Neolij.nvim

A lightweight Neovim plugin that integrates Neovim window navigation with Zellij. If Neovim can’t move to another window, it automatically falls back to Zellij actions. giving you seamless navigation between Neovim splits and Zellij panes/tabs

Demo

Installing

lazyvim

{
   "y2w8/neolij.nvim",
    event = "VeryLazy",
    opts = {}, -- Important even if empty
    keys = {
    -- Window navigation
    { "<C-k>", ":NeolijUp<CR>", mode = { "n", "t" }, desc = "Move up", silent = true  },
    { "<C-j>", ":NeolijDown<CR>", mode = { "n", "t" }, desc = "Move down", silent = true  },
    { "<C-h>", ":NeolijLeftTab<CR>", mode = { "n", "t" }, desc = "Move left", silent = true  },
    { "<C-l>", ":NeolijRightTab<CR>", mode = { "n", "t" }, desc = "Move right", silent = true  },

    -- Tab actions
    { "<leader>zt", ":NeolijNewTab<CR>", desc = "New Zellij Tab", silent = true  },
    { "<leader>zr", ":NeolijRenameTab<CR>", desc = "Rename Zellij Tab", silent = true  },
    { "<leader>zl", ":NeolijMoveTabLeft<CR>", desc = "Move Tab Left", silent = true  },
    { "<leader>zL", ":NeolijMoveTabRight<CR>", desc = "Move Tab Right", silent = true  },

    -- Pane actions
    { "<leader>zp", ":NeolijNewPane -d right<CR>", desc = "New Zellij Pane vertical", silent = true  },
    { "<leader>zP", ":NeolijNewPane -d down<CR>", desc = "New Zellij Pane horizontal", silent = true  },
    { "<leader>zf", ":NeolijNewPane -f<CR>", desc = "New Zellij Floating Pane", silent = true  },
    { "<leader>zn", ":NeolijRenamePane<CR>", desc = "Rename Zellij Pane", silent = true  },
    { "<leader>zu", ":NeolijMovePaneUp<CR>", desc = "Move Pane Up", silent = true  },
    { "<leader>zd", ":NeolijMovePaneDown<CR>", desc = "Move Pane Down", silent = true  },
    { "<leader>zh", ":NeolijMovePaneLeft<CR>", desc = "Move Pane Left", silent = true  },
    { "<leader>zR", ":NeolijMovePaneRight<CR>", desc = "Move Pane Right", silent = true  },
  },
}

Zellij

Autolock plugin

keybinds clear-defaults=true {
    shared_except "locked" {
        bind "Ctrl left" { MoveFocusOrTab "left"; }
        bind "Ctrl down" { MoveFocus "down"; }
        bind "Ctrl up" { MoveFocus "up"; }
        bind "Ctrl right" { MoveFocusOrTab "right"; }
    }
}

plugins {
    // Required
    autolock location="https://github.com/fresh2dev/zellij-autolock/releases/latest/download/zellij-autolock.wasm" {
        // Enabled at start?
        is_enabled true
        // Lock when any open these programs open.
        triggers "nvim|vim"
        // Reaction to input occurs after this many seconds. (default=0.3)
        // (An existing scheduled reaction prevents additional reactions.)
        reaction_seconds "0.3"
        // Print to Zellij log? (default=false)
        print_to_log false
    }

    // OR

    vim_zellij_navigator location="https://github.com/hiasr/vim-zellij-navigator/releases/download/0.3.0/vim-zellij-navigator.wasm"
}

// Plugins to load in the background when a new session starts
load_plugins {
    autolock
}

vim-zellij-navigator plugin

[!NOTE] if you use vim-zellij-navigator you have to set vim_zellij_navigator = true in the configuration.

require("neolij").setup({
  vim_zellij_navigator = true
})

keybinds clear-defaults=true {
    shared_except "locked" {
        bind "Ctrl j" {
            MessagePlugin "vim_zellij_navigator" {
                name "move_focus";
                payload "down";

                move_mod "ctrl";
                use_arrow_keys "false";
            };
        }

        bind "Ctrl k" {
            MessagePlugin "vim_zellij_navigator" {
                name "move_focus";
                payload "up";

                move_mod "ctrl";
                use_arrow_keys "false";
            };
        }

        bind "Ctrl l" {
            MessagePlugin "vim_zellij_navigator" {
                name "move_focus_or_tab";
                payload "right";

                move_mod "ctrl"; // Optional, should be added on every command if you want to use it
                use_arrow_keys "false";
            };
        }

        bind "Alt h" {
            MessagePlugin "vim_zellij_navigator" {
                name "resize";
                payload "left";

                resize_mod "alt"; 
            };
        }

        bind "Alt j" {
            MessagePlugin "vim_zellij_navigator" {
                name "resize";
                payload "down";

                resize_mod "alt";
            };
        }

        bind "Alt k" {
            MessagePlugin "vim_zellij_navigator" {
                name "resize";
                payload "up";

                resize_mod "alt";
            };
        }

        bind "Alt l" {
            MessagePlugin "vim_zellij_navigator" {
                name "resize";
                payload "right";

                resize_mod "alt";
            };
        }
    }
}

plugins {
    vim_zellij_navigator location="https://github.com/hiasr/vim-zellij-navigator/releases/download/0.3.0/vim-zellij-navigator.wasm"
}

Commands

Navigation

Command	Function	Description
:NeolijUp	require("neolij").move("up")	Move up
:NeolijDown	require("neolij").move("down")	Move down
:NeolijLeft	require("neolij").move("left")	Move left
:NeolijRight	require("neolij").move("right")	Move right
:NeolijLeftTab	require("neolij").move_or_tab("left", false)	Move left or switch tab (zellij tabs)
:NeolijRightTab	require("neolij").move_or_tab("right", false)	Move right or switch tab (zellij tabs)
:NeolijLeftSmart	require("neolij").move_or_tab("left", true)	Move left or switch tab (nvim tab or zellij tab)
:NeolijRightSmart	require("neolij").move_or_tab("right", true)	Move right or switch tab (nvim tab or zellij tab)

Tab Managment

Tip

If name is not provided, you will be prompted for input.

Tip

type this in the terminal to see possible arguments

zellij action new-tab --help

Command	Function	Description
:NeolijNewTab [args?]	require("neolij").new_tab(args?)	Create new tab
:NeolijRenameTab [name?]	require("neolij").rename_tab(name?)	Rename current zellij tab
:NeolijMoveTabLeft	require("neolij").move_tab("left")	Move tab left
:NeolijMoveTabRight	require("neolij").move_tab("right")	Move tab right

Pane Managment

Tip

If name is not provided, you will be prompted for input.

Tip

type this in the terminal to see possible arguments

zellij action new-pane --help

Command	Function	Description
:NeolijNewPane [args?]	require("neolij").new_pane(args?)	Create new pane
:NeolijRenamePane [name?]	require("neolij").rename_pane(name?)	Rename current zellij pane
:NeolijMovePaneUp	require("neolij").move_pane("up")	Move pane up
:NeolijMovePaneDown	require("neolij").move_pane("down")	Move pane down
:NeolijMovePaneLeft	require("neolij").move_pane("left")	Move pane left
:NeolijMovePaneRight	require("neolij").move_pane("right")	Move pane right

Custom

You can run any zellij action using:

require("neolij").zellij_action("toggle-fullscreen")

Tip

type this in terminal to see possible actions

zellij action help

Examples

Toggle fullscreen for the current zellij pane

require("neolij").zellij_action("toggle-fullscreen")

Create a pane while asking for direction and name:

vim.keymap.set(
  "n",
  "<leader>zP",
  function()
    local dir = vim.fn.input("Direction (up/down/left/right): ")
    if dir == "" then
      -- default direction 
      dir = "right"
    end

    local name = vim.fn.input("Pane name: ")

    if name == "" then
      -- default name 
      name = "Pane"
    end

    local args = "-d " .. dir
    if name ~= "" then
      args = args .. " -n " .. name
    end

    require("neolij").new_pane({ args = args })
  end,
  { desc = "Neolij: New pane (ask direction & name)" }
)