Installation

Table of contents

Prerequisites

System Dependencies

Optional but recommended for full functionality:

  • ripgrep (rg): Required for the @search_text tool
  • curl: Required for the @fetch_web tool
  • git: Required for the @git_diff tool

Install with your package manager:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install ripgrep curl git

# macOS
brew install ripgrep curl git

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S ripgrep curl git

Neovim Plugin Dependencies

  • job.nvim: Required dependency for asynchronous operations
  • picker.nvim: Optional but recommended for enhanced session management

Package Manager Installation

Using lazy.nvim 

{
  'wsdjeg/chat.nvim',
  dependencies = {
    'wsdjeg/job.nvim', -- Required
    'wsdjeg/picker.nvim', -- Optional but recommended
  },
}

Using nvim-plug 

require('plug').add({
  {
    'wsdjeg/chat.nvim',
    depends = {
      'wsdjeg/job.nvim',
      'wsdjeg/picker.nvim',
    },
  },
})

Using packer.nvim 

use({
  'wsdjeg/chat.nvim',
  requires = {
    'wsdjeg/job.nvim',
    'wsdjeg/picker.nvim',
  },
})

Manual Installation

If you’re not using a package manager:

  1. Clone the repositories:

    git clone https://github.com/wsdjeg/chat.nvim ~/.local/share/nvim/site/pack/chat/start/chat.nvim
git clone https://github.com/wsdjeg/job.nvim ~/.local/share/nvim/site/pack/chat/start/job.nvim

  2. Add to your Neovim configuration:

    vim.cmd[[packadd job.nvim]]
vim.cmd[[packadd chat.nvim]]
require('chat').setup({
  -- Your configuration here
})

Post-Installation Setup

1. Configure API Keys

Configure at least one AI provider API key:

require('chat').setup({
  api_key = {
    deepseek = 'sk-xxxxxxxxxxxx',
    github = 'github_pat_xxxxxxxx',
    openai = 'sk-xxxxxxxxxxxx',
  },
})

2. Set File Access Control

Configure which directories tools can access:

require('chat').setup({
  allowed_path = {
    vim.fn.getcwd(), -- Current working directory
    vim.fn.expand('~/.config/nvim'), -- Neovim config
  },
})

3. Enable Memory System (Optional) 

require('chat').setup({
  memory = {
    enable = true,
    long_term = {
      max_memories = 500,
      retrieval_limit = 3,
    },
  },
})

Quick Start

After installation, you can immediately start using chat.nvim:

:Chat          " Open chat window
:Chat new      " Start a new session
:Chat prev     " Switch to previous session
:Chat next     " Switch to next session

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Plugin not loading:

  • Ensure job.nvim is installed and loaded before chat.nvim
  • Check your Neovim version (requires Neovim 0.9+)

API key errors:

  • Verify your API keys are correct
  • Ensure the provider name matches the key in configuration

Tool access errors:

  • Verify allowed_path is set correctly
  • Ensure the path exists and is accessible

For more issues, visit the GitHub Issues page.