Turn Neovim Into a Python IDE on Arch (LazyVim)

I’ve lived in vi/vim for 20+ years. It’s everywhere, it boots fast, it never asks for much. But I kept side‑eyeing Neovim because of all the modern niceties - LSP, treesitter, async plugins - and never wanted to spend whole day wiring it all up.

I finally switched. This is how I turned Neovim (via LazyVim) into a comfortable Python IDE on Arch. Think LSP, linting, formatting, and debugging - without yak‑shaving a monster config.

Specification

Steps

Install neovim and lazyvim

git clone https://github.com/LazyVim/starter ~/.config/nvim

Launch nvim with lazyvim started

nvim

You’ll see the following. Toggle the plugins you want.

Enable Python IDE basics

LazyVim ships with a Python extras pack. The quickest way is to add it to your config:

echo 'return { import = "lazyvim.plugins.extras.lang.python" }' \
  > ~/.config/nvim/lua/plugins/python.lua

Reload Neovim and run :Lazy sync. That pulls in:

• pyright for LSP and type checking
• ruff for linting + quick fixes
• black (or ruff format) for formatting
• debugpy for debugging via nvim-dap

Install the tooling on Arch

sudo pacman -S neovim python python-pip
pip install --user pyright ruff black debugpy

If you prefer pipx, swap the last line for:

pipx install pyright ruff black debugpy

Use it day-to-day

• Open a project: nvim .
• LSP actions: gd (definition), gr (references), <leader>ca (code action)
• Formatting: <leader>cf (or enable format on save in LazyVim settings)
• Lint fixes: :RuffFixAll or just run <leader>cf when Ruff is the configured formatter
• Debug: :DapContinue to start/attach, <leader>db to toggle breakpoints

Optional tweaks

• Virtualenv awareness: activate your venv (python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate) so Pyright and tools pick it up.
• Type checking level: add pyrightconfig.json with "typeCheckingMode": "strict" if you like extra noise.
• Import sorting: keep using Ruff; set it as the formatter to get ruff format + ruff check --fix.

Why LazyVim?

• Sensible defaults without a giant dotfiles repo.
• Treesitter, telescope, statusline, bufferline—already wired.
• Extras packs let you opt into language support instead of building it from scratch.

That’s the whole move: clone LazyVim, drop in the Python extras, install the Python tools, and you’re in a modern Neovim IDE without losing the modal muscle memory.