BIRD.vim

Overview

BIRD.vim provides Vim syntax highlighting, filetype detection, and filetype plugin support for BIRD 2 and BIRD 3 configuration files.

This is the Vim plugin component of the BIRD-tm-language-grammar project by the BIRD Chinese Community.

Features

• Syntax highlighting aligned with current BIRD 2.19 and BIRD 3.3 syntax
• Automatic filetype detection for .bird, .bird2, .bird3, and .conf files
• Smart heuristic detection for generic .conf files
• Filetype-specific settings (comments, format options, etc.)

Installation

Using vim-plug

Plug 'bird-chinese-community/BIRD.vim'

Using Vundle

Plugin 'bird-chinese-community/BIRD.vim'

Using native packages (Vim 8+)

Clone the repository into a start package directory; Vim loads it automatically during startup:

git clone https://github.com/bird-chinese-community/BIRD.vim \
  ~/.vim/pack/plugins/start/BIRD.vim

Manual Installation

git clone https://github.com/bird-chinese-community/BIRD.vim.git
cd BIRD.vim
bash scripts/install.sh

Release archives

Each GitHub Release includes a directly installable ZIP, tar.gz archive, and SHA256SUMS. The archives contain only the Vim runtime and include generated doc/tags. See the release runbook for the verified package contract.

Updating

GitHub redirects the former BIRD2.vim repository URL, so existing checkouts continue to fetch. Update the repository name in your plugin-manager configuration, then refresh it:

" vim-plug
:PlugUpdate BIRD.vim

" Vundle
:PluginUpdate

For an existing native package checkout, rename its directory, update the remote, and then pull the latest version:

mv ~/.vim/pack/plugins/start/bird2.vim \
  ~/.vim/pack/plugins/start/BIRD.vim
git -C ~/.vim/pack/plugins/start/BIRD.vim remote set-url origin \
  https://github.com/bird-chinese-community/BIRD.vim.git
git -C ~/.vim/pack/plugins/start/BIRD.vim pull --ff-only

For a manual checkout at another path, the directory name can remain unchanged; update its remote and rerun the installer:

git -C /path/to/bird2.vim remote set-url origin \
  https://github.com/bird-chinese-community/BIRD.vim.git
git -C /path/to/bird2.vim pull --ff-only
bash /path/to/bird2.vim/scripts/install.sh

Filetype Detection

The plugin automatically detects BIRD 2 and BIRD 3 configuration files by:

• Extension: .bird, .bird2, .bird3
• Filename: bird.conf, bird2.conf, bird3.conf, bird6.conf, and explicit bird-*/*.bird*.conf variants
• Known paths: configuration files below bird, bird2, or bird3 directories
• Content: scans the first 200 lines of generic .conf files. Strong BIRD-only constructs are accepted immediately; generic constructs require two independent signals to reduce false positives.

Documentation

After installation, view the help documentation:

:help bird2

To regenerate help tags:

:helptags ~/.vim/doc

See the changelog for release history. Contributors should add a bilingual fragment following the change-fragment guide for user-visible or release-worthy changes.

Configuration

No configuration is required. The plugin works out of the box.

Disable heuristic detection

If you want to disable content-based detection for .conf files:

let g:bird2_heuristic_detect = 0

Custom file extensions

To add custom file extensions:

autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.myext setfiletype bird2

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

• Plugin files: Mozilla Public License 2.0
• Copyright (c) BIRD Chinese Community

Related Projects

• BIRD-tm-language-grammar - TextMate grammar for BIRD 2 and BIRD 3
• BIRD.nvim - Neovim plugin
• vscode-bird2 - VS Code extension

Acknowledgments

This plugin is maintained by the BIRD Chinese Community.