zenbufline.nvim

A minimal, performant lua-based buffer line for neovim with mouse support

✨ Features

• 🚀 Excellent Performance: Aggressive caching and debouncing for smooth operation even with 100+ buffers
• 🖱️ Mouse Support: Click to switch buffers, click close button to close buffers
• ⌨️ Buffer Navigation: Commands for next/previous buffer and jump to buffer by index
• 🎨 Clean & Minimal: Simple, distraction-free design
• ⚡ Smart Truncation: Automatically handles many buffers with overflow indicators
• 🎯 Buffer Count Display: Optional buffer count indicator (e.g., "3/10")

Requirements

• Requires neovim version >= 0.10
• vim.opt.showtabline=2 in your init.lua for bufferline
• Have a nerd font installed

Installation

Lazy

{
  "abhilash26/zenbufline.nvim",
  event = { "BufReadPost", "BufNewFile" },
  opts = {}
},

Pckr (Spiritual successor of packer)

{ "abhilash26/zenbufline.nvim",
  config = function()
    require("zenbufline").setup()
  end
};

Configuration

Minimum Configuration

require("zenbufline").setup()

Full Configuration (with defaults)

require("zenbufline").setup({
  line_start = "",
  line_end = "",
  modified = " [+] ",
  hl = "ZenbuflineBuffer",
  left = {
    hl = "ZenbuflineNormal",
    icon = "",
  },
  right = {
    hl = "ZenbuflineNormal",
    icon = "",
  },
  active = {
    hl = "ZenbuflineActive",
    italic = false,
    bold = true,
  },
  inactive = {
    hl = "ZenBuflineInactive",
    italic = true,
    bold = false,
  },

  -- Performance options
  debounce_ms = 15, -- Debounce time for updates (lower = more responsive, higher = better performance)

  -- Mouse support
  show_close_button = true, -- Show clickable close button
  close_icon = "×", -- Icon for close button
  force_close_modified = false, -- Force close modified buffers without warning

  -- Display options
  max_visible_buffers = 0, -- Max buffers to show (0 = no limit)
  show_buffer_count = false, -- Show buffer count on right side
})

Usage

Mouse Controls

• Left Click on buffer name: Switch to that buffer
• Left Click on × button: Close that buffer

Keyboard Commands

The plugin exposes the following functions for buffer navigation:

local zenbufline = require("zenbufline")

-- Navigate to next buffer
zenbufline.next_buffer()

-- Navigate to previous buffer
zenbufline.prev_buffer()

-- Jump to specific buffer by index (1-9)
zenbufline.goto_buffer(3)  -- Jump to 3rd buffer

-- Close current buffer intelligently (switches to next before closing)
zenbufline.close_current_buffer()

Example Keymaps

Add these to your config to enable keyboard navigation:

-- Buffer navigation
vim.keymap.set('n', '<Tab>', function() require('zenbufline').next_buffer() end, { desc = 'Next buffer' })
vim.keymap.set('n', '<S-Tab>', function() require('zenbufline').prev_buffer() end, { desc = 'Previous buffer' })

-- Close current buffer
vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>bc', function() require('zenbufline').close_current_buffer() end, { desc = 'Close buffer' })

-- Jump to specific buffer (1-9)
for i = 1, 9 do
  vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>' .. i, function() require('zenbufline').goto_buffer(i) end, { desc = 'Go to buffer ' .. i })
end

Performance

• Buffer Caching: Maintains efficient buffer list cache, only rebuilding when necessary
• Debouncing: Batches rapid updates to avoid excessive redraws (configurable via debounce_ms)
• Smart Updates: Only updates affected buffers instead of rebuilding entire tabline
• Memory Efficient: ~1KB per buffer with aggressive caching

Performance Targets

• ✅ <0.5ms update time for 10 buffers
• ✅ <2ms update time for 100 buffers
• ✅ Max 60-100 updates/second (debounced)
• ✅ No perceivable lag during normal operations

Customization Tips

Hide Close Button

require("zenbufline").setup({
  show_close_button = false,
})

Limit Visible Buffers

Useful when you have many buffers open:

require("zenbufline").setup({
  max_visible_buffers = 10, -- Shows up to 10 buffers centered on current
})

Show Buffer Count

require("zenbufline").setup({
  show_buffer_count = true, -- Shows "3/10" at the right
})

Adjust Performance/Responsiveness

require("zenbufline").setup({
  debounce_ms = 5,  -- More responsive but slightly higher CPU
  -- or
  debounce_ms = 30, -- Better battery life, still very smooth
})

Philosophy

zenbufline.nvim follows a minimalist philosophy:

• 🎯 Focus on core functionality: Buffer display and navigation
• 🚀 Performance first: Every line of code is optimized
• 🧘 Minimal visual noise: Clean, distraction-free interface
• 🔧 Highly configurable: But sane defaults out of the box

We explicitly do not support:

• ❌ Buffer groups/tabs
• ❌ Per-filetype icons
• ❌ LSP diagnostics integration
• ❌ Git status indicators
• ❌ Complex animations

If you need these features, consider barbar.nvim or bufferline.nvim.

Troubleshooting

Mouse clicks don't work

Make sure you have set mouse=a in your config.

Buffers not showing

Ensure vim.opt.showtabline=2 is set in your init.lua.

Close button not visible

Check that your font supports the × character or change the close_icon option.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please keep the minimalist philosophy in mind:

• Focus on performance improvements
• Keep code simple and maintainable
• Add features only if they benefit 80%+ of users

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details