carlos-algms Neovim Documentation Files and help docs
CRITICAL: Do NOT run nvim --headless or any other nvim command to read
help documentation. Use direct file access instead.
Exception: regenerating helptags after a vimdoc edit is allowed and required by
AGENTS.md — timeout 5 nvim --headless -c "helptags doc/" -c "quit". That
writes tags, it does not read docs.
Why: Running nvim commands can hang, cause race conditions, or interfere
with development environment.
Neovim Documentation Lookup Strategy:
Always prefer reading local documentation files directly from the Neovim runtime path, because they reflect the exact version installed on the system.
Common path patterns for discovery:
- macOS (Homebrew):
- Runtime docs:
/opt/homebrew/Cellar/neovim/*/share/nvim/runtime/doc/ - Note: We don't need the exact version, just use the wildcard
*to match the installed version
- Runtime docs:
- Linux (Snap):
/snap/nvim/current/usr/bin/nvim- Runtime docs:
/snap/nvim/current/usr/share/nvim/runtime/doc/
- Runtime docs:
If local lookup fails: Use GitHub raw URLs (least preferred)
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/neovim/neovim/refs/tags/v<version>/runtime/doc/<doc-name>.txt
Tip: Do not assume a file contains what you need, use rg, or grep on the
runtime/doc folder to find the file containing needed info.