Standard Paths and Environment Variables

understood as "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME or ~/.config". CONFIG DIRECTORY (DEFAULT) ~ *$XDG_CONFIG_HOME* Nvim: stdpath("config") Unix: ~/.config ~/.config/nvim Windows: ~/AppData/Local ~/AppData/Local/nvim DATA DIRECTORY (DEFAULT) ~ *$XDG_DATA_HOME* Nvim: stdpath("data") Unix: ~/.local/share ~/.local/share/nvim Windows: ~/AppData/Local ~/AppData/Local/nvim-data RUN DIRECTORY (DEFAULT) ~ *$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR* Nvim: stdpath("run") Unix: /tmp/nvim.user/xxx /tmp/nvim.user/xxx Windows: $TMP/nvim.user/xxx $TMP/nvim.user/xxx STATE DIRECTORY (DEFAULT) ~ *$XDG_STATE_HOME* Nvim: stdpath("state") Unix: ~/.local/state ~/.local/state/nvim Windows: ~/AppData/Local ~/AppData/Local/nvim-data CACHE DIRECTORY (DEFAULT) ~ *$XDG_CACHE_HOME* Nvim: stdpath("cache") Unix: ~/.cache ~/.cache/nvim Windows: ~/AppData/Local/Temp ~/AppData/Local/Temp/nvim-data LOG FILE (DEFAULT) ~ `$NVIM_LOG_FILE` Nvim: stdpath("log")/log Unix: ~/.local/state/nvim ~/.local/state/nvim/log Windows: ~/AppData/Local/nvim-data ~/AppData/Local/nvim-data/log Note that stdpath("log") is currently an alias for stdpath("state"). ADDITIONAL CONFIGS DIRECTORY (DEFAULT) ~ *$XDG_CONFIG_DIRS* Nvim: stdpath("config_dirs") Unix: /etc/xdg/ /etc/xdg/nvim Windows: Not applicable Not applicable ADDITIONAL DATA DIRECTORY (DEFAULT) ~ *$XDG_DATA_DIRS* Nvim: stdpath("data_dirs") Unix: /usr/local/share /usr/local/share/nvim /usr/share /usr/share/nvim Windows: Not applicable Not applicable NVIM_APPNAME *$NVIM_APPNAME* The standard directories can be further configured by the `$NVIM_APPNAME` environment variable. This variable controls the sub-directory that Nvim will read from (and auto-create) in each of the base directories. For example, setting `$NVIM_APPNAME` to "foo" before starting will cause Nvim to look for configuration files in `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/foo` instead of `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/nvim`. `$NVIM_APPNAME` must be a name, such as "foo", or a relative path, such as "foo/bar". Note: In the help wherever `$XDG_CONFIG_…/nvim` is mentioned it is understood as `$XDG_CONFIG_…/$NVIM_APPNAME`. *state-isolation* One use-case for $NVIM_APPNAME is to "isolate" Nvim applications. Alternatively, for true isolation, on Linux you can use cgroups namespaces: > systemd-run --user -qt -p PrivateUsers=yes -p BindPaths=/home/user/profile_xy:/home/user/.config/nvim nvim < *stateless* To run Nvim without creating any directories or data files: > NVIM_LOG_FILE=/dev/null nvim -n -i NONE LOG FILE *log* *$NVIM_LOG_FILE* *E5430* Besides 'debug' and 'verbose', Nvim keeps a general log file for internal debugging, plugins and RPC clients. > :echo $NVIM_LOG_FILE By default, the file is located at stdpath("log")/log ($XDG_STATE_HOME/nvim/log) unless that path is inaccessible or if $NVIM_LOG_FILE was set before |startup|. vim:noet:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl:

This section provides a detailed breakdown of Nvim's standard directories for configuration, data, run, state, cache, and logs on both Unix and Windows systems. It explains how these directories are determined by the XDG environment variables and provides default paths. The section also covers how the `$NVIM_APPNAME` environment variable can be used to further configure these directories and isolate Nvim applications. Lastly, it discusses how to run Nvim without creating any directories or data files and details the use of the log file for debugging.