Blink.cmp completion setup

Intelligent code completion with Blink.cmp, including configuration for LSP, snippets, and database completions

This configuration uses blink.cmp for fast, intelligent code completion with LSP integration, snippet support, and specialized sources.

Overview

Blink.cmp is configured in lua/plugins/completions.lua with:

• Super-tab keybindings for intuitive navigation
• Ghost text for inline suggestions
• Auto-brackets for functions and methods
• Database completion integration
• LazyDev integration for Neovim Lua API completions

Key features

Super-tab preset

Tab and Shift-Tab for navigation with smart fallback

Ghost text

Inline completion previews as you type

Auto-brackets

Automatic bracket insertion for functions

LSP integration

Completions from all attached LSP servers

Keybindings

Navigation

Key	Action	Description
<Tab>	Next item	Move to next completion (super-tab)
<S-Tab>	Previous item	Move to previous completion
<C-j>	Next item	Alternative: move to next
<C-k>	Previous item	Alternative: move to previous
<CR>	Accept	Accept selected completion

The super-tab preset intelligently handles Tab for both completion navigation and snippet jumping.

Configuration

Keymap setup

lua/plugins/completions.lua

keymap = {
  preset = "super-tab",
  ["<C-j>"] = { "select_next" },
  ["<C-k>"] = { "select_prev" },
}

Completion menu

The completion menu uses a rounded border with custom column layout:

lua/plugins/completions.lua

completion = {
  menu = {
    auto_show = true,
    border = "rounded",
    scrollbar = false,
    scrolloff = 1,
    draw = {
      padding = 1,
      gap = 1,
      columns = {
        { "kind_icon" },
        { "label", "label_description", gap = 1 },
        { "kind" },
        { "source_name" },
      },
    },
  },
}

Ghost text

Ghost text shows completion previews inline:

lua/plugins/completions.lua

ghost_text = {
  enabled = true,
  show_with_menu = false,
  show_without_selection = false, -- only show when item is selected
}

Ghost text only appears when you have a completion item selected, preventing visual clutter.

Documentation window

Automatic documentation with syntax highlighting:

lua/plugins/completions.lua

documentation = {
  auto_show = true,
  auto_show_delay_ms = 200,
  treesitter_highlighting = true,
  window = {
    border = "rounded",
    scrollbar = true,
    winhighlight = "Normal:BlinkCmpDoc,FloatBorder:BlinkCmpDocBorder,EndOfBuffer:BlinkCmpDoc",
  },
}

Completion sources

Multiple sources provide completions from different contexts:

Default sources

lua/plugins/completions.lua

sources = {
  default = { "lazydev", "lsp", "path", "snippets", "buffer" },
}

1. LazyDev

   Provides completions for Neovim Lua API (vim.*, require(), etc.) with higher priority (score_offset = 100)

2. LSP

   Completions from all attached LSP servers with support for markdown_oxide keyword patterns

3. Path

   File path completions for require statements and file paths

4. Snippets

   Custom snippets from ~/.config/nvim/after/snippets

5. Buffer

   Words from the current buffer and other open buffers

Database completions

Special configuration for SQL files:

lua/plugins/completions.lua

per_filetype = {
  sql = { "dadbod", "snippets", "buffer" },
  mysql = { "dadbod", "snippets", "buffer" },
  plpgsql = { "dadbod", "snippets", "buffer" },
}

When editing SQL files, completions come from vim-dadbod for table/column names from your connected databases.

Provider configuration

lua/plugins/completions.lua

providers = {
  lazydev = { 
    name = "LazyDev", 
    module = "lazydev.integrations.blink", 
    score_offset = 100 
  },
  dadbod = { 
    name = "Dadbod", 
    module = "vim_dadbod_completion.blink" 
  },
  snippets = {
    opts = {
      search_paths = { vim.fn.stdpath("config") .. "/after/snippets" },
    },
  },
  lsp = {
    name = "LSP",
    module = "blink.cmp.sources.lsp",
    opts = {
      markdown_oxide = {
        keyword_pattern = [[\(\k\| \|\/\|#\)\+]],
      },
    },
  },
}

Function signatures

Signature help appears automatically when typing function arguments:

lua/plugins/completions.lua

signature = {
  enabled = true,
  window = {
    show_documentation = true,
    border = "rounded",
  },
}

Auto-brackets

Functions and methods automatically insert brackets:

lua/plugins/completions.lua

accept = {
  auto_brackets = {
    enabled = true,
  },
}

When you accept a function completion, brackets are added automatically:

• print → print(|) (cursor inside brackets)
• require → require("|")

Command-line completion

Command-line completion is disabled in favor of mini.cmdline:

lua/plugins/completions.lua

cmdline = {
  enabled = false, -- mini.cmdline has better options, with previews
}

See the mini.nvim configuration for command-line completion with live previews.

Performance

Blink.cmp uses Rust-based fuzzy matching for speed:

lua/plugins/completions.lua

fuzzy = { implementation = "prefer_rust_with_warning" }

Dependencies

lua/plugins/completions.lua

dependencies = {
  "folke/lazydev.nvim",
  "nvim-mini/mini.nvim",
}

LazyDev

Provides Neovim Lua API completions for plugin development

Mini.nvim

Provides icons and additional utilities

Troubleshooting

Completions not appearing

1. Check LSP is attached: :LspInfo
2. Verify sources are loaded: Check for errors in :messages
3. Try triggering manually with <C-Space> if configured

Ghost text not showing

Ghost text only appears when:

• A completion item is selected
• The menu is not open (or show_with_menu = true)

This is intentional to reduce visual clutter.

Database completions missing

1. Ensure vim-dadbod and vim-dadbod-completion are installed
2. Connect to a database using :DBUI
3. Verify the buffer filetype is set to sql, mysql, or plpgsql

Related plugins

Editing helpers

Autopairs and snippet navigation

LSP configuration

LSP server setup and configuration