norcalli/nvim-colorizer.lua
Nvim Colorizer.lua
Nvim-colorizer.lua is a Neovim plugin that provides real-time syntax highlighting for color definitions directly within the text editor. It renders color codes, such as hex and RGB values, as visual backgrounds or text colors, allowing developers to preview design tokens and style definitions without leaving their source files.
The plugin distinguishes itself through a performance-oriented architecture that offloads text scanning to background processes, ensuring the editor interface remains responsive. It utilizes the editor's internal decoration system to overlay highlights without modifying the underlying source code, and it maintains a stateful registry to manage active highlights across different buffers.
Users can configure the plugin to target specific file types and color patterns, providing control over which documents receive visual styling. The tool includes functionality to toggle highlighting on or off for individual files and supports manual attachment for scenarios where automatic detection is not required.
The project is written in Lua and integrates with the editor's lifecycle events to automatically trigger scanning when files are opened or modified.
Features
- Neovim Plugins - Renders color codes like hex and RGB values as visual backgrounds directly within the code buffer.
- Color Code Visualizers - Renders hex and RGB color codes as visual backgrounds directly within the editor to help visualize design choices.
- Editor Appearance Customizations - Tailors the visual appearance of text editors to provide real-time feedback on color values for improved readability.
- Regex-Based Colorizers - Scans document text using optimized regular expressions to identify color codes like hex values and names in real time.
- Syntax Highlighters - Provides a utility for developers that visualizes design tokens and color values to improve readability during front-end development.
- Background Processing - Offloads heavy text scanning tasks to background threads to maintain editor responsiveness during large file edits.
- Extmark-Based - Uses the editor's internal decoration system to overlay color highlights without modifying the underlying source code.
- Color Palettes - Visualizes CSS color codes directly within source files to verify design choices and color palettes without switching to a browser.
- Editor Event Hooks - Hooks into editor lifecycle events to automatically trigger color scanning whenever a file is opened or modified.
