How do I diagnose plugin and system issues from within Neovim using the built-in health checker?

Explanation

Neovim ships with a built-in health framework that runs diagnostic checks for core components and installed plugins. Running :checkhealth opens a read-only buffer with a report showing what is working, what is degraded, and what is broken — with actionable suggestions for each issue.

This eliminates the guesswork of debugging why a plugin isn't working, a language server fails to start, or a system dependency is missing.

How it works

• :checkhealth — run all available health checks and display the report
• :checkhealth {module} — run checks for a specific module only
• Results are color-coded: OK, WARNING, and ERROR sections
• Each error includes a recommendation on how to fix it

Example

:checkhealth           " full report
:checkhealth nvim      " only Neovim core checks
:checkhealth telescope " only telescope.nvim checks
:checkhealth lsp       " only LSP-related checks

Example output:

## nvim
  - OK: Terminal reports background color

## provider: clipboard
  - WARNING: No clipboard tool found
    ADVICE: Install xclip, xsel, or win32yank

Tips

• Run :checkhealth after installing a new plugin or language server to catch setup issues immediately
• Use :checkhealth provider to diagnose Python, Ruby, and Node.js provider issues
• The output buffer is fully navigable — use / to search for ERROR or WARNING
• Press q or :q to close the health check buffer when done
• Plugins can register their own checks via require('module.health').check()