Configure Yazi to Open Files in Neovim

By default, Yazi opens files in $EDITOR or falls back to vim. To use Neovim (nvim) instead, configure Yazi's opener settings.

Method 1: Set Environment Variable (Recommended)

Add to your shell config (~/.zshrc):

bash
export EDITOR="nvim"
export VISUAL="nvim"

Then reload your shell:

bash
exec zsh

This affects all terminal applications, not just Yazi.

Method 2: Configure Yazi Directly

Create Yazi config directory and opener file:

bash
mkdir -p ~/.config/yazi

Create ~/.config/yazi/yazi.toml:

toml
[opener]
edit = [
  { run = 'nvim "$@"', block = true, for = "unix" },
]

This tells Yazi to use nvim for editing files.

Verify Configuration

1. Open Yazi: yazi
2. Navigate to a text file
3. Press Enter to open
4. Should open in Neovim (not vim)

Alternative: Open with Custom Key

To keep default behavior but add a Neovim shortcut, create ~/.config/yazi/keymap.toml:

toml
<span class="wikilink-broken" title="Page not found: manager.prepend_keymap">manager.prepend_keymap</span>
on = [ "e" ]
run = 'shell "nvim $@" --block --confirm'
desc = "Edit with Neovim"

Now pressing e on any file opens it in Neovim.

Troubleshooting

Yazi still opens vim:

1. Check your $EDITOR variable: echo $EDITOR
2. Verify nvim is in PATH: which nvim
3. Restart terminal/reload shell config

Files open but exit immediately:

• Add block = true to yazi.toml opener config (shown above)
• This tells Yazi to wait for nvim to exit before returning

Related Keybindings

Links

Yazi Configuration Docs

• URL: https://yazi-rs.github.io/docs/configuration/yazi↗
• Summary: Official documentation for yazi.toml configuration options
• Related: Yazi File Manager Navigation, Neovim, Unix

Yazi Keymap Documentation

• URL: https://yazi-rs.github.io/docs/configuration/keymap↗
• Summary: Guide to customizing Yazi keybindings
• Related: Yazi File Manager Navigation