lua-line

The status line in an editor provides critical information such as the current mode, file name, line number, and other contextual data. While many plugins exist to improve the status line, Lualine stands out due to its simplicity, performance, and ease of customization. Since it is built in Lua, it takes advantage of Neovim’s native performance improvements over Vimscript-based plugins.

Why Choose Lualine?

1. Performance: Written entirely in Lua, it is highly optimized, reducing overhead and ensuring fast performance even in larger projects.
2. Customizability: Lualine provides flexible configuration options to tailor the status line to the user’s needs.
3. Lightweight: The plugin is designed to be minimalistic and does not bloat your Neovim setup.
4. Compatibility: It is compatible with a wide range of themes and extensions, and it can be easily integrated with other plugins.

Key Features

Lualine provides a wide array of features that make it stand out:

• Mode Indicator: Shows the current mode (Normal, Insert, Visual, etc.).
• File Information: Displays the file name, encoding, file type, and more.
• Line and Column Numbers: Keeps track of the current line, column, and total lines.
• Extensions Support: Allows integration with various extensions like Git status, LSP diagnostics, and more.
• Segment-based Structure: You can define multiple sections (left, middle, right) to display different information.
• Custom Components: Write custom components to display information that is most relevant to you.

Example of a Typical Lualine Configuration

require('lualine').setup {
  options = {
    theme = 'gruvbox', 
    section_separators = {'', ''}, 
    component_separators = {'', ''}, 
  },
  sections = {
    lualine_a = {'mode'},
    lualine_b = {'branch', 'diff', 'diagnostics'},
    lualine_c = {'filename'},
    lualine_x = {'encoding', 'fileformat', 'filetype'},
    lualine_y = {'progress'},
    lualine_z = {'location'}
  },
  inactive_sections = {
    lualine_a = {}, 
    lualine_b = {}, 
    lualine_c = {'filename'}, 
    lualine_x = {'location'}, 
    lualine_y = {}, 
    lualine_z = {}
  }
}

This configuration sets up Lualine with various sections to display information like the current mode, git branch, file name, and line progress. It also defines a theme and separators for a customized look.

Installation

Lualine can be easily installed using your favorite plugin manager. Here’s how to install it using popular plugin managers:

• using Lazy

require('lazy').setup {
  'nvim-lualine/lualine.nvim',
}

• using vim-plug:

Plug 'nvim-lualine/lualine.nvim'

• using packer.nvim:

use 'nvim-lualine/lualine.nvim'

• using dein.vim:

call dein#add('nvim-lualine/lualine.nvim')

After adding Lualine to your plugin manager, run the appropriate command to install it (:PlugInstall, :PackerSync, etc..).

Configuration

Lualine is highly customizable. You can configure it to show specific information about the file, such as its name, line number, and git status. The configuration is flexible and can be adapted to fit any workflow.

Basic Configuration Example

require('lualine').setup {
  options = {
    theme = 'solarized_dark',
    section_separators = {'', ''},
    component_separators = {'', ''},
  },
  sections = {
    lualine_a = {'mode'},
    lualine_b = {'branch', 'diff'},
    lualine_c = {'filename', 'filetype'},
    lualine_x = {'encoding', 'fileformat', 'location'},
    lualine_y = {'progress'},
    lualine_z = {'line'}
  }
}

This example shows how to define the separators and customize which information appears in each section. The status line can be divided into multiple segments to accommodate various types of information.

Customization

Lualine is designed for high levels of customization. Below are some of the ways you can modify its appearance and functionality:

Adding a Custom Component

require('lualine').setup {
  sections = {
    lualine_b = {'branch', 'diff', 'custom_component'}
  },
  extensions = {
    custom_component = function()
      return "My Custom Component"
    end
  }
}

This example defines a custom component called custom_component and adds it to the lualine_b section. You can define any logic you want within the custom function.

Themes

Lualine comes with several built-in themes that allow for a wide range of customization in terms of color schemes. Additionally, you can create your own theme by defining custom colors and settings for each section.

Here’s how to apply a built-in theme:

require('lualine').setup {
  options = {
    theme = 'gruvbox'
  }
}

For more advanced customization, you can create a theme by defining colors and properties for individual components.