Yaml Revealer

Yaml Revealer is a vim plugin which allows you to handle the full tree structure of a Yaml key.

If you often use Yaml files, you know they are very readable at the beginning, but also that they can become a bit harder to read when becoming longer and longer… Yaml Revealer is here to guide you when you're lost.

Features

Reveal the full tree structure of a key

myRoot:
    firstChild:
        myVar: "foo"
    secondChild:
        myVar:
           foo: "foo"
        myVar2:
           foo: "foo"
           bar: "bar"
>          specialKey: "Hi"

Moving to the indicated line will automatically make vim echo

myRoot > secondChild > myVar2

Search for a specific key

Typing :call SearchYamlKey() will display a prompt to search a specific key.

Search for a Yaml key:

Searching for

myVar2>specialKey

or

myvar2 > specialKey

will find the concerned line.

Requirements

This plugin requires vim version superior to 8.0.1630 or neovim.

Configuration

• You can configure the separator between the keys by setting the variable g:yaml_revealer_separator. Default is >

• By default, a list indicator ([]) is added to the path. This can be removed by setting g:yaml_revealer_list_indicator to 0

• You can configure how the YAML path is displayed by setting g:yaml_revealer_display_mode. Available options:

  • 'echo' (default): Display path in the command line
  • 'virtual': Show path as virtual text at the end of the current line (Neovim only)
  • 'statusline': Store path in a variable for status line integration

• You can limit the maximum display width of YAML paths to prevent the "Press ENTER" prompt in Vim by setting g:yaml_revealer_max_width. Set to 0 (default) for no truncation, or any positive number to limit path width. Paths exceeding this width will be truncated with "..." appended.

Display Mode Examples

Virtual text mode (recommended for Neovim):

let g:yaml_revealer_display_mode = 'virtual'

(or g:yaml_revealer_display_mode = 'virtual' in lua config)

Shows the YAML path as subtle text at the end of the current line.

Status line integration:

let g:yaml_revealer_display_mode = 'statusline'

(or g:yaml_revealer_display_mode = 'statusline' in lua config)

Then add %{YamlRevealerStatusLine()} to your status line configuration.

If you use lualine, you can add this to your config:

{
    function()
        return vim.fn.YamlRevealerStatusLine()
    end,
    cond = function()
        return vim.bo.filetype == "yaml"
    end,
},

Enhanced echo mode:

let g:yaml_revealer_display_mode = 'echo'

(or g:yaml_revealer_display_mode = 'echo' in lua config)

Uses highlighted echo messages that are more visible than the default.

Truncation configuration:

" Limit path display to 80 characters to prevent "Press ENTER" prompts
let g:yaml_revealer_max_width = 80

(or g:yaml_revealer_max_width = 80 in lua config)

Prevents long YAML paths from wrapping and causing Vim's "Press ENTER" prompt.

Installation

Vundle Installation

Add Plugin 'Einenlum/yaml-revealer' to your .vimrc, reload your config and run a Plugin:Install.

vim-plug Installation

Add Plug 'Einenlum/yaml-revealer' to your .vimrc, reload your config and run a :PlugInstall.

Lazy.nvim Installation

{
  'Einenlum/yaml-revealer',
  config = function()
    -- Recommended for Neovim users
    vim.g.yaml_revealer_display_mode = 'virtual'
  end,
  ft = 'yaml',
}

Credits

• Thanks to @PedroTroller for his useful help :).
• Thanks to @ezpuzz for improving performance.
• Thanks to @mosheavni for adding lists support.