scratchpad.nvim

A floating window "scratchpad" plugin for Neovim, inspired by i3wm. Quickly stash buffers in a floating window with LIFO stack behavior.

scratchpad-demo.mp4

Motivation

1. When working on my laptop - the screen real estate is limited for me to have multiple splits open. Much easier to have a "scratchpad" popup and disappear as needed. Be it note-taking, referencing code, or temporary edits.
2. I use one claude code instance inside of my nvim as well that I frequently interact with/guide - having a floating window popup the moment its done processing & sends a notification via the terminal is super useful.

The following plugins come close to what I wanted, so you might as well take a look at these:

• athar-qadri/scratchpad.nvim
• reybits/scratch.nvim

Features

• Floating window scratchpad: Move buffers to a floating window for quick access
• LIFO stack behavior: Most recently added buffers appear first
• Cycle through buffers: Navigate between stashed buffers
• Persistent visibility: Hide and show the scratchpad without losing state
• Configurable: Customize size, position, border, and keybindings

Requirements

• Neovim 0.7+

Installation

vim-plug

Plug 'PremBharwani/scratchpad.nvim'

packer.nvim

use 'PremBharwani/scratchpad.nvim'

lazy.nvim

{
    'PremBharwani/scratchpad.nvim',
    config = function()
        require('scratchpad').setup()
    end
}

Setup

require("scratchpad").setup({
    width = 0.8,              -- 80% of editor width (or absolute number)
    height = 0.8,             -- 80% of editor height (or absolute number)
    position = "center",      -- Window position
    border = "rounded",       -- Border style
    title = true,             -- Show title with buffer name and position
    mappings = {
        toggle_buffer = "<leader>sa",
        toggle_visibility = "<leader>ss",
        cycle_next = "<leader>sn",
        cycle_prev = "<leader>sp",
    },
    local_mappings = {
        close = "q",
        cycle_next = "<Tab>",
        cycle_prev = "<S-Tab>",
    },
})

Commands

Command	Description
:ScratchpadToggle	Toggle current buffer in scratchpad
:ScratchpadShow	Toggle scratchpad visibility
:ScratchpadNext	Cycle to next buffer
:ScratchpadPrev	Cycle to previous buffer
:ScratchpadList	List buffers in scratchpad (debug)
:ScratchpadHide	Hide scratchpad window

Default Keybindings

Global

Mapping	Action
<leader>sa	Toggle buffer in scratchpad
<leader>ss	Toggle scratchpad visibility
<leader>sn	Cycle to next buffer
<leader>sp	Cycle to previous buffer

Inside Scratchpad

Mapping	Action
q	Hide scratchpad
<Tab>	Cycle next
<S-Tab>	Cycle previous

Usage

1. Open some files in Neovim
2. Press <leader>sa to add the current buffer to the scratchpad
3. The buffer moves to the floating window; your main window shows the alternate buffer
4. Add more buffers with <leader>sa
5. Cycle through buffers with <leader>sn and <leader>sp
6. Hide the scratchpad with <leader>ss or q
7. Show it again with <leader>ss - same buffer will be visible
8. Toggle a buffer again to remove it from the scratchpad

Stack Behavior

The scratchpad uses LIFO (Last In, First Out) ordering:

• Add buffers A, B, C in order -> stack is [C, B, A]
• C (most recent) is displayed first
• Cycle forward: current goes to bottom -> [B, A, C], showing B
• Cycle backward: bottom comes to current position

API

local scratchpad = require("scratchpad")

scratchpad.setup(opts)                    -- Initialize with options
scratchpad.toggleFloatingBuffer()         -- Toggle buffer in scratchpad
scratchpad.toggleScratchpadVisibility()   -- Show/hide scratchpad
scratchpad.cycleScratchpadBuffers(1)      -- Cycle next
scratchpad.cycleScratchpadBuffers(-1)     -- Cycle previous
scratchpad.show()                         -- Show scratchpad
scratchpad.hide()                         -- Hide scratchpad
scratchpad.list()                         -- Print buffer list

License

All yours :)

Acknowledgements

• Cheers to the chad developers who've handwritten stuff so that claude code could train on them & one-shot this.
• i3wm GOAT window manager for the inspiration!