🚀 launch.nvim

A task launcher plugin for neovim which allows dynamically configuring tasks per project (i.e current working directory), inspired by the framework in Visual Studio Code. It also provides (optional) support for debugging via nvim-dap, a debug adapter protocol implementation for neovim.

Important

Development is actively ongoing for v1.0.0 release on the release/v1.0.0 branch, with a revamped user interface for configuring tasks, debuggers and user variables. The core functionality will remain the same as main branch for the most part. Development on the main branch will be on hold indefinitely, since it is planned to be replaced.
A discussion has been opened here for new and existing users to provide feedback or ideas on what they would like to see in the upcoming release. They will be added to the feature roadmap based on feasibility and popularity.

Contents

• Demo
• Features
• Installation
• Usage
  • Setup
  • Commands
• Schemas
  • Task Configuration
  • Debug Configuration
  • User Variables
• Contributing

Demo

This short 3 minute demo video covers all major features and commands offered by launch.nvim, starting from an empty project and a new configuration file.
(This demo shows the config file using the old path; the new path does not pollute the project root anymore)

launch-nvim-demo.mp4

Although debugger-related configurations and commands are not covered in the above demo, they have exactly the same UI and behavior as the task-related commands.

Features

• Create custom tasks for every working directory using the file opened by LaunchOpenConfigFile command
  All configurations in this file are hot-reloaded upon saving changes
• Configured tasks can be launched in a tabpage or a floating window, managed by the plugin
• Closing the plugin-managed tabpage or floating window will not kill the current task(s); they will continue to run in the background
• Already launched tasks (active tasks) can be reopened in a tabpage or a floating window, as long as the process is still running or the terminal buffer is not closed
• Create debugger configurations and launch debug sessions using nvim-dap plugin (can be disabled)
  UI elements for nvim-dap are not handled by launch.nvim; please refer to plugins like nvim-dap-ui
• Create custom placeholder variables which can be used in both task and debug configurations; they will be substituted with user input at runtime when a config is launched

NOTE : Every floating window created by the plugin can be closed by pressing the q key

Installation

Requirements

• Neovim 0.9+ (nightly recommended)
• nvim-dap for debugging support (optional)
• Decorator plugins that provide customization for vim.notify (optional)
  Currently supports nvim-notify and noice.nvim

lazy.nvim

-- LazySpec (plugin specification)
-- return {
{
    'dasupradyumna/launch.nvim',
    -- add below plugins as per user requirement
    dependencies = {
        'mfussenegger/nvim-dap',
        'rcarriga/nvim-notify',
    }
}
-- }

packer.nvim

-- inside setup function
-- packer.startup(function(use)
use {
    'dasupradyumna/launch.nvim',
    -- add below plugins as per user requirement
    requires = {
        'mfussenegger/nvim-dap',
        'rcarriga/nvim-notify',
    }
}
-- end)

vim-plug

" add below dependencies as per user requirement
Plug 'mfussenegger/nvim-dap'
Plug 'rcarriga/nvim-notify'

Plug 'dasupradyumna/launch.nvim'

Usage

Setup

The main setup function can be called independently in your config or as a part of the plugin specification depending on the plugin manager that you are using. The plugin sets very sensible defaults so you can pass an empty configuration table to the setup to check it out.
(The demo video shows the plugin being run on default setup options)

-- table of user-defined configuration options which override the plugin defaults
local cfg = {} -- uses the plugin defaults

-- independent setup (for vim-plug as well)
require('launch').setup(cfg)

-- for lazy.nvim
return { 'dasupradyumna/launch.nvim', opts = cfg }

-- for packer.nvim
use { 'dasupradyumna/launch.nvim', config = function() require('launch').setup(cfg) end}

The plugin sets the following default options -

-- PLUGIN DEFAULTS
default_cfg = {
  -- debugger settings
  debug = {
    -- mapping from filetypes to debug adapter names as specified in `require('dap').adapters`
    -- `nil` implies that the filetypes themselves are used as the adapter names
    adapters = nil, ---@type table<string, string>

    -- disable all debugger related functionality
    disable = false, ---@type boolean

    -- custom debugger launcher function which receives the selected debug configuration as an
    -- argument; `nil` implies `require('dap').run` is used by default
    -- NOTE : users should ignore this unless they know what they are doing
    runner = nil, ---@type function

    -- table containing debug configuration template per filetype
    templates = nil,
  },

  -- task runner settings
  task = {
    -- whether to render the task output in a tabpage or a floating window, by default
    display = 'float', ---@type 'float' | 'tab'

    -- configuration options for floating window, see {config} in `:h nvim_open_win()`
    float_config = {
      relative = 'editor',
      border = 'rounded',
      title_pos = 'center',
      style = 'minimal',
    },

    -- custom user functions which will be executed before and/or after creating a floating
    -- window or a tabpage for a newly launched task
    hooks = {
      -- floating window hooks
      float = {
        pre = nil, ---@type function
        post = nil, ---@type function
      },
      -- tabpage hooks
      tab = {
        pre = nil, ---@type function
        post = nil, ---@type function
      },
    },

    -- whether to enter INSERT mode after launching task in a buffer
    insert_on_launch = false, ---@type boolean

    -- same fields as `TaskOptions` in "Task Configuration" subsection
    options = {
      -- set the default current working directory for all tasks
      cwd = nil, ---@type string|fun():string

      -- table with definitions of environment variables to be set for all tasks
      env = nil, ---@type table<string, string|number>

      -- table containing executable and command-line arguments to launch a shell process
      shell = nil, ---@type { exec: string, args: string[] }
    },

    -- custom task launcher function which receives the selected task configuration as an
    -- argument; `nil` implies `require('launch.task').runner` is used by default
    -- NOTE : users should ignore this unless they know what they are doing
    runner = nil, ---@type function

    -- config options for opening task in a terminal instance; see {opts} in `:h jobstart()`
    term = {
      clear_env = false,
    },
  },
}

For further details about the configuration table and its fields, refer to SETUP.md.

Commands

• LaunchTask
  Show the list of all configured tasks for the current working directory and launch the selected task

• LaunchTaskFT
  Show the list of configured tasks filtered based on the current buffer filetype and launch the selected task

• LaunchShowTaskConfigs
  Show all configured tasks with their options in a floating window

• LaunchShowTaskConfigsFT
  Show configured tasks filtered based on the current buffer filetype with their options in a floating window

• LaunchShowActiveTasks
  Show the list of all active tasks in a floating window; each active task can be displayed either in a floating window or a new window in the plugin-managed tabpage
  <C-T> opens the active task under the cursor in the tabpage, <C-F> opens it in a floating window whereas <CR> opens it based on display option in its configuration
  An active task is one which still has a running process or finished execution but its terminal buffer is still open

• LaunchDebugger
  Show the list of all debug configurations for the current working directory and launch selected config
  This command will not be available if debug support is disabled during plugin setup

• LaunchDebuggerFT
  Show the list of debug configurations filtered based on the current buffer filetype and launch selected config
  This command will not be available if debug support is disabled during plugin setup

• LaunchShowDebugConfigs
  Show all debug configurations with their options in a floating window
  This command will not be available if debug support is disabled during plugin setup

• LaunchShowDebugConfigsFT
  Show debug configurations filtered based on the current buffer filetype with their options in a floating window
  This command will not be available if debug support is disabled during plugin setup

• LaunchShowUserVariables
  Show all defined user variables with their specifications in a floating window

• LaunchOpenConfigFile
  Open the current working directory's launch configuration file in a plugin-managed floating window

Schemas

The plugin configuration file should return a table with one or more of the following 3 fields: task, debug and var. task and debug should be array-like tables of task and debug configurations respectively, and var should be a dictionary-like table of user variable definitions with the key being a variable's name and the value being its config.

Every field is optional, and can be omitted if no configurations need to be specified. If the plugin configuration file returns nil or an empty table {}; all task, debug and variable configurations are cleared. (If the user variable syntax is used in any configuration, then the corresponding variable definition should be specified under the var field)

-- config file
return {
    task = {
        { --[[ TaskConfig1 ]] },
        { --[[ TaskConfig2 ]] },
    },
    debug = {
        { --[[ DebugConfig1 ]] },
        { --[[ DebugConfig2 ]] },
    },
    var = {
        InputVar1 = { --[[ InputVarConfig1 ]] },
        InputVar2 = { --[[ InputVarConfig2 ]] },
    },
}

NOTE : The plugin will issue error notifications if the user makes any syntax errors while writing configurations for any field. Open an issue if you notice gaps in the syntax checker's logic.

Task Configuration

A task configuration can have the following structure

local task_config = {
    name = '<config_name>',
    command = '<config_command>',
    args = { '<command_arg1>', '<command_arg2>' },
    display = 'float',
    options = {
        cwd = '<path_to_custom_cwd>', -- OR function() return <path_to_custom_cwd> end,
        env = {
            STRING_VAR = 'hello_world',
            NUMERIC_VAR = 42.42,
        },
        shell = {
            exec = '<shell_executable>',
            args = { '<shell_arg1>', '<shell_arg2>' },
        }
    },
}

return { task = { task_config } }

1. name (required) string
   Specifies the name of the task configuration which will be displayed by LaunchTask(FT) command

2. filetype string
   Optionally specify the filetype into which the current task is grouped, which is used by the LaunchTaskFT and LaunchShowTaskConfigsFT commands to filter tasks based on current buffer filetype

3. command (required) string
   Specifies the executable or program to execute in a new task instance

4. args string[]
   List of command-line arguments fed to the executable or program specified by command
   Each argument in the list will be concatenated with a space character

5. display 'float' | 'tab'
   Specifies whether the task instance should be rendered in a floating window or plugin-managed tabpage by default when launched
   If not specified, the value provided in the setup() configuration is taken by default

6. options TaskOptions
   Additional options to customize the environment in which the task is run
   If not specified, the value provided in the setup() configuration is taken by default

   1. TaskOptions.cwd string | fun():string
      Path (absolute or relative) to the custom directory to be set as the current working directory for the task
      This path can be specified directly as a string or via a function which returns a string

   2. TaskOptions.env table<string, string | number>
      Dictionary of specifications for environment variables to be defined before running the task

   3. TaskOptions.shell ShellOptions
      Options to customize the shell used for launching the task

      • ShellOptions.exec (required) string
        Path to the custom shell executable (must be specified if shell is not nil)

      • ShellOptions.args string[]
        List of command-line arguments fed to the custom shell executable
        Each argument in the list will be concatenated with a space character

Debug Configuration

A debug configuration (compatible with nvim-dap) requires 3 compulsory fields and other additional fields that may depend on the actual debugger on a case-by-case basis. More information about valid configuration fields can be found here and here.

local debug_config = {
    type = '<adapter_name>',
    -- OR
    -- filetype = '<target_ft>', -- filetype-adapter mapping can be specified in `setup()`

    request = 'launch',
    name = '<config_name>',

    -- Additional debugger-specific fields
    -- field1 = value1,
    -- field2 = value2,
}

return { debug = { debug_config } }

User Variables

An example user-defined variable specification can look like this -

return {
    task = {
        {
            name = 'Test User Variables',
            command = 'echo',
            args = { '{@select_type}', '{@input_type}' },
        }
    },
    var = {
        select_type = {
            type = 'select',
            desc = 'selection type variable',
            items = { '<item1>', '<item2>' }
        },
        input_type = {
            type = 'input',
            desc = 'input type variable',
            default = '<default_value>',
        },
    }
}

Defined user variables can be used in both task and debug configurations with the following syntax {@<variable_name>}, in command and args fields. When a task using this syntax is launched, it will prompt a choice from the user, substitute the syntax with the user's choice and then launches the task. (this will be supported in all string fields in the future)

1. type (required) 'select' | 'input'
   Describes whether user is prompted for input from keyboard or select from a list of choices

2. desc (required) string
   A brief description for the user variable, displayed when user input is required

3. default string | number | boolean
   Default value already filled in when user is prompted for keyboard input
   Only valid for input type variable

4. items (string | number | boolean)[]
   A list of choices for the user to select for substitution; values can be a string, a number or a boolean value
   Only valid for select type variable

Contributing

Any ideas for new features and quality-of-life changes that you wish to see in this plugin or its documentation are welcome. Please feel free to open an issue or even start a discussion regarding your requirement. And as always, all PRs are welcome! (preferably after the new feature has been discussed in a post)

License

launch.nvim is licensed under the GNU General Public License 3.0.

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