dimparens.nvim

A Neovim plugin that dims parentheses, brackets, and braces for better code clarity. Especially useful for Lisp-like languages where structural delimiters can overwhelm the actual code.

Requirements

• Neovim 0.9+
• termguicolors enabled (:set termguicolors)
• Treesitter parsers for your target languages (:TSInstall lua python scheme racket)

Installation

Using lazy.nvim:

{
  "usefulmove/dimparens.nvim",
  ft = { "lua", "python", "scheme", "racket", "lisp" },  -- Load on these filetypes
  opts = {
    dim_weight = 0.5,  -- 0 = background color, 1 = normal text color
    languages = { "lua", "python", "scheme", "racket", "lisp" },
  },
}

For local development:

{
  "dimparens.nvim",
  dir = "/path/to/dimparens.nvim",
  ft = { "lua", "python", "scheme" },
  opts = {
    languages = { "lua", "python", "scheme" },
  },
}

Configuration

Default options:

require("dimparens").setup({
  dim_weight = 0.5,           -- Blend factor (0 = background, 1 = foreground)
  highlight_group = "DimParens",  -- Highlight group name
  languages = {               -- Languages to enable dimming for
    "lua",
    "scheme",
    "racket",
    "lisp",
    "python",
    "javascript",
    "typescript",
  },
})

dim_weight

Controls how much the delimiters are dimmed:

• 0.0 = Same color as background (invisible)
• 0.5 = Halfway between foreground and background (default)
• 1.0 = Same color as normal text (no dimming)

For aggressive dimming, try 0.2 or lower.

Commands

Command	Description
:DimParensToggle	Toggle dimming on/off
:DimParensStatus	Show current state and debug info

Troubleshooting

Dimming not working for a language

Make sure the Treesitter parser is installed:

:TSInstall python
:TSInstall scheme
:TSInstall racket

Colors look wrong

Ensure termguicolors is enabled:

:set termguicolors

Not working on first file opened

If using event = "VeryLazy" in lazy.nvim, switch to ft = { ... }:

{
  "usefulmove/dimparens.nvim",
  ft = { "lua", "python" },  -- Instead of event = "VeryLazy"
  opts = { ... },
}

Check plugin status

Run :DimParensStatus to see:

• Whether the plugin is enabled
• The current highlight color
• Number of extmarks in the current buffer

How It Works

1. Uses Treesitter to parse the buffer and identify delimiter tokens
2. Creates extmarks with a dimmed highlight for each (, ), [, ], {, }
3. The dimmed color is calculated by blending the Normal foreground toward the background

License

MIT