I have been using Vim's statusline to permanently display buffer list. While working with many buffers it helps to know which other buffers are open, and if there is an alternate buffer (:b#) to quickly switch to. This plugin does not set the statusline (:h 'statusline'), but instead provides a buffer list suitable for displaying in statusline. This way you can configure the statusline to your liking. It is fully configurable with highlighting options to distinguish active and alternate buffers. Since so much space is wasted on statusline why not put it to good use?

Implemented in both Vim9script and Lua, and compatible with both Vim and Neovim.

• Vim >= 9.0
• Neovim >= 0.8

Vim users can install using vim-plug

vim9script
plug#begin()
Plug 'girishji/bufline.vim'
plug#end()

Or use Vim's builtin package manager.

Nvim users could use Lazy

require("lazy").setup({
  { "girishji/bufline.vim", opts = {} },
})

Global function g:BuflineGetstr() returns the string containing buffer names and appropriate overflow indicators with highlighting. You have to include this in Vim's statusline variable. It takes optional maxwidth argument which specifies the length of returned string. If buffer list exceeds maxwidth then overflow is indicated by < on the left and/or > on the right.

Here is an example how you might use this. Configuration is in vim9script but you could easily convert this into legacy script.

vim9script
def! g:MyActiveStatusline(): string
    var width = winwidth(0) - 50
    return $'{g:BuflineGetstr(width)} %=%y %P (%l:%c) %*'
enddef

augroup MyStatusLine | autocmd!
    autocmd WinEnter,BufEnter,BufAdd * setl statusline=%{%g:MyActiveStatusline()%}
    autocmd WinLeave,BufLeave * setl statusline=\ %F\
augroup END

Function bufferstr() returns the string containing buffer names. Other details are similar to Vim.

Here is an example.

Statusline = {}
Statusline.active = function()
  return table.concat { require('bufline').bufferstr(), "%=%y %P %l:%c %*" }
end
Statusline.inactive = function()
  return " %F"
end

local aucmd_group = vim.api.nvim_create_augroup('StatuslineAutocmds', { clear = true })
vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd({ "WinEnter", "BufEnter", "BufAdd" }, {
  group = aucmd_group,
  pattern = "*",
  callback = function()
    vim.wo.statusline = "%!v:lua.Statusline.active()"
  end,
})
vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd({ "WinLeave", "BufLeave" }, {
  group = aucmd_group,
  pattern = "*",
  callback = function()
    vim.wo.statusline = "%!v:lua.Statusline.inactive()"
  end,
})

Following options are available.

var options: dict<any> = {
    showbufnr: false, # display buffer number next to name
    emphasize: '[#',  # [, %, #, or empty
    highlight: false, # Use highlight groups if 'true'
}

Emphasis characters have following meaning:

• [: Include parenthesis around active buffer name, ex., buf1 [active buf] buf2
• %: Include a percent sign next to active buffer
• #: Include a pound sign next to alternate buffer

These characters can be combined. Default is [#. Empty string removes all emphasis characters. You can still distinguish active buffer using highlight groups.

Modified buffers are always shown with a [+] sign.

g:BuflineSetup() is used to set options. It takes a dictionary.

def! g:MyStatuslineSetup(isclear: bool)
    highlight user4 ctermfg=134 cterm=none
    g:BuflineSetup({ highlight: true })
enddef

autocmd VimEnter * g:MyStatuslineSetup(v:true)

Same as above except setup() function is used.

require("bufline").setup({
  opts = {
    showbufnr = false, -- displays buffer number next to buffer name
    emphasize = '[#',  -- [, %, #, or empty
    highlight = false, -- Use highlight groups if 'true'
  },
})

Following highlight groups are available to set colors and style of text. If you are using a colorscheme, set these highlights after you activate the colorscheme.

• User1: Active buffer
• User2: Alternate buffer
• User3: Other buffers
• User4: Emphasis characters if specified (see Options)