Looseleaf.nvim

Watch the demo

This is a plugin for efficiently working with persistent scratchpad buffers.

Use cases:

• Write down a quick todo in your todo-list file
• Jot down a couple ideas to reference them later
• ... and any other use case you can come up with

---

Dependencies

• stevearc/oil.nvim

Storage

The scratchpads are stored in a persistent directory and do not get wiped automatically. The scratchpad location is configurable, and you can set it to /tmp if you would like your buffers to be wiped on reboot.

---

Quick start

With lazy.nvim:

{ 'alexkotusenko/looseleaf.nvim' },

Don't forget to run the setup() function

local looseleaf = require("looseleaf")
looseleaf.setup({
    -- custom scratchpad location
	-- dir = "~/.local/share/nvim/looseleaf.nvim/scratchpads/",  
	special = { -- key-value pairs
		ideas = "ideas.txt",
		todo = "todo.txt",
	},
})

---

Features

These are the currently available commands

• :LooseleafFloat <?arg>
  • Opens a scratchpad in a centered floating window
  • (Lightweight option: the floating window can be closed with q by default)
• :LooseleafFull <?arg>
  • Uses the current window to open a scratchpad
• :LooseleafList
  • Lists all the scratchpads in the scratchpad directory
• :LooseleafSpecial
  • Lists the special scratchpads
• :LooseleafSplit <?arg>
  • Creates a horizontal split above the current window(s) taking 20% of the total height
  • Ideal when you want to keep the scratchpad open for a while without it taking up too much space

<?arg> is an optional argument. The possible values are:

• (nothing)
  • generates a new scratchpad in your scratchpad directory and loads it
• pick
  • uses a file picker (oil.nvim for now) to pick files from your scratchpad dir before opening them
• last
  • opens the last opened scratchpad
• :<special_name>
  • opens a special scratchpad called <special_name>

Special scratchpads

Special scratchpads are named scratchpads that can be opened without being explicitly picked. Any special scratchpads have to be configured with the special setting in the setup() function. Example:

special = {
    todo = "./todo.txt",
    rust_buf = "./rust.txt",
    -- add as many as you'd like
}

Note: the path is relative to your scratchpad directory.

Configuration

The plugin is configured with the setup() command. Configuration options:

• dir (string) - path to your scratchpad directory (default: ~/.local/share/nvim/looseleaf.nvim/scratchpads/)
• special (key-value table) - special scratchpad definition (default: {})
  • Note anything but a key-value table will be rejected

Pro tips

• Use symbolic links in your buffer directory to reference other files
  • You can link both directories and files (directories will be opened with your default file picker)