Minimal & Powerful: The Perfect NeoVim Setup for 2026
Welcome to this Neovim 0.12 from scratch configuration guide - fully updated for 2026. We are going to build a tastefully minimal but modern and powerful config using the new built-in package manager (vim.pack).
We will create a clean, powerful Neovim setup with Treesitter, LSP, linting, formatting, and completion, and all within a strict 10-plugin limit.
Join me and create a fully up-to-date 2026 NeoVim config for the refined gentleman! Let's go!
Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction & Why 2026 is the perfect time to learn NeoVim
01:20 - Installing NeoVim (Nightly 0.12)
04:53 - Setting the Colorscheme
05:52 - NeoVim Options
15:02 - Creating our own statusline
18:11 - Defining our keymaps
23:25 - Autocommands
26:13 - introducing vim.pack: the builtin package manager for NeoVim 0.12
28:41 - nvim-tree file explorer
31:13 - mini.nvim
33:43 - git integration
35:38 - migrating to the latest Treesitter API
38:58 - LSP: lspconfig & mason.nvim
45:35 - linting & formatting with efm-langserver
52:29 - formatting on save with autocommands
53:12 - completion capabilities with blink.cmp & luasnip
57:22 - setting up a floating terminal
58:41 - theme transparency
59:35 - wrap up and other plugins to consider
Links:
Source code: https://github.com/radleylewis/nvim-lite
NeoVim 0.12: https://neovim.io/roadmap
nvim-tree: https://github.com/nvim-tree/nvim-tre...
mini.nvim: https://github.com/nvim-mini/mini.nvim
mason.nvim: https://github.com/mason-org/mason.nvim
blink.cmp: https://github.com/saghen/blink.cmp
nvim-lspconfig: https://github.com/neovim/nvim-lspconfig
gitsigns.nvim: https://www.github.com/lewis6991/gits...
fzf-lua: https://www.github.com/ibhagwan/fzf-lua
nvim-treesitter: https://github.com/nvim-treesitter/nv...
efmls-configs-nvim: https://github.com/creativenull/efmls...
luasnip: https://github.com/L3MON4D3/LuaSnip
Honorable mentions:
lspsaga.nvim: https://github.com/nvimdev/lspsaga.nvim
windsurf/codeium: https://windsurf.com
zen-mode: https://github.com/folke/zen-mode.nvim
nvim-dap-ui: https://github.com/rcarriga/nvim-dap-ui
which-key: https://github.com/folke/which-key.nvim
vim-fugitive: https://github.com/tpope/vim-fugitive
My GitHub: https://www.github.com/radleylewis
My Blog: https://www.radleylewis.com
Languages covered:
golang: gopls, gofmt, go_revive
python: pyright, black, flake8
typescript/javascript: ts_ls, prettier, eslint
bash: bashls, shellcheck, shfmt
lua: lua-language-server, stylua, luacheck
json: fixjson
c/c++: clangd, cpplint, clangfmt
Thank you to all of the developers and maintainers of NeoVim and its ecosystem!
#neovim #neovim012 #neovimsetup #neovimootb