What’s New in Neovim 0.12

Neovim 0.12.0 was released on March 29, 2026. This release adds a built-in plugin manager, expands built-in LSP support, introduces native insert-mode auto-completion, improves the default UI and statusline, adds several useful Lua APIs, and includes a number of breaking changes that may require config updates.

This guide is organized around the changes that matter most in day-to-day use, with practical examples and a short migration checklist at the end.

The most important additions in 0.12 are:

• Built-in plugin management with vim.pack

• Expanded built-in LSP support, including selectionRange, inlineCompletion, linkedEditingRange, documentLink, and viewport-only semantic tokens

• Native insert-mode auto-completion via the new 'autocomplete' option

• A redesigned experimental core UI (ui2)

• New commands such as :restart, :connect, and :uniq

• Useful new Lua APIs such as vim.net.request(), vim.fs.ext(), vim.list.unique(), and vim.list.bisect()

• Built-in plugins such as :Undotree and :DiffTool

• Breaking changes around diagnostics, Treesitter behavior, and renamed APIs

Official source: :help news-0.12.

Neovim 0.12 adds vim.pack, a built-in plugin manager. It is still marked experimental, but the official docs describe it as stable enough for daily use.

vim.pack.add({
  'https://github.com/sainnhe/gruvbox-material',
  'https://github.com/nvim-treesitter/nvim-treesitter',
  {
    src = 'https://github.com/neovim/nvim-lspconfig',
    version = 'v2.0.0',
  },
})

You can also use a table to set the plugin name explicitly:

vim.pack.add({
  {
    src = 'https://github.com/user/generic-name',
    name = 'my-plugin',
  },
})

vim.pack manages plugins in a dedicated directory under your data path:

site/pack/core/opt

It also maintains a lockfile at:

~/.config/nvim/nvim-pack-lock.json

That lockfile should be treated like part of your config and kept under version control.

vim.pack.update()

By default, this opens a confirmation buffer where you can review pending changes.

Useful variants:

vim.pack.update({ 'nvim-treesitter' })
vim.pack.update(nil, { force = true })
vim.pack.update(nil, { offline = true })
vim.pack.update(nil, { target = 'lockfile' })

vim.pack.del({ 'old-plugin' })

• vim.pack uses Git and expects plugin sources to be Git repositories.

• It is not a lazy-loading framework.

• During init.lua sourcing, plugin loading defaults differently than after startup, so read :help vim.pack if you rely on exact loading behavior.

• If a plugin is already on disk, vim.pack.add() does not automatically verify that its current revision matches the declared version; use vim.pack.update() to synchronize.

PackChangedPre and PackChanged can be used for post-install or post-update hooks:

vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd('PackChanged', {
  callback = function(ev)
    if ev.data.spec.name == 'nvim-treesitter' then
      vim.system({ 'make' }, { cwd = ev.data.path })
    end
  end,
})

Neovim 0.12 expands built-in LSP support significantly.

The recommended built-in pattern is:

vim.lsp.config['lua_ls'] = {
  cmd = { 'lua-language-server' },
  filetypes = { 'lua' },
  root_markers = { { '.luarc.json', '.luarc.jsonc' }, '.git' },
}
vim.lsp.enable('lua_ls')

You can check whether it is attached with:

:checkhealth vim.lsp

Neovim now provides these global LSP mappings by default:

• gra → code actions

• gri → implementations

• grn → rename

• grr → references

• grt → type definition

• grx → run codelens

• gO → document symbols

• Ctrl-S in Insert mode → signature help

gx also handles textDocument/documentLink when the server supports it.

0.12 adds or improves support for:

• textDocument/selectionRange

• textDocument/inlineCompletion

• textDocument/linkedEditingRange

• textDocument/documentLink

• textDocument/onTypeFormatting

• textDocument/semanticTokens/range for viewport-only semantic tokens

• workspace/codeLens/refresh

If Treesitter is not active, visual-mode an / in selection falls back to LSP selectionRange.

The docs explicitly note that some features may need to be enabled manually depending on your setup, including:

• code lens

• linked editing

• inlay hints

• inline completion

Neovim 0.12 includes a built-in :lsp command for interactive client management.

Neovim 0.12 adds the new 'autocomplete' option:

vim.o.autocomplete = true

This enables built-in insert-mode auto-completion without a third-party completion UI plugin.

'complete' gained new flags:

• F{func} → complete using a named function

• F → complete using 'completefunc'

• o → complete using 'omnifunc'

It also supports limiting matches per source:

vim.o.complete = ".^5,t^3,w"

Useful popup menu options:

vim.o.pumborder = 'rounded'
vim.o.pummaxwidth = 40
vim.o.completeopt = 'menu,menuone,noselect'

Note that nearest is now a valid completeopt behavior for proximity-based sorting.

Neovim 0.12 introduces ui2, an experimental redesign of the core messages and command-line UI.

Enable it with:

require('vim._core.ui2').enable()

What it changes:

• avoids many “Press ENTER” interruptions

• avoids delays from warnings like W10

• highlights the command line as you type

• exposes the pager as a regular buffer + window

Because it is explicitly marked experimental, it is best treated as something to try, not something to assume is stable in every workflow yet.

:restart

This restarts Neovim and reattaches all UIs.

:connect /tmp/nvim.sock

This dynamically connects the current UI to a server address.

The 'busy' buffer status is shown in the default statusline using the symbol ◐.

The default statusline is more useful in 0.12 and can show:

• diagnostic counts

• progress/status information

• busy state

• terminal exit information

Two notable helpers are:

vim.diagnostic.status()
vim.lsp.status()

If you already maintain a custom statusline, these APIs make it easier to integrate built-in diagnostics and LSP progress.

Neovim now includes a built-in HTTP helper:

local res = vim.net.request('https://api.github.com/repos/neovim/neovim')
print(res.body)

print(vim.fs.ext('init.lua'))       -- lua
print(vim.fs.ext('archive.tar.gz')) -- gz

local deduped = vim.list.unique({ 1, 2, 2, 3, 1 })

local idx = vim.list.bisect({ 10, 20, 30, 40 }, 25)

• vim.hl.range() now allows multiple timed highlights

• vim.tbl_extend() and vim.tbl_deep_extend() can take a function as conflict behavior

• vim.version.intersect() computes version-range intersections

• Iter:take() and Iter:skip() can accept predicates

• Iter:peek() works for all iterator types

• Iter:unique() deduplicates iterator output

:packadd nvim.undotree
:Undotree

This adds a built-in visual undo-tree navigator.

:packadd nvim.difftool
:DiffTool path/to/dir1 path/to/dir2

This compares directories and files.

:packadd nvim.tohtml
:TOhtml

tohtml is no longer loaded by default.

Treesitter-based Markdown highlighting is enabled by default.

Neovim 0.12 adds built-in node-based selection:

• v then an → select outward

• v then in → select inward

• v then ]n → next sibling

• v then [n → previous sibling

This is especially useful if you want structural selection without relying on extra plugins.

vim.treesitter.get_parser() no longer throws on failure. It now returns nil when it cannot create a parser.

Old assumption:

local parser = vim.treesitter.get_parser(bufnr)

Safer 0.12 pattern:

local parser = vim.treesitter.get_parser(bufnr)
if parser then
  -- use parser
end

Diagnostic signs can no longer be configured with :sign-define or sign_define().

You must configure them through vim.diagnostic.config().

Example:

local sev = vim.diagnostic.severity
vim.diagnostic.config({
  severity_sort = true,
  signs = {
    text = {
      [sev.ERROR] = 'E',
      [sev.WARN]  = 'W',
      [sev.INFO]  = 'I',
      [sev.HINT]  = 'H',
    },
  },
})

• vim.diagnostic.disable() and vim.diagnostic.is_disabled() were removed

• the legacy signature of vim.diagnostic.enable() is no longer supported

• vim.diagnostic.status() is useful for statuslines

• :restart → restart Neovim and reattach UIs

• :connect {addr} → connect current UI to a server

• :iput → like :put, but adjusts indent

• :retab -indentonly → retab only leading whitespace

• :uniq → deduplicate lines in the current buffer

• :wall ++p → write all buffers and create missing parent directories

• :help! → help lookup with smarter guessing

When a selected range contains a Lua code block, Neovim can detect and execute it as Lua.

'wildchar' now enables completion in search contexts such as /, ?, :g, :v, and :vimgrep.

Some defaults changed in 0.12:

• 'shelltemp' now defaults to false

• 'diffopt' now includes improved defaults such as indent-heuristic and inline:char

• 'shada' excludes /tmp/ and /private/ paths by default

• terminal 'scrollback' maximum increased to 1,000,000

Ctrl-R in Insert mode now inserts register contents literally by default.

If you relied on the older behavior that interpreted special characters, you may need to adjust your workflow.

Neovim 0.12 improves terminal behavior in several ways:

• support for synchronized output (DEC private mode 2026)

• support for clearing terminal scrollback via CSI 3 J

• nvim_open_term() can now be called on a non-empty buffer

• suspended PTY processes are shown as [Process suspended] and can be resumed by keypress

Examples include:

• DiffTextAdd

• OkMsg

• StderrMsg

• StdoutMsg

• SnippetTabstopActive

• PmenuBorder

• PmenuShadow

Examples include:

• CmdlineLeavePre

• MarkSet

• SessionLoadPre

• TabClosedPre

• PackChangedPre

• PackChanged

These are the items most likely to affect existing configs or plugins.

• vim.diff → vim.text.diff

• semantic tokens start()/stop() usage moved to enable()

• remove any :sign-define-based diagnostic sign setup

• move diagnostic sign configuration to vim.diagnostic.config()

• stop using removed functions like vim.diagnostic.disable()

• update code that assumes vim.treesitter.get_parser() throws on failure

• tohtml is now opt-in

• old shellmenu plugin is removed

• Python 3.7 and 3.8 support were dropped

• 'shelltemp' changed to false

• Insert-mode Ctrl-R now inserts register contents literally

~/.config/nvim/
├── init.lua
├── nvim-pack-lock.json
└── lua/
    └── config/
        ├── init.lua
        ├── options.lua
        ├── keymaps.lua
        ├── diagnostics.lua
        ├── autocmds.lua
        └── pack.lua

require('config')

require('config.options')
require('config.pack')
require('config.keymaps')
require('config.diagnostics')
require('config.autocmds')

vim.o.autocomplete = true
vim.o.pumborder = 'rounded'
vim.o.pummaxwidth = 40
vim.o.completeopt = 'menu,menuone,noselect,nearest'

local sev = vim.diagnostic.severity
vim.diagnostic.config({
  severity_sort = true,
  update_in_insert = false,
  float = {
    border = 'rounded',
    source = true,
  },
  signs = {
    text = {
      [sev.ERROR] = 'E',
      [sev.WARN]  = 'W',
      [sev.INFO]  = 'I',
      [sev.HINT]  = 'H',
    },
  },
})

vim.pack.add({
  'https://github.com/sainnhe/gruvbox-material',
  'https://github.com/nvim-treesitter/nvim-treesitter',
})

After upgrading to 0.12, you may be able to simplify your setup by removing or rethinking:

• custom diagnostic-sign definitions based on :sign-define

• manual statusline diagnostic counters

• ad-hoc HTTP wrappers for simple requests

• third-party undotree plugins if the built-in one is enough

• plugin-manager bootstrap code if you switch to vim.pack

Whether you should remove nvim-lspconfig or a third-party completion plugin depends on how much custom behavior you want. Neovim 0.12 reduces the need for them, but it does not automatically make them obsolete for every workflow.

Neovim 0.12 is a substantial release, but the most important story is not just new features. It is that more of the editor is now usable without a large stack of plugins.

The biggest practical wins are:

1. vim.pack for built-in plugin management

2. stronger built-in LSP support

3. native insert-mode auto-completion

4. cleaner diagnostics configuration

5. useful built-in UI and Lua improvements

If you upgrade, the first places to review are your plugin manager, diagnostic sign config, Treesitter parser assumptions, and any code that still uses renamed APIs.

• :help news-0.12

• :help vim.pack

• :help lsp

• :help diagnostic-signs

• :help ui2

• :help deprecated-0.12