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nvim-telescope/telescope.nvim

📈 Trending★ 19,436LuaAudience · developerComplexity · 2/5ActiveLicenseSetup · easy

TLDR

A fast, interactive search panel for Neovim that finds files, text, buffers, and Git commits using fuzzy matching, replacing slow manual browsing with instant navigation.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((Telescope.nvim))
    What it does
      Fuzzy file finder
      Search text in files
      Browse open buffers
      Git commit history
    How it works
      Floating search window
      Live result preview
      Type to filter matches
      Keyboard navigation
    Use cases
      Jump to files fast
      Find code across project
      Switch between buffers
      Explore Git history
    Tech stack
      Lua language
      Neovim editor
      LuaJIT runtime
      Ripgrep search
    Extensibility
      Community pickers
      LSP integration
      Custom extensions
      Plugin ecosystem

Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Jump to any file in your project instantly by typing a partial name.

USE CASE 2

Search for a word or pattern across your entire codebase and jump to matches.

USE CASE 3

Switch between open files and buffers without leaving the editor.

USE CASE 4

Browse Git commits and view their details without leaving Neovim.

Tech stack

LuaNeovimLuaJITripgrep

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Requires Neovim and ripgrep to be installed; plugin installation via standard Neovim plugin manager.

Use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

In plain English

Telescope.nvim is a plugin for Neovim, a popular programmer's text editor, that gives you a powerful, interactive search panel for finding almost anything: files, text inside files, open buffers, Git commits, help topics, and much more. The problem it solves is navigation: in large codebases, jumping to the right file or the right function quickly is critical, and Telescope replaces the slow process of manually browsing directories with a fast, fuzzy-matching picker (a "fuzzy finder" matches results even if you type letters slightly out of order or skip some characters). When you trigger a search, Telescope opens a floating window split into three panes: a text box where you type your query, a live-updating results list, and a preview pane that shows the content of the currently selected item. You can search files, search for a word across the entire codebase using ripgrep, or swap between open files. It is highly extensible, hundreds of community-built extensions add pickers for Git, LSP symbols, browser bookmarks, databases, and more. The plugin is written entirely in Lua and runs on Neovim version 0.11.7 or newer with LuaJIT. You would use Telescope any time you work in Neovim and want to navigate, search, or manage your project faster than traditional file browsing allows.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Show me how to set up Telescope.nvim in my Neovim config and bind it to a keyboard shortcut.
Prompt 2
How do I use Telescope to search for a specific word across my entire project?
Prompt 3
What are the most useful built-in pickers in Telescope and how do I trigger them?
Prompt 4
How can I install and use a community Telescope extension for Git or LSP symbols?
Prompt 5
Help me customize Telescope's appearance and keybindings to match my workflow.
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Generated 2026-05-18 · Model: sonnet-4-6 · Verify against the repo before relying on details.