tiny-packupdate.nvim

A tiny, opinionated plugin updater for Neovim 0.12+'s native vim.pack.

Smooth animated progress bar. Commit-level changelogs. snacks.nvim picker integration with floating markdown fallback. ~250 lines of Lua.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/TODO-SCREENCAST

Features

• Centered floating progress bar with smooth 60fps animation
• Post-update results showing only plugins that changed
• Commit log preview per plugin (with rollback detection)
• snacks.nvim picker with git-highlighted preview pane
• Floating markdown window fallback when snacks is unavailable
• Auto-update cadence: manual, daily, weekly, or monthly
• Single command, single file, zero dependencies

Requirements

• Neovim >= 0.12 (for vim.pack API)
• Optional: snacks.nvim for picker UI

Installation

Add to your vim.pack.add() call:

"https://git.swaits.com/swaits/tiny-packupdate.nvim",

Then in your config:

require("tiny-packupdate").setup()

Configuration

All options shown with defaults:

require("tiny-packupdate").setup({
  command = "PackUpdate", -- user command name
  auto = "manual",        -- "manual" | "daily" | "weekly" | "monthly"
  picker = true,          -- use snacks.picker when available (false = always use fallback)
})

Usage

:PackUpdate

The progress bar appears while vim.pack.update() runs. When complete:

• With snacks.nvim: an ivy-layout picker opens. Plugin names on the left, commit log on the right. Fuzzy-searchable.
• Without snacks.nvim: a floating markdown window shows all changes. Press q or <Esc> to close.
• No changes: a simple notification — "All plugins up to date".

Auto-update

Set auto to "daily", "weekly", or "monthly" and updates run automatically on startup when the interval has elapsed. The last update timestamp is stored at vim.fn.stdpath("data") .. "/tiny-packupdate-last".

Highlights

Group	Default	Description
TinyPackProgress	links to DiagnosticOk	Filled portion of the progress bar

Override in your colorscheme or after setup:

vim.api.nvim_set_hl(0, "TinyPackProgress", { fg = "#a6e3a1" })

How it works

1. Snapshots all active plugin revisions via vim.pack.get()
2. Calls vim.pack.update() with force = true
3. Listens for PackChanged autocmd events to count updates
4. Uses a 2-second debounce timer to detect completion
5. Compares post-update revisions against the snapshot
6. Runs async git log for each changed plugin
7. Displays results in your preferred UI

Rollback detection

When a plugin moves backward in history (e.g. downgrading a pinned version), the commit log is labeled (rolled back past) and shows the commits that were reverted.

Caveats

• Only updates plugins already loaded via vim.pack.add(). If you just added a new plugin to your config but haven't restarted, it won't be included.
• The progress bar is time-based (smooth asymptotic fill). Neovim's vim.pack API fires PackChanged events only for plugins that actually change, so a traditional done/total bar isn't possible.
• The debounce timeout (2 seconds) means there's a brief pause after the last plugin updates before results appear.

License

MIT