Neovim Research ConfigurationPerformance-Optimised for Academic Workflows

Quick Example ​

# Terminal Integration
<C-t>             # Toggle terminal
<Leader>Tt        # Smart terminal toggle (vertical)
<Leader>Th/Tv/Tf  # Horizontal/Vertical/Float terminal
<C-i>             # Send line to terminal
<C-c>             # Send code block to terminal

# Document Processing
\lv               # LaTeX forward search
\ll               # Compile LaTeX
<Leader>Kp        # Markdown preview
<Leader>Qp        # Quarto preview

# Julia Development
<Leader>Jrv       # Julia REPL (vertical)
<Leader>Jp        # Project status
<Leader>Ji        # Instantiate project

Performance Metrics ​

• Startup Time: 88ms (16% improvement from 105ms)
• Plugin Loading: 63ms (20% improvement from 79ms)
• Core Configuration: 2ms (92% improvement from 26ms)

Requirements ​

Essential ​

• Homebrew: Package manager for macOS (install here)
• Neovim 0.12+ (required for vim.pack)
• Git
• Cargo (for blink.cmp compilation)
• ripgrep, fd (for Telescope)

Document Processing ​

• LaTeX: MacTeX or BasicTeX, Skim PDF viewer (macOS)
• Typst: brew install typst
• Markdown: Node.js (for preview)

Language Support ​

• Julia: 1.9+ with LanguageServer.jl
• Python: 3.8+ with pyright LSP
• R: 4.0+ with languageserver package

Installation ​

# Clone configuration
git clone https://github.com/SimonAB/nvim-config.git ~/.config/nvim
cd ~/.config/nvim

# First launch - plugins install automatically
nvim

# Verify installation
nvim --startuptime /tmp/startup.log -c quit

See the Installation Guide for complete setup instructions.

Key Features ​

Terminal Integration ​

Smart terminal with code block detection and execution:

• Toggle terminal with <C-t> or <Leader>Tt
• Send lines, blocks, or selections to terminal
• Multiple terminal layouts (horizontal, vertical, float)
• Julia REPL with --threads=auto for parallel computing

Document Workflows ​

Complete LaTeX workflow with bidirectional SyncTeX:

• Forward search: Neovim → PDF (\lv)
• Inverse search: PDF → Neovim (Cmd+Shift+Click in Skim)
• Automatic compilation with latexmk
• Bibliography management

Quarto integration for reproducible research:

• Live preview with code execution
• Support for R, Python, Julia code blocks
• Render to PDF, HTML, or Word

Theme Management ​

Beautiful theme system with live preview:

• <Leader>Ytp - Theme picker with Telescope
• <Leader>Yc - Cycle through themes
• Auto dark mode based on system preference
• Themes: Catppuccin, OneDark, Tokyo Night, Nord, GitHub

Philosophy ​

This configuration prioritises:

1. Performance: Fast startup, efficient plugin loading
2. Discoverability: WhichKey integration for keymap discovery
3. Consistency: British spelling, logical keymap organisation
4. Research Workflows: Optimised for academic document preparation
5. Maintainability: Clean, documented code with modular architecture

Next Steps ​