Plugin config "before" loading as well as after

[gwerbin]

Traditional Vim plugins often check for some global variable like g:my_plugin#no_mappings = 1, and if it's not set, they apply a bunch of key mappings.

Lua plugins are heading in a different direction, by exposing a setup() function that gives the user precise control over when the plugin takes effect, at the cost of having to explicitly write require('my-plugin').setup() somewhere. This style of plugin works very well with Packer's use({config = ...}) option, which frees the user from having to explicitly check if the plugin is loaded.

The traditional Vim style of plugin needs configuration before the plugin is loaded. The expectation is that the user configures these settings in .vimrc/init.vim, which is loaded before plugin/*.vim in the startup sequence.

For a user who wants to reorganize their config to take advantage of the use({config = ...}) option, the need to put these settings in init.vim is a frustrating impediment.

Does anyone have a good solution for this situation? Do you just deal with it and put these settings somewhere in init.vim?

Maybe it would be possible for Packer to expose a function that gathers up use({pre_config = ...}) functions and lets you run them all in one place in init.vim, e.g. with something like require('packer').pre_config(). That way at least the main configuration file can be tidy, even if something still has to be manually invoked.

[gwerbin]

Hah! I just realized we have setup = in Packer, which runs code before the plugin is loaded. Never mind!