nvim-log-insert: A Neovim Plugin That Writes Your console.log Statements For You

If you spend your day in JavaScript or TypeScript, you already know the drill: you need to check what a variable actually is at runtime, so you type out console.log(...), and if you want it to actually be useful later — which file, which line, which function — you end up typing something like:

console.log('🚀 🐞 ~ file: app.js:10 ~ anonymous ~ myVar:', myVar);

Typing that by hand, every time, for every variable you want to inspect, gets old fast. nvim-log-insert exists so I never have to type it again — put the cursor on a variable, hit <leader>log, done.

What it actually does #

Put your cursor on a variable name and press <leader>log. The plugin drops a fully-formed log statement onto the next line, already filled in with the current filename, line number, the enclosing function (when it can find one), and the variable under the cursor:

console.log('🚀 🐞 ~ file: app.js:10 ~ anonymous ~ myVar:', myVar);

No more manually typing the filename, guessing the line number, or forgetting to actually include the variable name in the log message itself.

Installation #

Using Lazy.nvim:

return {
  "sabinsthnp/nvim-log-insert",
  config = function()
    require("nvim-log-insert").setup()
  end,
},

Using Packer.nvim:

use {
  "sabinsthnp/nvim-log-insert",
  config = function()
    require("nvim-log-insert").setup()
  end,
}

Or manually:

git clone https://github.com/sabinsthnp/nvim-log-insert ~/.config/nvim/pack/plugins/start/log-insert.nvim

require("log-insert").setup()

How it works under the hood #

The whole plugin is one setup() function that registers a normal-mode keymap:

-- lua/nvim-log-insert/init.lua
local M = {}
 
M.setup = function()
  vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>log', function()
    local file_name = vim.fn.expand('%:t')
    local line_number = vim.fn.line('.')
    local variable_name = vim.fn.expand('<cword>')
    local func_name = vim.b.lsp_current_function or 'anonymous'
 
    local log_statement = string.format(
      "console.log('🚀 🐞 ~ file: %s:%d ~ %s ~ %s:', %s);",
      file_name, line_number, func_name, variable_name, variable_name
    )
 
    vim.api.nvim_put({ log_statement }, 'l', true, true)
  end, { desc = 'Insert detailed console.log statement' })
end
 
return M

Four Neovim built-ins do all the actual work:

• vim.fn.expand('%:t') — the current buffer's filename (just the tail, e.g. app.js, not the full path).
• vim.fn.line('.') — the cursor's current line number.
• vim.fn.expand('<cword>') — the word currently under the cursor, which is what gets logged.
• vim.api.nvim_put(...) — inserts the finished string as a new line right below the cursor.

The pieces get formatted into the log string with string.format, and that's the entire plugin — no dependencies, no config options, just one keymap doing exactly one job.

Contributing #

If you want to add something — actual function-name detection without relying on lsp_current_function, support for languages beyond JS/TS, configurable log formats — fork it and branch off:

git checkout -b feature/new-feature

As the README puts it: I am all ears.

Key takeaways #

• A plugin doesn't need to be big to be useful — this is four vim.fn/vim.api calls and a string.format, and it removes a genuinely repetitive bit of typing.
• Leaning on Neovim's own built-ins (expand, line, nvim_put) means zero external dependencies.
• Being upfront about a limitation (the anonymous fallback) in the README/output is better than pretending the function-name detection is smarter than it is.

Links #

• Repository: github.com/sabinsthnp/nvim-log-insert