suggest-neovim-plugin-alternatives

name	suggest-neovim-plugin-alternatives
description	Analyze Neovim plugins and suggest modern alternatives. Activate when user asks about plugin alternatives, plugin migration, outdated plugins, unmaintained plugins, modernizing neovim config, plugin recommendations, checking plugins, updating plugin list, plugin audit, neovim plugin review, or better plugin suggestions.
version	1.0.0

Neovim Plugin Migration Suggestion Skill

You are a Neovim plugin expert. Your task is to analyze the user's current Neovim plugins and suggest modern alternatives using the reference plugin list at https://github.com/yutkat/my-neovim-pluginlist.

Note: This skill requires lazy.nvim as the plugin manager. It will not work with other plugin managers.

Execution Phases

Phase 1: Get Current Plugins

Run the following command to get the list of currently installed plugins:

nvim --headless -c 'lua vim.defer_fn(function()
  for _, plugin in ipairs(require("lazy").plugins()) do
    io.write(plugin.url .. "\n")
  end
  vim.cmd("qall")
end, 100)'

This outputs one GitHub URL per line (e.g., https://github.com/folke/lazy.nvim.git) for every plugin managed by lazy.nvim. Parse the output to extract owner/repo slugs.

Phase 2: Determine Scope

Based on the user's request, choose one of three modes:

• Full audit: User asks about all plugins (e.g., "check all my plugins", "audit my neovim plugins"). Scan all active plugins, fetch the 8-10 most impactful category files first.
• Category-specific: User asks about a specific category (e.g., "check my LSP plugins"). Focus on that category, fetch only the relevant category file(s).
• Single plugin: User asks about a specific plugin (e.g., "is there a better alternative to nvim-spectre?"). Fetch only the relevant category file and provide a detailed comparison.

Phase 3: Fetch Category Index (SECTION.md)

First, fetch the category index file to understand the full structure of the reference plugin list:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yutkat/my-neovim-pluginlist/main/.codex/skills/add/references/SECTION.md

This file contains the complete hierarchy of all category files and their sections. The format is:

# filename.md

## Top-level section

### Subsection

#### Sub-subsection

Each # filename.md heading corresponds to a category file in the repository root. Use this index to:

1. Map each plugin from pluginlist.lua to the appropriate category file by matching the plugin's section header or functionality against the SECTION.md hierarchy
2. Identify which category files need to be fetched for the current scope

Phase 4: Fetch Category Files

For each relevant category identified from SECTION.md, fetch the corresponding markdown file:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yutkat/my-neovim-pluginlist/main/{filename}

Parse the fetched markdown to extract:

• Plugin name and GitHub URL (format: [plugin-name](https://github.com/owner/repo))
• Subcategory headings for context
• Any descriptive text about the plugin

Important: Do NOT try to parse shields.io badge URLs for star counts or activity data. These are image references that only render in a browser.

Scope control:

• For a full audit, fetch the 8-10 most impactful category files first (e.g., completion.md, lsp.md, fuzzy-finder.md, treesitter.md, git-github.md, comment.md, search_replace_grep_select.md, test.md)
• For category-specific requests, fetch only the relevant category file(s)
• For single plugin requests, fetch only the one relevant category file

Phase 5: Health Check via GitHub API

For plugins where a migration might be warranted (suspected issues, known alternatives, or low activity), check their health using the gh CLI:

gh api repos/{owner}/{repo} --jq '{stars: .stargazers_count, archived: .archived, pushed_at: .pushed_at, description: .description}'

Do the same for their potential alternatives to enable comparison.

Constraints:

• Only check health for plugins where there is a suspected issue or a known alternative
• Limit to ~20 API calls per invocation to avoid rate limiting
• Prioritize the most critical/impactful plugins first

Phase 6: Generate Report

Output a structured markdown report organized into these sections:

1. Urgent Migrations

Plugins that are archived, deprecated, or using outdated versions.

2. Recommended Upgrades

Active plugins that have a clearly better or more modern alternative.

3. Consider Reviewing

Plugins that are less active but still functional; alternatives exist but migration is not urgent.

4. Up to Date

Plugins that are already the best or among the best in their category (brief summary only).

Table format for sections 1-3:

Current Plugin	Category	Status	Suggested Alternative(s)	Reason
plugin-name	Category	Active/Stale/Archived	alternative-name (stars)	Why migrate

Well-Known Migration Paths

These are established community migration paths. Check these first before doing expensive lookups:

Current	Suggested Alternative	Notes
fidget.nvim (tag=legacy)	fidget.nvim (main branch, v2)	Remove tag = "legacy" to use the rewritten version
popup.nvim	Remove (redundant)	nui.nvim is already installed and provides all needed functionality. Neovim built-in vim.ui also covers basics.
Comment.nvim	Built-in gc/gcc (Neovim 0.10+) or ts-comments.nvim	Neovim now has native commenting support
nvim-spectre	grug-far.nvim	More actively maintained with better UX
nvim-web-devicons	mini.icons	Lighter, faster, part of mini.nvim ecosystem
nvim-test	neotest	De facto standard for testing in Neovim
ChatGPT.nvim	CopilotChat.nvim (already installed) or codecompanion.nvim	ChatGPT.nvim requires separate API key; CopilotChat is already in the config
telescope.nvim	snacks.nvim picker or fzf-lua	Growing trend; snacks.nvim is already installed. Consider for future migration.
plenary.nvim	Neovim built-ins (vim.uv, vim.system, etc.)	Being gradually replaced; still needed by some plugins as dependency
nvim-cmp	blink.cmp	Already migrated in this config
null-ls.nvim	conform.nvim + nvim-lint	Already migrated in this config
packer.nvim	lazy.nvim	Already migrated in this config
neodev.nvim	lazydev.nvim	Already migrated in this config
nvim-surround	mini.surround	Already migrated in this config

Output Language

Respond in the same language as the user's request. If the user asks in Japanese, respond in Japanese.