tmux-omnivim

A Vim/Tmux plugin to maintain a single instance of Vim/GVim/Neovim across multiple Tmux panes. Here's how it works:

• If there's no instance of Vim open in any of the panes in the current Tmux window, typing a vim file command opens a new Vim instance in the pane in which the command was typed.
• If there is a Vim instance open in the current window, then typing a vim file command opens those file/s in that running instance.
• If there is a Vim instance running in another window, then typing a vim file command opens a new Vim instance.

Pretty simple, but pretty nifty.

Features

• Compatability with Neovim, Vim, and GVim (see below)
• Separate Vim instances between Tmux windows
• Tmux not currently open? Vim opens as normal!
• Call a separate instance of Vim with the --lit flag

Requirements

• Tmux
• Either of the following:
  • Vim/GVim compiled with the clientserver option
  • Neovim
• Python 2
• A shell environment
  • Bash and Zsh have been tested most extensively

Installation

Installation is pretty straightforward. Clone the repository with

git clone https://github.com/andy-lang/tmux-omnivim.git

and copy the script to your chosen directory.

If you want to use something other than Vim (eg Neovim, GVim), then export the following environment variable:

export OMNIVIM_EDITOR=_your Vim variant here_

OMNIVIM_EDITOR can also hold flags, if you want. For example:

export OMNIVIM_EDITOR=gvim -v

Then just alias the script command to Vim, like so:

alias vim="python /path/to/omnivim.py"

FAQ

What if I don't want omnivim to run on a particular call, but I have it aliased?

Too easy. Just type --lit when you call Vim. Any arguments except this flag will be run as if it was a vanilla Vim session.

For example, let's say you want to run Vundle's +PluginInstall flag. To do this, just call:

vim --lit +PluginInstall

This is particularly useful if you've got Vim aliased to omnivim, but you want to run some command line flags that don't play well with Vim's clientserver stuff, such as +PluginInstall. Alternatively, it's useful if you just want another Vim session open in another pane.

I don't want socket files for neovim stored in /tmp. Can I specify where to put them?

This is particularly useful if you don't want constant writes to /tmp for whatever reason, such as if it's on a slow drive, or you just want something a bit more organised. To do this, just export a corresponding environment variable, as follows:

export NVIM_SOCKET_PATH='~/.nvim-sockets/'

Miscellaneous

Thanks to @deshawnbw for a 'starting point' for the script. The initial shell script relied heavily on his initial work, so thanks heaps!

If you like the script, be sure to star it on GitHub. If you really like it, consider following me on GitHub for potential future projects.