feat(#2994): add visual selection operations

[v3ceban]

Add visual selection operations

Closes #2994
See also: #2993

Summary

Adds first-class visual selection support to nvim-tree. Users can now V + motion to select a range of nodes and operate on them with a single keypress -- matching standard Vim visual mode behavior.

Supported operations:

• Toggle bookmark (m)
• Copy (c)
• Cut (x)
• Delete (d) -- single confirmation prompt for the entire selection
• Trash (D) -- single confirmation prompt for the entire selection

New API

Function	Description
api.marks.toggle_visual	Toggle bookmark on all visually selected nodes
api.fs.copy.visual	Copy all visually selected nodes to clipboard
api.fs.cut_visual	Cut all visually selected nodes to clipboard
api.fs.remove_visual	Delete all visually selected nodes (single prompt)
api.fs.trash_visual	Trash all visually selected nodes (single prompt)

Design

• Visual range detection uses vim.fn.line("v") / vim.fn.line(".") while in x mode, avoiding <Esc> + '</'> marks.
• Explorer:get_nodes_in_range() reuses the existing get_nodes_by_line() infrastructure.
• Descendant filtering for destructive ops: when a directory and its children are both selected, only the directory is operated on, preventing errors from attempting to remove already-deleted children.
• Single prompt for delete/trash rather than per-node confirmation.
• Visual mode is exited synchronously (nvim_feedkeys with "nx" flags) before any operation executes.
• g? help window prefixes visual mode keymaps with [v] to distinguish them from normal mode.

Files Changed

• explorer/init.lua -- Explorer:get_nodes_in_range(start_line, end_line)
• marks/init.lua -- filter_descendant_nodes(), bulk_delete_nodes(), bulk_trash_nodes()
• api/impl/post.lua -- wrap_visual_range(), wrap_visual_bulk(), API wiring
• _meta/api/fs.lua, _meta/api/marks.lua -- type annotations
• keymap.lua -- default visual mode keymaps in on_attach_default
• help.lua -- [v] prefix for visual mode keymaps

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This pull request adds first-class visual selection support to nvim-tree, allowing users to use V + motion to select a range of nodes and operate on them with a single keypress. The implementation includes support for toggle bookmark, copy, cut, delete, and trash operations on visually selected nodes.

Changes:

• Added visual mode keybindings (m, c, x, d, D) for operating on visual selections
• Implemented Explorer:get_nodes_in_range() to retrieve all nodes within a visual selection
• Created bulk operation functions bulk_delete_nodes() and bulk_trash_nodes() with single confirmation prompts
• Added descendant filtering to prevent errors when both a directory and its children are selected
• Updated help system to display visual mode keymaps with [v] prefix

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 7 out of 7 changed files in this pull request and generated 5 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
lua/nvim-tree/marks/init.lua	Adds filter_descendant_nodes, bulk_delete_nodes, and bulk_trash_nodes functions for visual selection operations
lua/nvim-tree/explorer/init.lua	Implements get_nodes_in_range method to retrieve nodes within a line range
lua/nvim-tree/api/impl/post.lua	Adds wrap_visual_range and wrap_visual_bulk wrapper functions and wires up visual API endpoints
lua/nvim-tree/keymap.lua	Defines default visual mode keymaps (x mode) for visual operations
lua/nvim-tree/help.lua	Prefixes visual mode keymaps with [v] in help window
lua/nvim-tree/_meta/api/marks.lua	Adds type annotation for toggle_visual function
lua/nvim-tree/_meta/api/fs.lua	Adds type annotations for visual, cut_visual, remove_visual, and trash_visual functions

---

💡 Add Copilot custom instructions for smarter, more guided reviews. Learn how to get started.