Neovim and TMUX configuration management with symlinks

17.08.2024

If you're using neovim in conjunction with tmux, it's likely that you need a method to manage and maintain your preferred configuration.

Previously, I always kept my neovim configuration separate from my custom tmux configuration. However, I recently decided to simplify this process and came up with the idea of using symbolic links, or symlinks.

Typically, your neovim configuration is located at ~/.config/nvim/..., while the tmux configuration is found at ~/.tmux/... (with the default configuration file at ~/.tmux.conf).

I decided that I wanted to house the tmux configuration file within my neovim directory. To accomplish this, there are two potential solutions:

• overwrite the path to the tmux configuration file
• add a symlink

I chose to proceed with the latter option.

To do this, add and commit your .tmux.conf file in your neovim repository, then simply create a symlink:

cd ~
ln -s ~/.config/nvim/.tmux.conf ~/.tmux.conf

And there you have it - job done!

With such approach, you can easily extend this to other configuration files, such as ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc, and manage them all from a single repository. This method is particularly useful if you use the same configuration across multiple machines.

Daniel