Start your search from a more comfortable place, say the upper right corner?

Here's demo of search and replace component, and also match_all search.

Make sure you have Neovim v0.5.1 or greater.

• nui.nvim

Use your favorite plugin manager. For example.

With vim-plug:

Plug 'MunifTanjim/nui.nvim'
Plug 'VonHeikemen/searchbox.nvim'

With packer:

use {
  'VonHeikemen/searchbox.nvim',
  requires = {
    {'MunifTanjim/nui.nvim'}
  }
}

With paq:

'VonHeikemen/searchbox.nvim';
'MunifTanjim/nui.nvim';

There are four kinds of search:

• incsearch: Highlights the nearest match of your query as you type.

• match_all: Highlights all the matches in the buffer as you type. By default matches will stay highlighted after you submit your search. You can clear them with :SearchBoxClear. If you want the highlight to disappear after the input closes, add the clear_matches argument (more on this later).

• simple: Doesn't do anything as you type. No highlight, no moving the cursor around in realtime. It's only purpose is to execute a search.

• replace: Starts a multi-step input to search and replace. First input allows you to enter a pattern (search term). Second input will ask for the string that will replace the previous pattern.

There is a command for each kind of search which can be used in a keybinding.

• Lua Bindings

vim.api.nvim_set_keymap(
  'n',
  '<leader>s',
  ':SearchBoxIncSearch<CR>',
  {noremap = true}
)

• Vimscript Bindings

nnoremap <leader>s :SearchBoxIncSearch<CR>

They are also exposed as lua functions, so the following is also valid.

:lua require('searchbox').incsearch()<CR>

To get proper support in visual mode you'll need to add visual_mode=true to the list of arguments.

In this mode the search area is limited to the range set by the selected text. Similar to what the substitute command does in this case :'<,'>s/this/that/g.

• Lua Bindings

vim.api.nvim_set_keymap(
  'x',
  '<leader>s',
  ':SearchBoxIncSearch visual_mode=true<CR>',
  {noremap = true}
)

• Vimscript Bindings

xnoremap <leader>s :SearchBoxIncSearch visual_mode=true<CR>

When using the lua api add <Esc> at the beginning of the binding.

<Esc>:lua require('searchbox').incsearch({visual_mode = true})<CR>

You can tweak the behaviour of the search if you pass any of these properties:

• reverse: Look for matches above the cursor.
• exact: Look for an exact match.
• title: Set title for the popup window.
• prompt: Set input prompt.
• default_value: Set initial value for the input.
• visual_mode: Search only in the recently selected text.

Other arguments are exclusive to one type of search.

For match_all:

• clear_matches: Get rid of the highlight after the search is done.

For replace:

• confirm: Ask the user to choose an action on each match. There are three possible values: off, native and menu. off disables the feature. native uses neovim's built-in confirm method. menu displays a list of possible actions below the match. Is worth mentioning menu will only show up if neovim's window is big enough, confirm type will fallback to "native" if it isn't.

When using the command api the arguments are a space separated list of key/value pairs. The syntax for the arguments is this: key=value.

:SearchBoxMatchAll title=Match exact=true visual_mode=true<CR>

Because whitespace acts like a separator between the arguments if you want to use it as a value you need to escape it, or use a quoted argument. If you want to use Match All as a title, these are your options.

:SearchBoxMatchAll title="Match All"<CR>
" or
:SearchBoxMatchAll title='Match All'<CR>

:SearchBoxMatchAll title=Match\ All<CR>

Note that escaping is specially funny inside a lua string, so you might need to use \\.

Is worth mention that argument parsing is done manually inside the plugin. Complex escape sequences are not taken into account. Just \" and \' to avoid conflict in quoted arguments, and \ to escape whitespace in a string argument without quotes.

Not being able to use whitespace freely makes it difficult to use default_value with this api, that's why it gets a special treatment. There is no default_value argument, instead everything that follows the -- argument is considered part of the search term.

:SearchBoxMatchAll title=Match clear_matches=true -- I want to search this<CR>

In the example above I want to search this will become the initial value for the search input. This becomes useful when you want to use advance techniques to set the initial value of your search (I'll show you some examples later).

If you only going to set the initial value, meaning you're not going to use any of the other arguments, you can omit the --. This is valid, too.

:SearchBoxMatchAll I want to search this<CR>

In this case you'll be using lua functions of the searchbox module instead of commands. The arguments can be provided as a lua table.

:lua require('searchbox').match_all({title='Match All', clear_matches=true, default_value='I want to search this'})<CR>

Make a reverse search, like the default ?:

:SearchBoxIncSearch reverse=true<CR>

Make the highlight of match_all go away after submit.

:SearchBoxMatchAll clear_matches=true<CR>

Move to the nearest exact match without any fuss.

:SearchBoxSimple exact=true<CR>

Start a search and replace.

:SearchBoxReplace<CR>

Use the word under the cursor to begin search and replace. (Normal mode).

:SearchBoxReplace -- <C-r>=expand('<cword>')<CR><CR>

Look for the exact word under the cursor.

:SearchBoxMatchAll exact=true -- <C-r>=expand('<cword>')<CR><CR>

Use the selected text as a search term. (Visual mode):

Due to limitations on the input, it can't handle newlines well. So whatever you have selected, must be one line. The escape sequence \n can be use in the search term but will not be interpreted on the second input of search and replace.

y:SearchBoxReplace -- <C-r>"<CR>

Search and replace within the range of the selected text, and look for an exact match. (Visual mode)

:SearchBoxReplace exact=true visual_mode=true<CR>

Confirm every match of search and replace.

• Normal mode:

:SearchBoxReplace confirm=menu<CR>

• Visual mode:

:SearchBoxReplace confirm=menu visual_mode=true<CR>

Inside the input you can use the following keymaps:

• Alt + .: Writes the content of the last search in the input. This will include any special regex symbols. For example, if your last search was in visual mode \%V will be included as a prefix.
• Enter: Submit input.
• Esc: Closes input.
• Ctrl + c: Close input.
• Ctrl + y: Scroll up.
• Ctrl + e: Scroll down.
• Ctrl + b: Scroll page up.
• Ctrl + f: Scroll page down.

In the confirm menu (of search and replace):

• y: Confirm replace.
• n: Move to next match.
• a: Replace all matches.
• q: Quit menu.
• l: Replace match then quit. Think of it as "the last replace".
• Enter: Accept option.
• Esc: Quit menu.
• ctrl + c: Quit menu.
• Tab: Next option.
• shift + Tab: Previous option.
• Down arrow: Next option.
• Up arrow: Previous option.

The "native" confirm method:

• y: Confirm replace.
• n: Move to next match.
• a: Replace all matches.
• q: Quit menu.
• l: Replace match then quit.

If you want to change anything in the UI or add a "hook" you can use .setup().

This are the defaults.

require('searchbox').setup({
  popup = {
    relative = 'win',
    position = {
      row = '5%',
      col = '95%',
    },
    size = 30,
    border = {
      style = 'rounded',
      highlight = 'FloatBorder',
      text = {
        top = ' Search ',
        top_align = 'left',
      },
    },
    win_options = {
      winhighlight = 'Normal:Normal',
    },
  },
  hooks = {
    before_mount = function(input)
      -- code
    end,
    after_mount = function(input)
      -- code
    end,
    on_done = function(value, search_type)
      -- code
    end
  }
})

• popup is passed directly to nui.popup. You can check the valid keys in their documentation: popup.options

• hooks must be functions. They will be executed during the "lifecycle" of the input.

before_mount and after_mount receive the instance of the input, so you can do anything with it.

on_done it's executed after the search is finished. In the case of a successful search it gets the value submitted and the type of search as arguments. When doing a search and replace, it gets executed after the last substitution takes place. In case the search was cancelled, the first argument is nil and the second argument is the type of search.

It's very possible that I can't simulate every feature of the built-in search (/ and ?).

Bug fixes are welcome. Everything else? Let's discuss it first.

If you want to improve the UI it will be better if you contribute to nui.nvim.

If you find this tool useful and want to support my efforts, buy me a coffee ☕.