Full IDE in the Terminal with Yazi + Neovim — File Trees and Code Navigation

Introduction

In Vol.1, we used cmux pane splitting, the built-in browser, and lazygit to move 80% of our daily development into the terminal.

The remaining 20% is "I want to browse the file tree to understand the project structure" and "I want to jump to a definition" — in other words, IDE features. In this article, we add the file manager Yazi and the editor Neovim (LazyVim) to build a VSCode-equivalent environment using nothing but the terminal.

This article assumes you've completed the introductory article and Vol.1, and that you have a Nerd Font installed.

The End State

The layout we're building is this 3-pane IDE:

+-------------+------------------------------+
|             |                              |
|   Yazi      |   Neovim (LazyVim)           |
|   File      |   Code editing + LSP         |
|   Manager   |                              |
|             +------------------------------+
|             |                              |
|             |   Claude Code                |
|             |   AI coding                  |
|             |                              |
+-------------+------------------------------+

• Left pane: Yazi (file tree + preview)
• Top-right pane: Neovim (code editing, go-to-definition, completions)
• Bottom-right pane: Claude Code (AI coding)

lazygit is launched in a separate pane or from within Neovim as needed.

Part 1: Getting a File Tree with Yazi

Yazi is a terminal file manager written in Rust. It uses Vim-like keybindings and can preview code and images inline. Think of it as the terminal equivalent of VSCode's sidebar.

Installation

brew install yazi ffmpegthumbnailer poppler

Run yazi in your project directory and you'll see a 3-column view: parent directory, current directory, and a preview pane.

Basic Navigation

If you've ever touched Vim, this will feel intuitive:

Just hovering the cursor over a file shows a preview in the right column — syntax-highlighted code or image thumbnails. You can understand file contents without opening them, which speeds up project navigation considerably.

Customization

The config file lives at ~/.config/yazi/yazi.toml:

# ~/.config/yazi/yazi.toml
[manager]
show_hidden = true
sort_by = "natural"
sort_dir_first = true

Install the Catppuccin Mocha theme to unify the look with Neovim and lazygit:

ya pkg add yazi-rs/flavors:catppuccin-mocha

Part 2: Serious Code Editing with Neovim

Why Neovim?

When Claude Code is writing your code, you'll often want to "jump to a definition" or "search the entire project." Neovim has native LSP support, giving you go-to-definition, find references, and code completion right inside the terminal.

Configuring Neovim from scratch is a project in itself, so we use LazyVim — a plugin preset that gives you a VSCode-like experience the moment you install it.

Installation

# Install Neovim
brew install neovim
 
# Clone the LazyVim starter
git clone https://github.com/LazyVim/starter ~/.config/nvim
 
# Remove git history (not needed)
rm -rf ~/.config/nvim/.git

On first launch (nvim), plugins auto-install. Wait a minute or two, then press q to close and relaunch. You're ready to go.

VSCode User Cheat Sheet

The Space key is the leader key (equivalent to Cmd Shift P in VSCode). Press it to see the action menu.

Start with just three: Space f f, g d, and Space s g. That's enough to be productive.

LSP Configuration

Enable language support via LazyVim Extras. You can also manage LSP servers with :Mason.

-- ~/.config/nvim/lua/plugins/extras.lua
return {
  { import = "lazyvim.plugins.extras.lang.typescript" },
  { import = "lazyvim.plugins.extras.lang.json" },
  { import = "lazyvim.plugins.extras.lang.python" },
  { import = "lazyvim.plugins.extras.lang.go" },
  { import = "lazyvim.plugins.extras.lang.rust" },
  { import = "lazyvim.plugins.extras.lang.tailwind" },
}

Save and relaunch — LSP servers for each language install automatically.

Part 3: Assembling the IDE Layout

Building the 3-Pane IDE in cmux

All the pieces are in place. Here's how to put them together:

1. Cmd D to split right
2. Launch yazi in the left pane
3. Focus the right pane and Cmd Shift D to split down
4. Launch nvim . in the top-right pane
5. Launch claude in the bottom-right pane
6. Drag the left pane border to about 25% width

Moving Between Panes

Pane navigation uses Vim-style keybindings:

These four shortcuts let you move freely between Yazi, Neovim, and Claude Code.

Practical Workflow

1. Select a file in Yazi and press Enter to open it
2. In Neovim, use g d to jump to definitions and Space s g to search
3. Tell Claude Code to "refactor this function"
4. Claude modifies the file -> Neovim auto-reloads
5. Commit with lazygit

File browsing, code editing, AI instructions, and commits — all in the same window.

yazi.nvim: Opening Yazi Inside Neovim (Advanced)

Beyond the cmux pane, you can also open Yazi as a floating window inside Neovim:

-- ~/.config/nvim/lua/plugins/yazi.lua
return {
  {
    "mikavilpas/yazi.nvim",
    event = "VeryLazy",
    keys = {
      { "<leader>e", "<cmd>Yazi<cr>", desc = "Open Yazi" },
    },
    opts = { open_for_directories = true },
  },
}

Press Space e to open Yazi, select a file, and it opens directly in a Neovim buffer.

Unifying Themes — Catppuccin Mocha

Setting all tools to Catppuccin Mocha eliminates visual discontinuity between panes.

Here's the Neovim config:

-- ~/.config/nvim/lua/plugins/colorscheme.lua
return {
  {
    "catppuccin/nvim",
    name = "catppuccin",
    opts = { flavour = "mocha" },
  },
  {
    "LazyVim/LazyVim",
    opts = { colorscheme = "catppuccin" },
  },
}

Summary — Time to Close VSCode

Every major VSCode feature now has a terminal equivalent:

You don't have to abandon VSCode overnight. Start by browsing files in Yazi and pressing g d a few times in Neovim. Experience the speed of a keyboard-only workflow.

If Neovim's configuration feels overwhelming, Helix is a viable alternative that works out of the box with LSP support (though its keybindings are Kakoune-based rather than Vim-based).

In the upcoming Vol.3, we'll cover scripting the entire setup for one-command reproduction and per-project configuration management.