MRU Buffer Picker

MRU Buffer Picker is a small, dependency-free Neovim plugin for switching to a recent buffer with one or two keystrokes. It opens a centered floating window with the oldest visible buffer at the top and the newest at the bottom. The newest entries receive the highest-priority hints.

With keys = "asdf" and seven visible buffers, hints are allocated in newest-to-oldest priority order as:

a, s, d, fa, fs, fd, ff

Typing a, s, or d selects immediately. Typing f keeps the matching buffers in their original rows, blanks the others, and shows the remaining one-character suffixes. Backspace restores the full list.

Requirements

• Neovim 0.8 or newer
• No runtime dependencies

Installation

Use any Neovim package manager. For example, with lazy.nvim:

{
  "ckw/mru-buffer-picker.nvim",
  opts = {
    keys = "asdfghjkl;",
  },
  keys = {
    { "<leader>b", function() require("mru_buffer_picker").open() end },
  },
}

The plugin starts tracking on load, even if setup() is never called.

Configuration

require("mru_buffer_picker").setup({
  keys = "asdfghjkl;",
})

keys defaults to "asdfghjkl;". It may be a string or an ordered list of unique, one-character printable ASCII keys:

require("mru_buffer_picker").setup({
  keys = { "a", "s", "d", "f" },
})

At least two keys are required. Their configured order is preserved and determines hint priority; uppercase and lowercase keys are distinct.

Usage

Open the picker with either API:

:MruBufferPicker

require("mru_buffer_picker").open()

The current buffer is not shown. A complete hint switches the window from which the picker was opened to the selected buffer. The switch obeys normal Neovim modified-buffer rules and never forces an edit.

• Esc cancels.
• Backspace at the filtered second level returns to the complete list.
• Invalid printable keys, unhandled special/control keys, and mouse input cancel.
• Leaving the picker, losing editor focus, or resizing Neovim cancels.
• Calling open() while a picker is already visible leaves that picker alone.

With A configured keys, the picker can represent at most A² buffers. It also cannot exceed the available editor height. When either limit applies, only the newest buffers that fit are displayed.

Eligible buffers

The picker tracks valid, listed normal and terminal buffers. Named and unnamed buffers are eligible, as are modified buffers. Help, quickfix, prompt, nofile, unlisted, deleted, and picker-internal buffers are excluded.

Buffers that already exist when tracking starts receive a deterministic alphabetical baseline order. After that, entering a buffer makes it the newest entry, and re-entering it moves it to the bottom of the picker.

Highlighting

The first unconsumed hint character uses MruBufferPickerHint, which defaults to bold red on white. Override it after your colorscheme loads:

vim.api.nvim_set_hl(0, "MruBufferPickerHint", {
  fg = "#ff5555",
  bold = true,
})

Tests

Run the policy, state, UI, lifecycle, and headless loading tests with:

make test

The test harness uses only Neovim itself.