vim-awk — Documentation

>_VIM-AWK — AWK IN VIM AND NEOVIM

Load it with pathogen, get full AWK support in Vim / Neovim. awkrs is a pattern / action engine written in Rust with a POSIX / gawk / mawk-style union CLI. vim-awk registers the awk filetype for *.awk files and awk / awkrs shebangs, highlights with a standalone AWK grammar (POSIX core plus the gawk / mawk extensions awkrs accepts), indents with a brace-aware indenter, wires :make / :AwkRun through the awkrs binary, registers awkrs -L invalid as an ALE linter, and registers awkrs --lsp for vim-lsp and coc.nvim (plus awkrs --dap guidance for nvim-dap).

Install

The awkrs binary must be on $PATH for running, linting and LSP. Then drop the plugin into your runtimepath:

# pathogen
cd ~/.vim/bundle
git clone https://github.com/MenkeTechnologies/vim-awk
# then, inside vim:  :Helptags

# vim-plug (add to ~/.vimrc / init.vim)
Plug 'MenkeTechnologies/vim-awk'

# native packages (Vim 8+ / Neovim)
git clone https://github.com/MenkeTechnologies/vim-awk \
    ~/.vim/pack/plugins/start/vim-awk

Open any .awk file and it lights up — no further configuration. Help: :help vim-awk.

What you get

Filetype detection

Every *.awk file becomes filetype=awk. Extensionless scripts with a #!/usr/bin/env awkrs (or awk / gawk / mawk) shebang are detected too.

Syntax highlighting

A standalone AWK grammar — patterns, control flow, statements, built-in variables, built-in functions, field references, regex literals, strings, and operators — POSIX core plus the gawk / mawk extensions awkrs accepts.

Indentation

A standalone brace-aware indenter — indents after a line that opens a block / paren / bracket, dedents lines that start with a closing delimiter.

Run & lint

:compiler awkrs wires :make to awkrs -L invalid into the quickfix list; :AwkRun executes the buffer via awkrs -f %. ALE runs the same lint inline.

Language server & debugger

Registers awkrs --lsp for vim-lsp (filetype awk) — diagnostics, hover, completion; coc.nvim + nvim-dap (awkrs --dap) snippets in the README. Each is invoked with only its flag (no appended --stdio), and the wiring is guarded so the plugin still loads cleanly if the binary is absent.

Zero config

No settings required. Opt-outs: g:vim_awk_no_ale, g:vim_awk_no_lsp, and g:vim_awk_no_maps to skip an integration or the run mapping.

Token categories

The grammar classifies tokens into the same categories the AWK language defines — POSIX awk plus the gawk / mawk extensions awkrs accepts in its union CLI:

Group	Tokens (sample)
Patterns	`BEGIN` `END` `BEGINFILE` `ENDFILE` · `/regex/` · expression patterns
Control flow	`if` `else` `while` `for` `do` `break` `continue` `next` `nextfile` `exit` `return` `delete` `in`
Statements	`print` `printf` `getline`
Function definition	`function` `func`
Built-in variables	`NR` `NF` `FS` `OFS` `ORS` `RS` `FILENAME` `FNR` `RSTART` `RLENGTH` `SUBSEP` `ARGC` `ARGV` `ENVIRON` `CONVFMT` `OFMT`
String functions	`length` `substr` `index` `split` `sub` `gsub` `match` `sprintf` `tolower` `toupper`
Arithmetic functions	`sin` `cos` `atan2` `exp` `log` `sqrt` `int` `rand` `srand`
I/O functions	`system` `close` `fflush`
Field references	`$0` `$1` `$NF` `$(expr)`

ERE regex literals (/.../), double-quoted strings with escapes, the ~ / !~ match operators, numbers, and the full operator set are handled too. Everything links to standard highlight groups, so every colorscheme covers it without bespoke tuning.

Layout

vim-awk/
├── ftdetect/awk.vim     # *.awk + awk / awkrs shebang -> filetype=awk
├── syntax/awk.vim       # standalone AWK grammar (POSIX + gawk / mawk)
├── scripts/gen_syntax.sh # stamps syntax/awk.vim with the awkrs version
├── ftplugin/awk.vim     # commentstring '# %s', :compiler awkrs, :AwkRun
├── compiler/awkrs.vim   # :make via awkrs -L invalid -> quickfix
├── indent/awk.vim       # standalone brace-aware indenter
├── plugin/awk.vim       # ALE linter + vim-lsp + coc + nvim-dap wiring
└── doc/awk.txt          # :help vim-awk

Standard Vim runtime layout, so pathogen / vim-plug / native packages add it to runtimepath with no special handling. Licensed MIT.

Compatibility

Editor / plugin	Status
Vim 8+	Filetype, syntax, indent, ftplugin, compiler
Neovim	Same runtime files
ALE	`awkrs -L invalid` linter
vim-lsp	`awkrs --lsp` language server
coc.nvim	`languageserver` config in README
nvim-dap	`awkrs --dap` debug adapter config in README