arangodb.nvim

Browse and edit ArangoDB documents from Neovim.

This plugin extracts the ArangoDB browser workflow from my personal config into a reusable Neovim plugin with a small public API, user commands, and a healthcheck.

Features

• Pick a database and manage collections from inside Neovim
• Search documents live with snacks.nvim
• Open documents in JSON buffers and save them back to ArangoDB
• Create draft documents with prefilled _key, _id, and _rev, then insert them on first save
• Jump to related documents from direct foreign keys, nested relation objects, and reverse links discovered in other collections
• Create, duplicate, rename, and truncate collections from the collections picker
• Duplicate draftable documents, delete documents, rename collections, and truncate collections
• Discover databases from environment variables or explicit connection config

Requirements

• Neovim >= 0.9
• folke/snacks.nvim
• curl for https:// connections

The plugin now talks to ArangoDB through a built-in Lua HTTP client. Plain http:// URLs use the built-in Lua transport. https:// URLs are supported through curl.

Installation

lazy.nvim

{
  "LeuciRemi/arangodb.nvim",
  dependencies = {
    "folke/snacks.nvim",
  },
  config = function()
    require("arangodb").setup({
      default_database = "_system",
      connections = {
        _system = "http://root:root@127.0.0.1:8529/_system",
      },
      keymaps = {
        browse = "<leader>ea",
        resume = "<leader>eA",
        back = "<leader>eb",
      },
      picker_keymaps = {
        execute = "<C-x>",
        create = "<C-a>",
        next_page = "<C-n>",
        prev_page = "<C-p>",
        back = "<C-b>",
        change_field = "<C-f>",
        reset = "<C-u>",
        related = "<C-o>",
        delete = "<C-d>",
        duplicate = "<C-y>",
        truncate = "<C-t>",
        rename = "<C-r>",
      },
      layout = {
        preset = "auto",
        preview = true,
      },
      document_keymaps = {
        save = "<leader>w",
        delete = "<leader>d",
        duplicate = "<leader>y",
        related = "gr",
      },
    })
  end,
}

Setup

require("arangodb").setup({
  connections = {
    _system = "http://root:root@127.0.0.1:8529/_system",
    kore = "https://root:root@db.example.com:8529/kore",
  },
  default_database = "kore",
  keymaps = {
    browse = "<leader>ea",
    resume = "<leader>eA",
    back = "<leader>eb",
  },
  picker_keymaps = {
    execute = "<C-x>",
    create = "<C-a>",
    next_page = "<C-n>",
    prev_page = "<C-p>",
    back = "<C-b>",
    change_field = "<C-f>",
    reset = "<C-u>",
    related = "<C-o>",
    delete = "<C-d>",
    duplicate = "<C-y>",
    truncate = "<C-t>",
    rename = "<C-r>",
  },
  layout = {
    preset = "auto",
    preview = true,
  },
  field_sample_size = 200,
  page_size = 50,
  json_indent = 2,
  truncate_length = 120,
  max_field_depth = 4,
  aql_batch_size = 1000,
  default_sort = "doc._key ASC",
  show_system_collections = false,
  http_timeout = 30000,
  tls_verify = true,
  tls_ca_file = nil,
})

Options

• connections: table of named connection URLs, either { name = url } or { { name = "db", url = "..." } }; accepts http:// and https://
• default_database: preferred database name or { name, url }
• keymaps.browse: global normal-mode keymap for require("arangodb").browse()
• keymaps.resume: global normal-mode keymap for require("arangodb").resume()
• keymaps.back: global normal-mode keymap for require("arangodb").back()
• picker_keymaps: picker-local key bindings for actions such as create, pagination, related lookup, delete, duplicate, truncate, and rename
• layout.preset: snacks picker layout preset; "auto" by default chooses a side-by-side layout on wide screens and a stacked layout on narrower screens
• layout.preview: enable picker preview window (default: true)
• document_keymaps.save: buffer-local keymap for saving the current document
• document_keymaps.delete: buffer-local keymap for deleting the current document
• document_keymaps.duplicate: buffer-local keymap for duplicating the current document into a new draft
• document_keymaps.related: buffer-local keymap for opening related documents
• field_sample_size: number of documents sampled when listing candidate filter fields
• page_size: number of documents fetched per picker page
• json_indent: indentation width used for JSON previews and document formatting (default: 2)
• truncate_length: max preview text length before truncation (default: 120)
• max_field_depth: recursion depth when discovering nested field paths (default: 4)
• aql_batch_size: cursor batch size used for AQL pagination (default: 1000)
• default_sort: AQL sort clause used in document listings and related searches (default: "doc._key ASC")
• show_system_collections: include ArangoDB system collections in collection listings (default: false)
• http_timeout: timeout in milliseconds for ArangoDB HTTP requests
• tls_verify: verify HTTPS certificates when using https:// URLs (default: true)
• tls_ca_file: custom CA bundle path passed to curl --cacert for https:// URLs

Environment variables

You can use environment variables instead of explicit connections:

• NVIM_ARANGO_HOST
• NVIM_ARANGO_PORT
• NVIM_ARANGO_SCHEME
• NVIM_ARANGO_USER
• NVIM_ARANGO_PASSWORD
• NVIM_ARANGO_SYSTEM_URL
• NVIM_ARANGO_<DATABASE>_URL

Example:

export NVIM_ARANGO_USER=root
export NVIM_ARANGO_PASSWORD=root
export NVIM_ARANGO_SCHEME=https
export NVIM_ARANGO_HOST=db.example.com
export NVIM_ARANGO_PORT=8529
export NVIM_ARANGO_KORE_URL='https://root:root@db.example.com:8529/kore'

Commands

• :ArangoBrowse - pick a database, then open the collections picker
• :ArangoBrowse {database} - open the collections picker for a specific database
• :ArangoResume - reopen the current browser picker
• :ArangoBack - return to the previous ArangoDB picker or document view
• :ArangoDocumentSave - buffer-local command that saves the current document buffer, or creates a draft document on first save
• :ArangoDocumentDuplicate - buffer-local command that duplicates the current document buffer into a new draft with a fresh id
• :ArangoDocumentDelete - buffer-local command that deletes the current document buffer, or discards a draft document
• :ArangoDocumentRelated - buffer-local command that opens a related document from direct keys, nested relations, or reverse links in the current buffer

Picker actions

• Collections picker defaults: Enter open collection, Ctrl-a create a draft document, Ctrl-n create a collection, Ctrl-d duplicate a collection, Ctrl-r rename a collection, Ctrl-t truncate a collection, Ctrl-x open the actions menu, Ctrl-b go back to the database picker when available
• Documents picker defaults: Ctrl-a create a draft document in the current collection, Ctrl-y duplicate the selected document into a new draft with a fresh id, Ctrl-d delete the selected document, Ctrl-t truncate the current collection after confirmation, Ctrl-x open the actions menu for the current document listing, Ctrl-f change filter field, Ctrl-u reset search, Ctrl-o open related, Ctrl-p previous page, Ctrl-n next page, Ctrl-b go back

Lua API

require("arangodb").setup(opts)
require("arangodb").browse({ database = "kore" })
require("arangodb").resume()
require("arangodb").back()

Healthcheck

Run:

:checkhealth arangodb

It checks the HTTP transport setup, optional HTTPS support through curl, snacks.nvim, and detected database candidates.

Notes

• This plugin currently relies on folke/snacks.nvim for the live picker UI.
• Use http:// for plain connections or https:// for TLS-enabled instances.
• Install curl to use https:// connections.
• Connection strings may contain credentials, so prefer environment variables if you do not want them stored in your config.
• Add a license before making the repository fully public for reuse.