Combine conditions of LuaSnip with the detection of loaded packages and surrounding environment of VimTeX

[kiryph]

If you want to create snippets for packages, e.g. for tkz-euclide with lengthy command names like \tkzDrawSectorRwithNodesAngles, but do not want to pollute the completion menu in documents not using this package and outside of relevant environments (here tikz), you can do this the following way:

-- ~/.config/nvim/snippets/tex.lua
-- assuming you use the loader of LuaSnip which adds s, t, i to the global namespace

local make_condition = require('luasnip.extras.conditions').make_condition

local tex = {}

tex.tkz_euclide_loaded = make_condition(function()
  if vim.b.vimtex.packages['tkz-euclide'] then
    return true
  else
    return false
  end
end)

-- since June 2025 VimTeX parses package options as well.
-- So you can also define conditions taking them into account. Example tkz-euclide with 'mini'

tex.tkz_euclide_all_loaded = make_condition(function()
  -- i.e. package option mini was not given
  if vim.b.vimtex.packages['tkz-euclide'] and not vim.b.vimtex.packages['tkz-euclide']['mini'] then
    return true
  else
    return false
  end
end)


local function env(name)
  local is_inside = vim.fn['vimtex#env#is_inside'](name)
  return (is_inside[1] > 0 and is_inside[2] > 0)
end

tex.in_tikz = make_condition(function()
  return env 'tikzpicture'
end)

return {
  -- TikZ
  s('node', {
    t '\\node {',
    i(1),
    t '};',
  }, { condition = tex.in_tikz, show_condition = tex.in_tikz }),
  -- tkz-euclide mini
  s('tkzDefPoint', {
    t '\\tkzDefPoint(',
    i(1),
    t ',',
    i(2),
    t '){',
    i(3),
    t '}',
  }, {
    condition = tex.in_tikz * tex.tkz_euclide_loaded,
    show_condition = tex.in_tikz * tex.tkz_euclide_loaded,
  }),
  -- tkz-euclide full (i.e. package option mini is not given)
  s('tkzDefMidPoint', {
    t '\\tkzDefMidPoint(',
    i(1),
    t ',',
    i(2),
    t ')',
  }, {
    condition = tex.in_tikz * tex.tkz_euclide_all_loaded,
    show_condition = tex.in_tikz * tex.tkz_euclide_all_loaded,
  }),
}

Note * means and. See :h luasnip-extra-conditions

At the moment this is only to show how to define the conditions. Defining the snippets is left to the user. But improvements are welcome.

[lervag]

Thanks for sharing! I don't use Luasnip myself (I probably should, though). 😅

[kiryph]

I was impressed by Gilles Castel UltiSnips to write quickly math. There are conversions of them to LuaSnip by iurimateus and by evesdropper.

(I probably should, though).

If you are interested in getting started with LuaSnip, I think following tutorial can help https://ejmastnak.com/tutorials/vim-latex/luasnip/

IMHO they make a strong case for using snippets when creating LaTeX documents.

I could imagine that for TikZ similar snippet-based approaches can speed things up, even though I can completely understand that many prefer GUIs such as Inkscape for creating pictures.

[lervag]

I was impressed by Gilles Castel UltiSnips to write quickly math.

Yes, I think a lot of people, myself included, were impressed by him. He was clearly a very gifted person!

(I probably should, though).

If you are interested in getting started with LuaSnip, I think following tutorial can help https://ejmastnak.com/tutorials/vim-latex/luasnip/

Thanks, that's a good suggestion.

IMHO they make a strong case for using snippets when creating LaTeX documents.

After leaving academia I currently write almost no LaTeX documents. But yes, snippets are very useful and for those who write a lot of LaTeX I think they can be a significant boost to productivity.

I could imagine that for TikZ similar snippet-based approaches can speed things up, even though I can completely understand that many prefer GUIs such as Inkscape for creating pictures.

Agreed. I have generally been very impressed by TikZ and ended up preferring it to Inkscape and similar.