Corporate-Safe Vim Configuration

A pure Vim configuration designed for restricted corporate environments.

No plugins. No external tools. No Python / Node / ripgrep / ctags calls.

Just stock Vim features used effectively.

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Features

• Plugin-free
• Self-contained .vimrc
• Works on stock Vim (Linux, macOS, Windows)
• Truecolor support
• Gruvbox fallback to Desert
• Sidebar file explorer
• Project search using vimgrep
• Whitespace visibility (tabs, trailing spaces, nbsp)
• Language-aware indentation (consistent tabstop/shiftwidth/softtabstop per filetype)
• Count-aware j/k motion (works with 5j, 10k, etc.)
• Hidden buffers for easier switching between unsaved files
• Smarter built-in completion and command-line matching
• No swap files
• Auto-reload files changed outside Vim
• Auto-save and restore sessions (terminal buffers excluded)

Supported languages:

• SQL
• CSS
• JavaScript
• Python
• JSON
• Markdown
• PHP
• YAML
• TOML
• INI
• Lua
• C / C++
• Java
• Object Pascal

Screenshot

Example editing experience using this configuration.

Editing Python with:

• relative line numbers
• cursor line highlight
• whitespace markers
• color column at 100
• Gruvbox theme

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Installation

Linux / macOS

~/.vimrc

Windows

%USERPROFILE%\_vimrc

On Windows, Vim also creates its runtime directories under ~/vimfiles/ (backup, undo, sessions) automatically.

Restart Vim after installing.

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Quick Install

Linux / macOS (curl)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ikelaiah/vimrc/main/.vimrc -o ~/.vimrc

Windows (PowerShell)

Invoke-WebRequest https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ikelaiah/vimrc/main/.vimrc -OutFile $HOME\_vimrc

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Theme Behavior

The configuration prefers Gruvbox if available.

colorscheme gruvbox

If Gruvbox is unavailable, Vim falls back to:

colorscheme desert

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Sidebar File Explorer

Open the sidebar file explorer:

Space e

This uses Vim's built-in netrw in sidebar mode (Lexplore).

Features:

• left sidebar
• tree view
• quick file navigation
• no plugins required

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Navigation

Leader key: Space

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Files

Action	Shortcut
Open file	Space f
Sidebar explorer	Space e
Switch last file	Space Space

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Project Search

Action	Shortcut
Search project	Space g
Next result	]q
Previous result	[q

Example:

:vimgrep /TODO/ **/*.py

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Buffers

Action	Shortcut
Next buffer	Space bn
Previous buffer	Space bp
Close buffer	Space bd

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Windows

Action	Shortcut
Move left	Ctrl h
Move down	Ctrl j
Move up	Ctrl k
Move right	Ctrl l
Cycle to next window	Ctrl w w
Split horizontally	Space -
Split vertically	Space \
Equalise all windows	Space =
Close current split	Space c
Keep only current split	Space o

Resize windows:

Space ← → ↑ ↓

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Save / Quit

Action	Shortcut
Save	Space w
Quit (prompts if unsaved)	Space q
Save & quit	Space x
Force quit (discard changes)	Space Q

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Sessions

Sessions save and restore your window layout, open files, and folds. Terminal buffers and missing files are automatically excluded on restore.

Action	Shortcut
Save session	Space ss
Restore session	Space sr
Delete session	Space sd

Auto-save / auto-restore: When Vim is opened with no file arguments, the last session is automatically restored on startup and saved on exit.

Safe restore: The following buffer types are automatically discarded on restore:

• Terminal buffers (term://) — stuck terminals can never block startup
• netrw explorer buffers — avoids broken internal tree state errors
• Quickfix / location list windows
• Scratch buffers (help, man pages, previews)
• Files that no longer exist on disk

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Exiting Vim

The recommended ways to exit, from most to least cautious:

Situation	Command	What it does
Save and quit current window	Space x	Writes only if changed, then quits
Save and quit current window	:x	Same as above (built-in command)
Save and quit	:wq	Always writes, then quits
Quit with prompt if unsaved	Space q	Prompts Save/Discard/Cancel
Quit (no unsaved changes)	:q	Quits if buffer is clean
Force quit, discard changes	Space Q	Discards all changes, no prompt
Force quit	:q!	Discards unsaved changes, then quits
Quit all windows	:qa	Quits all windows (fails if unsaved)
Quit all, discard all changes	:qa!	Force-quits everything
Save all and quit all	:wqa	Saves all buffers, quits all windows

Tip: If you are stuck in insert mode, press Esc first, then use any of the above.

Tip: If you opened a terminal inside Vim (:terminal) and it is unresponsive, close it with :bwipeout! or quit all with :qa!.

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Editing Quality of Life

Clear search highlight:

Space /

Toggle paste mode:

F2

Toggle wrap:

Space z

Toggle whitespace markers:

Space l

Trailing whitespace is visually highlighted but not automatically removed on save.

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Philosophy

This configuration focuses on three principles:

Reliability

Works everywhere Vim runs.

Compliance

Safe for environments that forbid plugins or external tools.

Speed

Navigation should be faster than thinking.

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Why This Exists

Many corporate environments restrict developers from installing:

• Vim plugins
• external binaries
• scripting runtimes

This repository demonstrates that Vim can still provide a productive editing experience using only built-in functionality.

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License

MIT License