How do I open a URL or file from Neovim using the system's default application?

Explanation

vim.ui.open(path_or_url) (Neovim 0.10+) opens a file path or URL using the operating system's default handler — your browser for https:// links, your file manager for directories, or the registered app for any other file type. It replaces the old Vimscript pattern of call system('xdg-open ' . shellescape(url)) with a clean, cross-platform Lua API.

How it works

• On Linux: delegates to xdg-open
• On macOS: delegates to open
• On Windows: delegates to start
• Returns a SystemObj (same as vim.system()), so you can call :wait() or attach a callback
• Neovim 0.10+ wires gx (open URL under cursor) to vim.ui.open() internally

Example

-- Open URL under cursor in default browser
vim.keymap.set('n', 'gx', function()
  local target = vim.fn.expand('<cfile>')
  vim.ui.open(target)
end, { desc = 'Open URL under cursor' })

-- Open the current file's directory in the system file manager
vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>E', function()
  vim.ui.open(vim.fn.expand('%:p:h'))
end, { desc = 'Open file manager here' })

-- Open a URL from Lua code and wait for the process to exit
vim.ui.open('https://neovim.io'):wait()

Tips

• You can override vim.ui.open with your own implementation for consistent behavior across plugins that call it
• The function is a no-op if no handler is found for the given path or URL — check the returned SystemObj.code for errors
• Pairs well with vim.fn.expand('<cfile>') to extract the file/URL under the cursor, which handles ~ expansion and file:// prefixes