neovim-help

name	neovim-help
description	Look up Neovim (Nvim) help docs from the LOCAL runtime on disk (no network). Use whenever the task involves Nvim APIs, options, Lua stdlib, vim.pack, autocmds, lsp, lspconfig, filetype, plugin development, or any `:help <topic>` reference. Authoritative for the user's installed Nvim version.

Neovim Help (Local Docs)

Look up Nvim documentation from the local runtime on disk. This matches the user's installed Nvim version and requires no network.

Runtime location

The help files live under $VIMRUNTIME/doc/:

• Typical path: /usr/share/nvim/runtime/doc/
• Resolve dynamically (works on any install/Nix/macOS): print vim.env.VIMRUNTIME via a headless nvim, or fall back to /usr/share/nvim/runtime.

VRT="$(nvim --headless +'lua io.write(vim.env.VIMRUNTIME)' +qa 2>/dev/null)"
VRT="${VRT:-/usr/share/nvim/runtime}"
echo "$VRT/doc"

Key concept: topics ≠ filenames

A :help foo topic maps to a file via tags, not filenames. The tag |vim.pack| lives inside runtime/doc/pack.txt, not vim.pack.txt. Always resolve the topic to its file first, then read the section.

Resolve a topic to a file+line via the tag index:

# Files containing the tag (top hit is usually the definition):
grep -rl '\*vim\.pack\*' "$VRT/doc" | head

# All occurrences with line numbers:
grep -n '\*vim\.pack\*' "$VRT/doc/pack.txt"

Tag convention: topics are wrapped in *asterisks* in the source, e.g. *vim.pack*, *vim.pack.add()*, *'clipboard'*, *autocmd*. Escape dots.

Common doc files

Want	File
:help vim.pack, plugin mgmt	pack.txt
Options (vim.opt, 'foo')	options.txt
Lua stdlib, vim.fn, vim.api	lua.txt, builtin.txt
vim.api.nvim_*	api.txt
Autocmds / events (PackChanged)	autocmd.txt
LSP, vim.lsp, vim.diagnostic	lsp.txt, diagnostic.txt
LSP server config	lspconfig.txt (if present)
Filetypes / vim.filetype	filetype.txt
Diagnostics, highlights	diagnostic.txt, syntax.txt
News / changelog	news.txt
Treesitter	treesitter.txt
Standard built-in plugins	pack.txt (*standard-plugin*)
Quick UI / floating windows	api.txt, vim.fn in builtin.txt

Reading a section

# Open the file around a tag (shows surrounding context):
sed -n "$((LINE-5)),$((LINE+60))p" "$VRT/doc/pack.txt"

Prefer read with offset/limit over sed when possible.

Interactive fallback (queries the real help system)

Use this to confirm a topic exists or get exact rendered output:

nvim --headless \
  +'lua io.write(vim.api.nvim_cmd({cmd="help",args={"vim.pack.add()"}},{output=true}))' \
  +qa

If output is empty, the topic may not exist in this Nvim version, verify with:

nvim --headless +'lua print(vim.fn.exists(":help"))' +qa

Cross-references in docs

Follow |foo| links by grepping the tag in the same doc/ dir. Section headers look like ==...== Title *tag*; grep for the tag to jump.

When NOT to use this skill

• The task is about the user's plugin source code (read the repo instead).
• The user explicitly asks for the latest/master doc, then fetch from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/neovim/neovim/master/runtime/doc/<file>.txt and say so, noting it may differ from the installed version.

Gotchas

• The rendered web URL neovim.io/doc/user/<file>#<tag> 404s for some files; don't rely on it.
• lua-stdlib types are not on the global vim. namespace; see lua.txt.
• Help is plain text, strip nothing special, but |tags| and *tags* are markup, not literal text.