vim_buffer
Get buffer contents with line numbers
LABSCO SUMMARY
Edits land in the buffer on your screen, inside your undo history.
Because every call goes through a running Neovim over its socket, there is one editor state rather than two: the agent's change appears where you are looking, and vim_status hands back your cursor position, mode, marks and registers so it can start from where you actually are. The decision worth making before you connect it is ALLOW_SHELL_COMMANDS, which is the difference between vim_command running editor commands and vim_command running your shell.
What it is
A client for a running Neovim instance: 19 tools that drive the editor over its socket rather than reading and writing files directly.
What you get
- Buffer work in the live session: contents returned with line numbers, edits applied by insert, replace or replaceAll from a start line, files opened into new buffers, buffers switched by name or number and saved under their own or another filename
- Search at three scopes: vim_search within a buffer with regex, case and whole-word options; vim_search_replace with global, case-insensitive and confirm options; vim_grep across the project into the quickfix list
- Editor state read back rather than assumed — cursor position, mode, marks and registers from one call, and a health check on the connection itself
- Vim's own machinery reachable as tools: named marks, register contents, visual selections, macros recorded and replayed by register and count, folds, and the jump list
- Window and tab layout: splitting, closing and moving between windows, and creating, closing and navigating tabs
- vim_command runs Vim commands, with shell command support behind an environment switch
Requirements
A running Neovim whose socket the server can reach at NVIM_SOCKET_PATH. Shell commands through vim_command stay unavailable until ALLOW_SHELL_COMMANDS is set. MIT-licensed.
Setup effort
One command — npx -y mcp-neovim-server
USE CASES
01
Applying a rename across a project
Find every occurrence into the quickfix list, run the substitution with the case and confirm options you want, and write the buffer. All of it happens in the editor you are watching rather than to files underneath it.
02
Picking up work where your cursor is
Read the editor's state — cursor position, mode, marks, registers — then the buffer with line numbers, and edit from the line that state pointed at. The agent starts from where you actually are instead of from the top of the file.
03
Repeating a fiddly edit across a file
Record the edit once as a macro, then replay it with a count. Registers and visual selections are addressable too, so the recorded sequence can operate on a selection rather than on whatever the cursor happens to be near.
04
Reading a long file without losing your place
Fold the sections that are not in question, drop named marks on the ones that are, and use the jump list to get back to where you came from after following a definition.
05
Getting a second file on screen
Open the other file into a buffer, split the window or put it in a tab, and switch between them by name or number — the same layout you would have set up by hand, done from the conversation.
19 tools
Counted once with only startup setup. Other versions, modes or optional credentials may expose a different list.
vim_buffer_save
Save current buffer or save to specific filename
vim_buffer_switch
Switch between buffers by name or number
vim_command
Execute Vim commands with optional shell command support
vim_edit
Edit buffer content using insert, replace, or replaceAll modes
vim_file_open
Open files into new buffers
vim_fold
Manage code folding: create, open, close, and toggle folds
vim_grep
Project-wide search using vimgrep with quickfix list
vim_health
Check Neovim connection health
vim_jump
Navigate Neovim jump list: go back, forward, or list jumps
vim_macro
Record, stop, and play Neovim macros
vim_mark
Set named marks at specific positions in the buffer
vim_register
Manage Neovim register contents
vim_search
Search within current buffer with regex support and options
vim_search_replace
Find and replace with global, case-insensitive, and confirm options
vim_status
Get comprehensive Neovim status including cursor position, mode, marks, and registers
vim_tab
Manage Neovim tabs: create, close, and navigate between tabs
vim_visual
Create visual mode selections in the buffer
vim_window
Manage Neovim windows: split, close, and navigate between windows
BEFORE YOU INSTALL
What to know first
Tools you get
19 tools when we connected.
Requires
- npx on PATH
- ALLOW_SHELL_COMMANDS in your environment
- NVIM_SOCKET_PATH in your environment
CONTEXT COST
Light Standing cost
Rated by the size of the 19 tool definitions that ride along on every turn, not by how many there are
INSTALLATION
Connect your client
Add the block to your client, or run the command directly.
Server setup
Configuration file
JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"MCP Neovim Server": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"mcp-neovim-server"
],
"env": {
"ALLOW_SHELL_COMMANDS": "true",
"NVIM_SOCKET_PATH": "/tmp/nvim"
}
}
}
}npx
TERMINAL
npx -y mcp-neovim-server
