vim-without-plugins

A minimal Vim setup built entirely on Vim’s native features — no plugins, no plugin manager.

Main Features

• Neovim-like dynamic cursor shapes
• Recursive file search with native tab completion
• Enhanced Netrw (vim-vinegar style navigation + auto cd on quit)

Installation

• Add .vimrc to your home directory

${HOME}/.vimrc

• (Optional) Add the following to your ${HOME}/.bashrc to enable cd-on-quit behavior:

export VIM_LASTDIR_FILE="${HOME}/.vim_lastdir"

vim() {
    command vim "$@"
    if [[ -f "$VIM_LASTDIR_FILE" ]]; then
        local last_dir=$(cat "$VIM_LASTDIR_FILE")
        if [[ -d "$last_dir" ]]; then
            cd "$last_dir"
        fi
    fi
}

Usage

1. Neovim-Style Cursor

Different cursor shapes for each mode:

• Normal mode → Block cursor
• Insert mode → Vertical bar
• Replace mode → Underline

Works in most modern terminals that support cursor shape escape sequences.

---

2. Recursive File Search

Search files recursively from the current working directory:

:find filename
:find *partial*

Press <Tab> to cycle through matches.

---

3. Enhanced Netrw

(Vim-vinegar style navigation + auto cd-on-quit)

Open the file explorer:

vim .

Navigation

• <Enter>: Open a file or enter a directory
• -: Go to parent directory (vim-vinegar style)
• j, k: Move down/up
• gh: Toggle hidden files and directories
• gx: Open a file with xdg-open
• /: Search by name (n / <Shift+n> to navigate matches)
• !<command>: Run a custom shell command
• <Ctrl+l>: Refresh the directory listing

For additional commands, see the built-in Netrw help.

cd-on-quit

When quitting Vim from a Netrw buffer, your shell automatically switches to the last directory recorded during the session.

This allows Vim to function as a lightweight directory navigator, making it especially convenient when exploring projects directly from the terminal.