔ [task] fetch 1749.45ms
      ✔ [task] status 989.13ms
      ✔ [task] log 619.23ms

It appears that LazyVim has effectively created a local copy of the repository in the directory C:/Users/<USERNAME>/AppData/Local/nvim-data/lazy/ghdl. This results in a duplication of the repository.

In this scenario, I wonder if an update to the ghdl "plugin" would affect the copy located at C:/Users/<USERNAME>/AppData/Local/nvim-data/lazy/ghdl, while the original repository at C:/Work/Repositories/GitHub/ghdl/ghdl would remain unaffected by such updates.