Zonvie is a Fast, feature-rich Neovim GUI built with Zig, native on macOS and Windows.
- Native Performance: Zig core with Metal (macOS) and D3D11 (Windows) rendering
- Zero-allocation Hot Paths: Optimized for minimal latency during redraw/flush
- Full Neovim UI API Compliance: Supports ext_cmdline, ext_popupmenu, ext_messages, ext_tabline
- Remote Development:
- SSH connection to remote hosts
- Devcontainer support for containerized development environments
- Customizable: TOML configuration file
| # |
Step |
Status |
| 1 |
Standard Neovim GUI functionality |
✅ |
| 2 |
Multigrid Events compliance and rich window integration |
⚠️ |
| 3 |
Basic customization (fonts, colors, blur, etc.) |
✅ |
| 4 |
Cross-platform (macOS, Windows, Linux) |
⚠️ |
| 5 |
Remote connection (SSH, server mode, devcontainer) |
⚠️ |
| 6 |
Fancy features (cursor animation, neon/glow effects, etc.) |
❌ |
- macOS: AppKit + Swift + Metal
- Windows: Win32 + D3D11/DXGI + DirectWrite
Build from source (requires Xcode):
xcodebuild -project macos/zonvie.xcodeproj -scheme zonvie -configuration Release build
Build from source (requires Zig 0.15.x):
zig build windows -Dtarget=x86_64-windows-gnu -Doptimize=ReleaseFast
zonvie [OPTIONS] [--] [NVIM_ARGS...]
| Option |
Description |
--nofork |
Don't fork; stay attached to terminal, keep cwd |
--log <path> |
Write application logs to specified file path |
--extcmdline |
Enable external command line UI |
--extpopup |
Enable external popup menu UI |
--extmessages |
Enable external messages UI |
--exttabline |
Enable external tabline UI (Chrome-style tabs) |
--ssh=<user@host[:port]> |
Connect to remote host via SSH |
--ssh-identity=<path> |
Path to SSH private key file |
--devcontainer=<workspace> |
Run inside a devcontainer |
--devcontainer-config=<path> |
Path to devcontainer.json |
--devcontainer-rebuild |
Rebuild devcontainer before starting |
-- |
Pass all remaining arguments to nvim |
--help, -h |
Show help message |
# Open a file
zonvie file.txt
# Use custom nvim config
zonvie -- -u ~/.config/nvim/minimal.lua
# Connect to remote host via SSH
zonvie --ssh=user@example.com
# Run in devcontainer
zonvie --devcontainer=/path/to/project
Configuration file location:
~/.config/zonvie/config.toml- Or
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/zonvie/config.toml
[neovim]
path = "nvim"
wsl = false
wsl_distro = "Ubuntu"
ssh = false
ssh_host = "user@example.com"
ssh_port = 22
ssh_identity = "~/.ssh/id_rsa"
[font]
family = "JetBrains Mono"
size = 14
linespace = 2
[window]
blur = true
opacity = 0.85
blur_radius = 20
[scrollbar]
enabled = true
show_mode = "scroll" # "always", "hover", "scroll", or combinations like "hover,scroll"
opacity = 0.7
delay = 1.0
[cmdline]
external = true
[popup]
external = true
[messages]
external = true
msg_pos = { ext-float = "window", mini = "grid" } # display, window, or grid
# Message routing rules (processed in order, first match wins)
[[messages.routes]]
event = "msg_show"
kind = ["emsg", "echoerr", "lua_error", "rpc_error"]
view = "ext-float"
timeout = 0 # 0 = no auto-hide
[[messages.routes]]
event = "msg_show"
kind = ["wmsg"]
view = "ext-float"
timeout = 4.0
[[messages.routes]]
event = "msg_show"
kind = ["search_count"]
view = "mini"
timeout = 2.0
[[messages.routes]]
event = "msg_show"
view = "ext-float" # fallback for other msg_show
[[messages.routes]]
event = "msg_showmode"
view = "mini"
[[messages.routes]]
event = "msg_showcmd"
view = "mini"
[[messages.routes]]
event = "msg_ruler"
view = "mini"
[[messages.routes]]
event = "msg_history_show"
view = "split"
[tabline]
external = true
[log]
enabled = false
path = "/tmp/zonvie.log"
[performance]
glyph_cache_ascii_size = 512
glyph_cache_non_ascii_size = 256
hl_cache_size = 512
[ime]
disable_on_activate = false
disable_on_modechange = false
| Key |
Description |
path |
Path to Neovim executable |
wsl |
Enable WSL mode on Windows (true/false) |
wsl_distro |
WSL distribution name |
ssh |
Enable SSH mode (true/false) |
ssh_host |
SSH host (user@host format) |
ssh_port |
SSH port number |
ssh_identity |
Path to SSH private key |
| Key |
Description |
family |
Font family name |
size |
Font size in points |
linespace |
Extra line spacing in pixels |
| Key |
Description |
blur |
Enable blur effect (true/false) |
opacity |
Background opacity (0.0-1.0, when blur=true) |
blur_radius |
Blur radius (1-100, when blur=true) |
| Key |
Description |
enabled |
Show scrollbar (true/false) |
show_mode |
When to show: "always", "hover", "scroll", or combinations like "hover,scroll" |
opacity |
Scrollbar opacity (0.0-1.0) |
delay |
Delay in seconds before hiding (0.1-10.0, for "scroll" mode) |
| Key |
Description |
external |
Use external command line UI (true/false) |
[popup]
| Key |
Description |
external |
Use external popup menu UI (true/false) |
| Key |
Description |
external |
Use external messages UI (true/false) |
msg_pos |
Position anchor for message views: { ext-float = "...", mini = "..." }. Values: "display", "window", "grid" |
Message routing rules are processed in order; first match wins.
| Key |
Description |
event |
Event type: "msg_show", "msg_showmode", "msg_showcmd", "msg_ruler", "msg_history_show" |
kind |
Array of message kinds to match (optional, omit to match all). Kinds: "emsg", "echoerr", "lua_error", "rpc_error", "wmsg", "search_count", "confirm", "confirm_sub", "return_prompt", etc. |
view |
View type: "mini", "ext-float", "confirm", "split", "none", "notification" |
timeout |
Auto-hide timeout in seconds (optional, 0 = no auto-hide) |
min_height |
Minimum line count to match (optional) |
max_height |
Maximum line count to match (optional) |
auto_dismiss |
Auto-dismiss return_prompt by sending <CR> (optional, default depends on view) |
| Key |
Description |
external |
Use external tabline UI (true/false) |
| Key |
Description |
enabled |
Enable logging (true/false) |
path |
Log file path |
| Key |
Description |
glyph_cache_ascii_size |
Cache size for ASCII glyphs (min: 128, default: 512) |
glyph_cache_non_ascii_size |
Cache size for non-ASCII glyphs (min: 64, default: 256) |
hl_cache_size |
Highlight attribute cache size for vertex generation (range: 64-2048, default: 512) |
| Key |
Description |
disable_on_activate |
Disable IME when app becomes active (true/false) |
disable_on_modechange |
Disable IME on Vim mode change (true/false) |
MIT License
