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blak.nvim

Mason

Mason installs anything that isn’t a Neovim plugin — LSP servers, formatters, linters, the tree-sitter CLI, debuggers. Blak wires it so the tools an extra needs install automatically when you enable the extra.

Tools setup: lua/blak/core/tools.lua. Plugin spec: lua/blak/plugins/lsp.lua.

Defaults

mason = {
  automatic_install = true,
  ensure_installed = {
    "stylua",
    "shfmt",
    "tree-sitter-cli",
  },
}

Just enough to make first-launch useful: a Lua formatter (for the config files Blak ships), a shell formatter, and the CLI for compiling Treesitter parsers.

Extras add to this list automatically — see each extra’s “Mason” row in Extras.

Automatic install

When automatic_install = true, Blak calls tools.ensure() after Mason wakes on VeryLazy, :Mason, or the first Mason-backed LSP buffer:

  1. Wait for the Mason registry to refresh.
  2. Look up the configured package list (mason.ensure_installed + extras).
  3. Install anything missing.
  4. Skip anything already installed (silent), or log it if called with force = true.

Missing packages don’t error — they warn so a typo or a Mason-renamed tool doesn’t block startup.

Manual install

:BlakToolsInstall      " force, logs already-installed packages too
:Mason                 " open Mason's UI
:MasonInstall <pkg>    " install one explicitly

Use :BlakToolsInstall after enabling a new extra so its tools land in one shot.

Disabling automatic install

return {
  mason = { automatic_install = false },
}

You’ll need to install tools yourself with :BlakToolsInstall or :Mason.

Adding a tool

In user.lua:

return {
  mason = {
    ensure_installed = { "stylua", "shfmt", "tree-sitter-cli", "buf", "yamlfmt" },
  },
}

Like other lists, this replaces the default wholesale. Include the defaults you still want.

Or via an extra — preferred, because the install is rolled back when you disable.

Mason UI

The Mason UI uses your ui.winborder (default "rounded"). Open with :Mason. From there:

  • i install
  • u update
  • X uninstall
  • ? help

Where things live

$XDG_DATA_HOME/<appname>/mason/        " for Blak, usually ~/.local/share/blak/mason
  ├── packages/<name>/                 " installed binaries / scripts
  └── bin/                             " shims added to runtime $PATH

mason-lspconfig bridges between Mason package names (lua-language-server) and lspconfig server names (lua_ls). The ensure_installed list it sends to Mason is derived from lsp.servers keys.