mru-nav.nvim

A small Neovim plugin for quick MRU navigation:

• MRU file history nav: shows previously edited files in MRU order, including across restarts
• MRU buffer nav: shows open buffers in MRU order for the current session
• Works with vim.ui.select() out of the box
• Uses Telescope automatically when installed, unless disabled
• Friendly lazy.nvim setup

Features

• :MruFile opens a picker for persisted MRU file history
• :MruBuffer opens a picker for currently open buffers in MRU order
• command-line aliases so :mruFile and :mruBuffer also work
• default keymaps for quick access
• persisted file history stored under Neovim's state directory

Requirements

• Neovim >= 0.9
• Optional: Telescope for a nicer picker UI

Installation (lazy.nvim)

{
  "mjacobs/mru-nav.nvim",
  cmd = { "MruFile", "MruBuffer", "MruClearFiles" },
  keys = {
    { "<leader>mf", function() require("mru_nav").mru_files() end, desc = "MRU file picker" },
    { "<leader>mb", function() require("mru_nav").mru_buffers() end, desc = "MRU buffer picker" },
  },
  opts = {
    keymaps = {
      files = "<leader>mf",
      buffers = "<leader>mb",
    },
  },
  config = function(_, opts)
    require("mru_nav").setup(opts)
  end,
}

Commands

• :MruFile — pick a file from persisted MRU history
• :MruBuffer — pick an open buffer from current-session MRU order
• :MruClearFiles — clear persisted file history

Because Neovim user commands should start with an uppercase letter, the plugin defines :MruFile and :MruBuffer as the real commands. It also adds command-line abbreviations so typing :mruFile and :mruBuffer still works.

Default keymaps

• <leader>mf — MRU files
• <leader>mb — MRU buffers

Set either value to false or "" to skip creating that keymap.

Configuration

require("mru_nav").setup({
  max_files = 200,
  max_buffers = 100,
  persist = true,
  history_file = nil, -- defaults to stdpath("state") .. "/mru-nav.json"
  use_telescope_if_available = true,
  file_picker_title = "MRU Files",
  buffer_picker_title = "MRU Buffers",
  keymaps = {
    files = "<leader>mf",
    buffers = "<leader>mb",
  },
})

Options

Option	Default	Meaning
max_files	200	Max number of persisted files to keep
max_buffers	100	Max number of in-memory MRU buffers to keep
persist	true	Whether file MRU history is saved across restarts
history_file	stdpath("state") .. "/mru-nav.json"	Storage path for file history
use_telescope_if_available	true	Prefer Telescope over vim.ui.select() when available
file_picker_title	"MRU Files"	Prompt title for file picker
buffer_picker_title	"MRU Buffers"	Prompt title for buffer picker
keymaps.files	"<leader>mf"	Normal-mode keymap for files
keymaps.buffers	"<leader>mb"	Normal-mode keymap for buffers

Persistence details

Persisted file history is stored in JSON at:

vim.fs.joinpath(vim.fn.stdpath("state"), "mru-nav.json")

The plugin writes updates atomically using a temp file + rename, and prunes missing files when opening the file picker or exiting Neovim.

Notes

• File history is cross-session
• Buffer history is session-local by design
• Special buffers such as help, quickfix, terminal, and other non-file buffers are excluded from file history
• Buffer picker includes listed buffers, even if they do not yet have a file on disk

Minimal manual smoke test

1. Open a few files in sequence
2. Run :MruFile
3. Confirm they appear newest-first
4. Restart Neovim
5. Run :MruFile again and confirm the order persisted
6. Run :MruBuffer and confirm open buffers are shown newest-first

Repo structure

mru-nav.nvim/
├── lua/mru_nav/init.lua
├── plugin/mru_nav.lua
├── tests/minimal_init.lua
├── tests/smoke.lua
└── README.md