then inside vim: :Helptags

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[VIM PLUGIN // NEON SYNTAX // STANDALONE ZSHRS GRAMMAR // ALE + LSP]

"Load it with pathogen. Open a .zsh. It lights up."

Vim / Neovim support for zshrs — the Rust rewrite of zsh, the first compiled Unix shell. Standalone syntax highlighting, filetype detection, shell-block-aware indentation, ALE linting, and vim-lsp / coc.nvim integration. Zero configuration. The filetype is zshrs (not zsh), so Vim's bundled zsh highlighter is never clobbered.

cd ~/.vim/bundle && git clone https://github.com/MenkeTechnologies/vim-zsh   # pathogen

Read the Docs · Engineering Report · zshrs · vim-stryke

---

[0x00] OVERVIEW

vim-zsh is Vim / Neovim support for zshrs — the Rust rewrite of zsh (the first compiled Unix shell). It ships as a standard Vim runtime tree, so pathogen / vim-plug / native packages add it to runtimepath with zero special handling and zero configuration.

The syntax file is a standalone zshrs grammar — not a reskin of Vim's bundled zsh / perl syntax. It is generated (scripts/gen_syntax.sh) directly from the zshrs binary's own reflection tables (zshrs --dump-reflection), so it carries the complete shell surface and never drifts:

• 138 builtins — .builtins, minus the extension and keyword names
• 112 zshrs extensions — .extensions, the zshrs-specific additions, in their own highlight group
• 245 special variables — .special_vars
• 24 control + 10 declaration keywords — the shell grammar (static)

Regenerate after a zshrs upgrade with ./scripts/gen_syntax.sh.

The zshrs binary must be on $PATH for linting and LSP. Build zshrs.

---

[0x01] FEATURE MATRIX

Capability	Status
Filetype detection — extensions	Implemented — *.zsh *.zshenv *.zprofile *.zlogin *.zlogout *.zsh-theme become filetype=zshrs
Filetype detection — dotfiles	Implemented — .zshrc .zshenv .zprofile .zlogin .zlogout .zpreztorc
Filetype detection — shebang	Implemented — extensionless scripts with #!/usr/bin/env zsh (or zshrs) are detected
Syntax highlighting	Implemented — standalone grammar from zshrs's reflection (builtins, extensions, special vars, keywords, sigils, strings, here-docs, command substitution)
Indentation	Implemented — shell-block-aware indenter (braces + do/done/if/fi/case/esac/then/else/elif)
Comments	Implemented — commentstring=# %s, comments=:#, comment-continuation formatoptions
Linting	Implemented — ALE linter running zshrs -n
Language server (vim-lsp)	Implemented — zshrs --lsp, allowlisted for zshrs + zsh
Language server (coc.nvim)	Implemented — ready-to-paste languageserver config
Help	Implemented — :help vim-zsh
Config required	None — two opt-outs to disable ALE or LSP wiring

---

[0x02] INSTALL

pathogen

cd ~/.vim/bundle
git clone https://github.com/MenkeTechnologies/vim-zsh
# then inside vim:  :Helptags

vim-plug (add to ~/.vimrc / init.vim)

Plug 'MenkeTechnologies/vim-zsh'

native packages (Vim 8+ / Neovim)

git clone https://github.com/MenkeTechnologies/vim-zsh \
    ~/.vim/pack/plugins/start/vim-zsh

Open any .zsh file and it lights up — no further configuration. See :help vim-zsh.

---

[0x03] SYNTAX // TOKEN CATEGORIES

The grammar is generated from the zshrs binary's own reflection tables (zshrs --dump-reflection):

Category	Tokens (sample)	Highlight
Declarations (10)	declare export float integer let local readonly set shift typeset	StorageClass
Control flow (24)	if elif else fi for foreach while until do done case esac function select repeat return	Statement
Builtins (138)	bindkey cd echo print read setopt unsetopt zmodload zle zstyle autoload bg fg jobs	Function
Extensions (112)	async await spawn barrier arch base64 fold … (zshrs-specific)	PreProc
Special variables (245)	PATH HOME PWD ZSH_VERSION RANDOM LINENO SECONDS HISTFILE	Identifier
Sigil variables	$name ${...} $1 $# $@ $? $! $$ $* $-	Identifier

Single / double quoted strings with $var / ${...} interpolation and escapes, backtick and $(...) command substitution, here-docs (<<EOF / <<- / <<'EOF'), numbers, comments, and the shebang are all handled. Everything links to standard highlight groups, so every colorscheme covers it.

The extensions get their own highlight group (zshrsExtension → PreProc) — these are the zshrs-specific builtins that don't exist in upstream zsh, so they stand out from the POSIX/zsh builtin set.

---

[0x04] LINTING (ALE)

When ALE is installed, vim-zsh registers a linter that runs:

zshrs -n

on the buffer (passed on stdin). zshrs's no-exec parse check reports a parse error as zsh: <reason> / zsh: parse error near ... on stderr with a non-zero exit; the handler surfaces it inline. Skipped silently if ALE is absent or g:vim_zsh_no_ale is set.

---

[0x05] LANGUAGE SERVER

vim-lsp

Registered automatically as zshrs --lsp, allowlisted for the zshrs and zsh filetypes — no extra config when vim-lsp is installed.

coc.nvim

Add to coc-settings.json:

{
  "languageserver": {
    "zshrs": {
      "command": "zshrs",
      "args": ["--lsp"],
      "filetypes": ["zshrs", "zsh"]
    }
  }
}

---

[0x06] OPTIONS

Set before the plugin loads (e.g. in your vimrc):

Variable	Effect
let g:vim_zsh_no_ale = 1	Skip ALE linter registration
let g:vim_zsh_no_lsp = 1	Skip vim-lsp server registration

---

[0x07] LAYOUT

vim-zsh/
├── ftdetect/zshrs.vim   # *.zsh + dotfiles + zsh shebang -> filetype=zshrs
├── syntax/zshrs.vim     # standalone zshrs grammar (generated; 138 builtins, 112 extensions, 245 special vars)
├── scripts/gen_syntax.sh # regenerates syntax/zshrs.vim from `zshrs --dump-reflection`
├── ftplugin/zshrs.vim   # commentstring '# %s', comments, formatoptions
├── indent/zshrs.vim     # standalone shell-block-aware indenter
├── plugin/zshrs.vim     # ALE linter + vim-lsp + coc wiring
└── doc/zshrs.txt        # :help vim-zsh

Standard Vim runtime layout — pathogen / vim-plug / native packages add it to runtimepath with no special handling.

---

[0x08] LICENSE

MIT © MenkeTechnologies