grep-nvim

A herdr plugin: live-grep your repo with fzf + ripgrep, then open the match in nvim — in a split beside your work. Press the key, type, watch results stream in with a bat preview, hit Enter, and you land in nvim on the exact line. Quit nvim (or press Esc) and the split closes itself.

It never edits your files and runs nothing on its own — it only opens an editor on the file you pick.

Repo: https://github.com/cinco/herdr-grep-nvim · install with herdr plugin install cinco/herdr-grep-nvim · issues & PRs welcome

Requirements

• herdr ≥ 0.7.0 (the plugin system)
• fzf ≥ 0.35 — the picker
• ripgrep (rg) — the search
• nvim (or any editor that accepts +LINE file; see Configuration)
• bat — optional, for a syntax-highlighted preview (falls back to plain text)
• Linux or macOS

Your pane shell can be bash, zsh, or fish — the plugin's scripts run under bash (via their shebang) regardless of your login shell, so nothing here is shell-specific.

Install

herdr plugin install cinco/herdr-grep-nvim

That registers the grep-nvim.open action. Then bind a key in your herdr config (~/.config/herdr/config.toml) so one press summons it:

[[keys.command]]
key = "prefix+alt+f"
type = "shell"
command = "herdr plugin action invoke grep-nvim.open"

Run herdr server reload-config, then press your key. No key bound? Invoke it once with:

herdr plugin action invoke grep-nvim.open

Usage

1. Press the key inside a git repo / project you're working in.
2. A pane splits to the right (at that repo's path) with a grep> prompt.
3. Type — ripgrep searches as you go; the match preview shows on the right.
4. Enter on a result opens it in nvim at that line.
5. Quit nvim (:q) — or press Esc in the picker — and the pane closes.

Configuration

All optional, via environment variables (set them in your shell profile, or per herdr pane):

Variable	Default	Effect
GREP_NVIM_EDITOR	nvim	Editor to open the match. Must accept +LINE -- file (vim/nvim). Word-split like $EDITOR, so it may include args (e.g. nvim -u NONE); a binary path containing spaces needs a wrapper.
GREP_NVIM_RG_FLAGS	(none)	Extra ripgrep flags, e.g. --hidden -g '!.git' or -t py.
GREP_NVIM_DIRECTION	right	Split direction: right or down.

How it works

Pure shell — no compiled binary, no build step:

• herdr-plugin.toml declares one action, open.
• scripts/open.sh reads the focused pane's cwd from HERDR_PLUGIN_CONTEXT_JSON, splits that pane (herdr pane split --cwd <repo> --env GREP_NVIM_SCRIPT=… --focus), then execs the picker in the new pane so quitting the editor closes the pane.
• scripts/fzf-grep-nvim.sh runs fzf --disabled with a change:reload bind that re-runs rg per keystroke. On Enter, fzf prints the selected path:line:col:text line; the script recovers the path and line in the shell (robust to colons in the path) and execs the editor at that line.

Development

herdr plugin link /path/to/herdr-grep-nvim    # use this checkout directly (skips build)
herdr plugin action list --plugin grep-nvim
herdr plugin action invoke grep-nvim.open
herdr plugin log list --plugin grep-nvim      # see stderr from the action

Publishing

This plugin lives at https://github.com/cinco/herdr-grep-nvim and carries the GitHub topic herdr-plugin, so herdr's marketplace (https://herdr.dev/plugins/) indexes it automatically — there is no review queue, and the index refreshes ~every 30 min.

Forking it? To list your own copy: push a public GitHub repo containing herdr-plugin.toml, add the topic herdr-plugin, and install it with herdr plugin install <your-user>/<your-repo>.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.