A minimalist Vim plugin manager.

Pros.

• Easier to setup: Single file. No boilerplate code required.
• Easier to use: Concise, intuitive syntax
• Super-fast parallel installation/update (with any of +python, +python3, +ruby, or Neovim)
• Creates shallow clones to minimize disk space usage and download time
• On-demand loading for faster startup time
• Can review and rollback updates
• Branch/tag support
• Post-update hooks
• Support for externally managed plugins

Usage

Download plug.vim and put it in ~/.vim/autoload

curl -fLo ~/.vim/autoload/plug.vim --create-dirs \
    https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junegunn/vim-plug/master/plug.vim

Edit your .vimrc

call plug#begin('~/.vim/plugged')

" Make sure you use single quotes
Plug 'junegunn/seoul256.vim'
Plug 'junegunn/vim-easy-align'

" On-demand loading
Plug 'scrooloose/nerdtree', { 'on':  'NERDTreeToggle' }
Plug 'tpope/vim-fireplace', { 'for': 'clojure' }

" Using git URL
Plug 'https://github.com/junegunn/vim-github-dashboard.git'

" Plugin options
Plug 'nsf/gocode', { 'tag': 'v.20150303', 'rtp': 'vim' }

" Plugin outside ~/.vim/plugged with post-update hook
Plug 'junegunn/fzf', { 'dir': '~/.fzf', 'do': 'yes \| ./install' }

" Unmanaged plugin (manually installed and updated)
Plug '~/my-prototype-plugin'

call plug#end()

Reload .vimrc and :PlugInstall to install plugins.

Commands

Command	Description
PlugInstall [name ...] [#threads]	Install plugins
PlugUpdate [name ...] [#threads]	Install or update plugins
PlugClean[!]	Remove unused directories (bang version will clean without prompt)
PlugUpgrade	Upgrade vim-plug itself
PlugStatus	Check the status of plugins
PlugDiff	See the updated changes from the previous PlugUpdate
PlugSnapshot [output path]	Generate script for restoring the current snapshot of the plugins

Plug options

Option	Description
branch/tag	Branch or tag of the repository to use
rtp	Subdirectory that contains Vim plugin
dir	Custom directory for the plugin
do	Post-update hook (string or funcref)
on	On-demand loading: Commands or <Plug>-mappings
for	On-demand loading: File types
frozen	Do not update unless explicitly specified

Global options

Flag	Default	Description
g:plug_threads	16	Default number of threads to use
g:plug_timeout	60	Time limit of each task in seconds (Ruby & Python)
g:plug_retries	2	Number of retries in case of timeout (Ruby & Python)
g:plug_shallow	1	Use shallow clone
g:plug_window	vertical topleft new	Command to open plug window
g:plug_url_format	https://git::@github.com/%s.git	printf format to build repo URL

Keybindings

• D - PlugDiff
• S - PlugStatus
• R - Retry failed update or installation tasks
• U - Update plugins in the selected range
• q - Close the window
• :PlugStatus
  • L - Load plugin
• :PlugDiff
  • X - Revert the update

Example: A small sensible Vim configuration

call plug#begin()
Plug 'tpope/vim-sensible'
call plug#end()

On-demand loading of plugins

" NERD tree will be loaded on the first invocation of NERDTreeToggle command
Plug 'scrooloose/nerdtree', { 'on': 'NERDTreeToggle' }

" Multiple commands
Plug 'junegunn/vim-github-dashboard', { 'on': ['GHDashboard', 'GHActivity'] }

" Loaded when clojure file is opened
Plug 'tpope/vim-fireplace', { 'for': 'clojure' }

" Multiple file types
Plug 'kovisoft/paredit', { 'for': ['clojure', 'scheme'] }

" On-demand loading on both conditions
Plug 'junegunn/vader.vim',  { 'on': 'Vader', 'for': 'vader' }

for option is generally not needed as most plugins for specific file types usually don't have too much code in plugin directory. You might want to examine the output of vim --startuptime before applying the option.

Post-update hooks

There are some plugins that require extra steps after installation or update. In that case, use do option to describe the task to be performed.

Plug 'Shougo/vimproc.vim', { 'do': 'make' }
Plug 'Valloric/YouCompleteMe', { 'do': './install.sh' }

If you need more control, you can pass a reference to a Vim function that takes a single argument.

function! BuildYCM(info)
  " info is a dictionary with 3 fields
  " - name:   name of the plugin
  " - status: 'installed', 'updated', or 'unchanged'
  " - force:  set on PlugInstall! or PlugUpdate!
  if a:info.status == 'installed' || a:info.force
    !./install.sh
  endif
endfunction

Plug 'Valloric/YouCompleteMe', { 'do': function('BuildYCM') }

Both forms of post-update hook are executed inside the directory of the plugin and only run when the repository has changed, but you can force it to run unconditionally with the bang-versions of the commands: PlugInstall! and PlugUpdate!.

Make sure to escape BARs and double-quotes when you write do option inline as they are mistakenly recognized as command separator or the start of the trailing comment.

Plug 'junegunn/fzf', { 'do': 'yes \| ./install' }

But you can avoid the escaping if you extract the inline specification using a variable (or any Vimscript expression) as follows:

let g:fzf_install = 'yes | ./install'
Plug 'junegunn/fzf', { 'do': g:fzf_install }

FAQ/Troubleshooting

See FAQ/Troubleshooting.

Articles

• Writing my own Vim plugin manager
• Vim plugins and startup time
• Thoughts on Vim plugin dependency
  • Support for Plugfile has been removed since 0.5.0

License

MIT