smear-cursor.nvim
A Neovim plugin that animates the cursor with a customizable smear effect in all terminals.
What is smear-cursor.nvim?
Smear cursor for Neovim is a plugin that adds animated cursor effects to Neovim when running in terminals. It creates a visual smear trail as the cursor moves, simulating smooth animations typically found in graphical Neovim frontends. The plugin solves the problem of bland, static cursors in text-only terminals by providing dynamic visual feedback.
Neovim users who work in terminals and want enhanced visual feedback without switching to a graphical frontend like Neovide.
It offers a unique way to animate cursors purely through text rendering, making it compatible with any terminal. Developers choose it for its customization options and ability to mimic graphical cursor effects in a terminal environment.
Overview
🌠 Neovim plugin to animate the cursor with a smear effect in all terminals
Use Cases
Best For
- Adding visual flair to terminal-based Neovim setups
- Simulating Neovide-like cursor animations in terminals
- Customizing cursor behavior with physics-based parameters
- Enhancing visual feedback during buffer and window navigation
- Experimenting with creative cursor effects like particles or fire trails
- Improving the editing experience in terminals without graphical capabilities
Not Ideal For
- Users who rely on other cursor-modifying plugins like vim-smoothie or multiple visual enhancements
- Developers already using graphical Neovim frontends such as Neovide, which have built-in smooth cursors
- Environments where terminal emulators override cursor colors, making consistent customization difficult
- Setups prioritizing text clarity and minimal visual artifacts over aesthetic effects
Pros & Cons
Pros
Simulates smooth cursor effects using only text characters, working in any terminal without graphical capabilities, as emphasized in the project description.
Offers fine-tuning of parameters like stiffness and damping to control motion responsiveness, detailed in configuration examples for faster or bouncier smears.
Supports multiple effects from basic smears to particle-based 'fire' animations, providing creative options shown in demo videos and config snippets.
Allows enabling or disabling smear per buffer, line, or insert mode, enhancing flexibility for different editing tasks without manual intervention.
Cons
The text-based rendering creates a shadow around the smear that can obscure underlying text, a limitation admitted in the known issues section.
Likely conflicts with other plugins that modify the cursor, restricting use in complex setups, as warned in the README.
Optimal effects require rare fonts with legacy computing symbols like Cascadia Code, and performance may suffer on terminals with color overrides.
Open Source Alternative To
smear-cursor.nvim is an open-source alternative to the following products:
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Projects
tiny-glimmer.nvimA Neovim plugin that adds smooth, customizable animations to text operations like yank, paste, search, undo/redo, and more.
SmoothCursor.nvimSmooth Cursor is a Neovim plugin designed to enhance visual navigation by adding an animated sub-cursor in the signcolumn. It helps users track their cursor position during scrolling, jumping, or mode changes, reducing disorientation in complex editing sessions. ## Key Features - **Directional Indicator** — Shows scroll or jump direction with a sub-cursor to prevent losing your place. - **Multiple Display Modes** — Offers "default", "exp" (exponential), "matrix", and customizable "fancy" modes for varied visual effects. - **Customizable Appearance** — Allows configuration of cursor shape, highlight groups, and line highlighting to match your theme. - **Mode-Aware Highlights** — Supports automatic highlight changes based on Neovim modes (normal, insert, visual) via autocommands. - **Performance Controls** — Configurable speed, intervals, thresholds, and timeouts for smooth animation without lag. - **Filetype Management** — Enables or disables the plugin for specific file types to optimize behavior. ## Philosophy Smooth Cursor prioritizes visual clarity and minimal intrusion, providing a subtle yet effective aid for navigation without disrupting the editing workflow.
undo-glow.nvim🌈 Add animated glow/highlight effects to your neovim operation (undo, redo, yank, paste and more) with simple APIs. Alternatives to highlight-undo.nvim and tiny-glimmer.nvim.
nvim-luxmotionSmooth, high‑performance motion & scrolling animations — 60fps fluid cursor moves, word jumps, and viewport scrolling, all in one.
Found a gem we're missing?
Open-Awesome is built by the community, for the community. Submit a project, suggest an awesome list, or help improve the catalog on GitHub.