pack-ui.nvim

A floating-window UI for Neovim's built-in vim.pack plugin manager (Neovim 0.12+).

One window shows the read-only state of every managed plugin and lets you apply updates pointwise (mark the rows you want, then <CR>) or all at once (U).

📖 Documentation: https://jtprogru.github.io/pack-ui.nvim/

Why

vim.pack ships two update flows: vim.pack.update() opens a review buffer in a separate tabpage, and vim.pack.update(nil, { force = true }) updates everything with no review. This plugin puts both — plus a status overview — behind a single, mark-driven floating window.

Update detection (which plugins have new commits, and the changelog) is computed with plain git, because vim.pack exposes no API for it without opening its tabpage buffer. Detection is display-only and best-effort; the actual apply always goes through vim.pack.update(names, { force = true }), which owns version resolution and the lockfile.

Commands

Command	Behaviour
:PackStatus	Read-only overview, no network. Press r inside to check remotes.
:PackUpdate	Opens the window and checks for updates; you apply what you mark.
:PackUpdateAll	Opens the window, checks, and applies every available update.

Keymaps (inside the window)

Key	Action
<Space> / <Tab>	Toggle the mark on the current row
a	Mark / unmark all
<CR> / u	Update marked rows (or the row under the cursor)
U	Update all rows with available updates
r	Re-check remotes
K	Show changelog / details for the plugin under the cursor
q / <Esc>	Close

A column header row labels every field: a mark box, a status glyph, ●/○ (active in this session or not), the plugin name, the revision, and a trailing version/status column. Rows that have an update are grouped under an ── updates available ── section at the top of the list (with the rest under ── up to date ──) after a check, and each is shown in bold. An updatable row spells the change out as current → latest — a semver tag for version-tracked plugins (e.g. v0.9.0 → v1.0.0), a short sha otherwise — followed by the N new commit count.

Install

Requires Neovim 0.12+ (vim.pack).

With vim.pack itself:

vim.pack.add({ { src = "https://github.com/jtprogru/pack-ui.nvim" } })

Or as a native package (no manager):

git clone https://github.com/jtprogru/pack-ui.nvim \
  ~/.config/nvim/pack/local/start/pack-ui.nvim

The commands register automatically on startup. setup() is optional.

Configuration

require("pack_ui").setup({
  border = "rounded",   -- any nvim_open_win border
  title = " vim.pack ",
  max_width = 100,
  width_ratio = 0.9,
  height_ratio = 0.85,
  auto_check = false,   -- on setup, check remotes and notify if updates exist
  auto_update = false,  -- on setup, apply every available update automatically
  keymaps = {
    prefix = "<leader>p",
    status = "s",        -- <leader>ps -> :PackStatus
    update_all = "U",    -- <leader>pU -> :PackUpdateAll
  },
})

Automatic checks & updates

Both are off by default — nothing touches the network or changes plugins unless you opt in via setup():

• auto_check = true — on startup, fetch remotes in the background and notify you if any plugin has updates. No window opens and nothing is applied; run :PackUpdate when you want to review them.
• auto_update = true — on startup, fetch and apply every available update automatically (a :restart loads the new code). This implies a check, so it supersedes auto_check.

The work is deferred off the startup critical path, and the fetch itself runs asynchronously.

Global keymaps & which-key

Calling setup() registers the global keymaps above (nothing is mapped without it). Each carries a description, so if which-key is installed they show up under a pack-ui group when you press the prefix — and the in-window keys (<Space>, a, <CR>, U, r, K, q) appear in which-key too, since they're documented buffer-local maps.

There is deliberately no global keymap for :PackUpdate: marking rows only makes sense once the window is open, so <leader>p binds only s (status) and U (update all). Use :PackUpdate — or open with <leader>ps and mark rows there.

Set an individual entry to false to skip it, or keymaps = false to register none:

require("pack_ui").setup({
  keymaps = { prefix = "<leader>u", update_all = false },
})

To define your own commands instead of the defaults, set vim.g.loaded_pack_ui = true before startup and call require("pack_ui").status() / .update() / .update_all() yourself.