Vim Pack

Source: https://echasnovski.com/blog/2026-03-13-a-guide-to-vim-pack.html

• vim.pack is the built-in Neovim 0.12 plugin manager. Add plugins with vim.pack.add({ ... }); it installs missing Git repos and loads them immediately.
• Specs use full Git URLs.
  • Table specs use src, optional name, version, and data fields.
  • For semver tags use vim.version.range(...).
• All managed plugins are installed as opt packages in Neovim’s core package directory and are loaded with :packadd by vim.pack.add().
• The lockfile is nvim-pack-lock.json in the config directory. Track it with the config; do not edit it by hand.
• Updates are done with :lua vim.pack.update() (all plugins) or :lua vim.pack.update({ 'plugin-name' }).
  • Useful options include { force = true }, { offline = true }, and { target = 'lockfile' }.
• Delete by first removing plugin loading code from the config, then run :lua vim.pack.del({ 'plugin-name' }). Do not delete managed plugin directories manually.
• Hooks are autocommands for PackChangedPre and PackChanged. Use them for builds or post-update work such as TSUpdate.
• Installation hooks must be defined before the vim.pack.add() that can install the plugin. Defining hooks before the first vim.pack.add() is the robust approach.
• Lazy loading is possible by calling vim.pack.add() later (for example in a vim.schedule() callback or an autocmd), but it is intentionally not front-and-center.
  • The article recommends starting simple, then adding moderate lazy loading only where worthwhile.
• vim.loader.enable() as the first line of init.lua can improve startup for non-lazy-loaded configs.