By the end of this guide, Neovim opens .sigil files with tree-sitter highlighting, // comments and two-space indentation, and the Sigil language server checks them as you type, completes fields from the kind file, and formats in sigil fmt's style. sigil.nvim does all of it; its README is the reference for every option.

You need Neovim 0.11 or later. Tree-sitter through nvim-treesitter's main branch needs Neovim 0.12, the tree-sitter CLI 0.26.1 or later and a C compiler.

Install the sigil binary

The plugin runs the sigil in your $PATH and never downloads one:

brew install --cask spechtlabs/tap/sigil

With mise instead:

mise use -g github:SpechtLabs/sigil

Install the plugin

With lazy.nvim, LazyVim included, the spec is one line:

{ "SpechtLabs/sigil.nvim", version = "*" }

The plugin loads at startup even under LazyVim's defaults.lazy = true, and calls its own setup(). LazyVim's nvim-lspconfig, mason, blink.cmp and conform.nvim need no entry for Sigil: the plugin enables the server itself, the binary comes from $PATH rather than mason, blink.cmp adds its capabilities to every server, and conform falls back to the server's formatting.

With Neovim 0.12's built-in package manager:

vim.pack.add({ "https://github.com/SpechtLabs/sigil.nvim" })

vim-plug, mini.deps and packer.nvim work the same way, with no setup() call; the README has their lines.

Open a policy

Open a .sigil file in a directory with a sigil.yaml whose kinds: names your kind file. The nearest configuration file above the file (sigil.yaml, or any other name in Configuration file) is the workspace root, and without one the nearest .git is.

The first sigil buffer of a session has nvim-treesitter build the sigil parser, which takes a few seconds; highlighting switches from the regex fallback to tree-sitter when it's done. To have LazyVim install it with its other parsers instead, add it to nvim-treesitter's list:

{ "nvim-treesitter/nvim-treesitter", opts = { ensure_installed = { "sigil" } } }

A misspelled field shows up as a diagnostic, with the checker's suggestion:

unknown field "severty" on type Alert help: did you mean "severity"? Alert declares: name, severity, labels, firing_for

Typing alert. completes the fields of the kind's Alert type, K shows a decision's signature, and CTRL-] (gd in LazyVim) jumps to a let or a use target. gq formats a range, and LazyVim's format on save formats the whole file.

Check the setup

Run :checkhealth sigil. It reports the binary and its version, whether sigil lsp --stdio answers, the client and its root, and nvim-treesitter, the tree-sitter CLI, the parser and each query. A working setup reads like this, abridged:

sigil binary ~
- ✅ OK `sigil lsp --stdio` answers initialize as sigil

language server ~
- ✅ OK config: cmd sigil lsp --stdio, root markers sigil.yaml, .git
- ✅ OK enabled for sigil buffers

tree-sitter ~
- ✅ OK nvim-treesitter `main` found
- ✅ OK tree-sitter CLI found; nvim-treesitter builds the parser with it

A sigil from before the language server shows doesn't start a language server: exited with status 1: Error: "sigil lsp" is not implemented yet; upgrade it.

:Sigil shows the same for the current buffer in one screen, and :Sigil restart restarts the server after you upgrade sigil or edit sigil.yaml.

Use a project's sigil from mise

When a repository pins sigil in its .mise.toml and your global $PATH has none or another version, start the server through mise:

{
  "SpechtLabs/sigil.nvim",
  version = "*",
  opts = { lsp = { cmd = { "mise", "exec", "--", "sigil", "lsp", "--stdio" } } },
}

mise picks the version for Neovim's working directory, so start Neovim inside the repository.

Format with sigil fmt through conform

conform.nvim formats through the server by default. To have it run sigil fmt itself, for example to format in a buffer the server can't attach to:

require("conform").setup({
  formatters_by_ft = { sigil = { "sigil_fmt" } },
  formatters = {
    sigil_fmt = { command = "sigil", args = { "fmt", "-" }, stdin = true },
  },
})

Turn parts off

lsp = { enabled = false } keeps the server off, and treesitter = { enabled = false } leaves tree-sitter to your own configuration. Without nvim-treesitter, highlighting stays regex-based and everything else works. The configuration reference lists every option.

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