*syntastic.txt* Syntax checking on the fly has never been so pimp. *syntastic* It's a bird! It's a plane! ZOMG It's ... ~ _____ __ __ _ ~ / ___/__ ______ / /_____ ______/ /_(_)____ ~ \__ \/ / / / __ \/ __/ __ `/ ___/ __/ / ___/ ~ ___/ / /_/ / / / / /_/ /_/ (__ ) /_/ / /__ ~ /____/\__, /_/ /_/\__/\__,_/____/\__/_/\___/ ~ /____/ ~ Reference Manual~ ============================================================================== CONTENTS *syntastic-contents* 1.Intro........................................|syntastic-intro| 1.1.Quick start............................|syntastic-quickstart| 1.2.Recommended settings...................|syntastic-recommended| 2.Functionality provided.......................|syntastic-functionality| 2.1.The statusline flag....................|syntastic-statusline-flag| 2.2.Error signs............................|syntastic-error-signs| 2.3.Error window...........................|syntastic-error-window| 2.4.Error highlighting.....................|syntastic-highlighting| 2.5.Aggregating errors.....................|syntastic-aggregating-errors| 2.6.Filtering errors.......................|syntastic-filtering-errors| 3.Commands.....................................|syntastic-commands| 4.Global Options...............................|syntastic-global-options| 5.Checker Options..............................|syntastic-checker-options| 5.1.Choosing which checkers to use.........|syntastic-filetype-checkers| 5.2.Choosing the executable................|syntastic-config-exec| 5.3.Configuring specific checkers..........|syntastic-config-makeprg| 5.4.Sorting errors.........................|syntastic-config-sort| 6.Notes........................................|syntastic-notes| 6.1.Handling of composite filetypes........|syntastic-composite| 6.2.Editing files over network.............|syntastic-netrw| 6.3.The 'shellslash' option................|syntastic-shellslash| 6.4.Saving Vim sessions....................|syntastic-sessions| 7.Compatibility with other software............|syntastic-compatibility| 7.1.The csh and tcsh shells................|syntastic-csh| 7.2.Eclim..................................|syntastic-eclim| 7.3.The fish shell.........................|syntastic-fish| 7.4.The fizsh shell........................|syntastic-fizsh| 7.5.powerline..............................|syntastic-powerline| 7.6.The PowerShell shell...................|syntastic-powershell| 7.7.python-mode............................|syntastic-pymode| 7.8.vim-auto-save..........................|syntastic-vim-auto-save| 7.9.vim-go.................................|syntastic-vim-go| 7.10.vim-virtualenv........................|syntastic-vim-virtualenv| 7.11.YouCompleteMe.........................|syntastic-ycm| 7.12.The zsh shell and rvm.................|syntastic-zsh| 8.About........................................|syntastic-about| 9.License......................................|syntastic-license| ============================================================================== 1. Intro *syntastic-intro* Syntastic is a syntax checking plugin that runs files through external syntax checkers. This can be done on demand, or automatically as files are saved and opened. If syntax errors are detected, the user is notified and is happy because they didn't have to compile their code or execute their script to find them. Syntastic comes in two parts: the syntax checker plugins, and the core. The syntax checker plugins are defined on a per-filetype basis where each one wraps up an external syntax checking program. The core script delegates off to these plugins and uses their output to provide the syntastic functionality. Take a look at the wiki for a list of supported filetypes and checkers: https://github.com/scrooloose/syntastic/wiki/Syntax-Checkers Note: This doc only deals with using syntastic. To learn how to write syntax checker integrations, see the guide on the GitHub wiki: https://github.com/scrooloose/syntastic/wiki/Syntax-Checker-Guide ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1.1. Quick start *syntastic-quickstart* Syntastic comes preconfigured with a default list of enabled checkers per filetype. This list is kept reasonably short to prevent slowing down Vim or trying to use conflicting checkers. You can see the list of checkers available for the current filetype with the |:SyntasticInfo| command. You probably want to override the configured list of checkers for the filetypes you use, and also change the arguments passed to specific checkers to suit your needs. See |syntastic-checker-options| below for details. Use |:SyntasticCheck| to manually check right now. Use |:Errors| to open the |location-list| window, and |:lclose| to close it. You can clear the error list with |:SyntasticReset|, and you can use |:SyntasticToggleMode| to switch between active (checking on writing the buffer) and passive (manual) checking. You don't have to switch focus to the |location-list| window to jump to the different errors. Vim provides several built-in commands for this, for example |:lnext| and |:lprevious|. You may want to add shortcut mappings for these commands, or perhaps install a plugin such as Tim Pope's 'unimpaired' (see https://github.com/tpope/vim-unimpaired) that provides such mappings. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1.2. Recommended settings *syntastic-recommended* Syntastic has a large number of options that can be configured, and the defaults are not particularly well suitable for new users. It is recommended that you start by adding the following lines to your vimrc, and return to them later as needed: > set statusline+=%#warningmsg# set statusline+=%{SyntasticStatuslineFlag()} set statusline+=%* let g:syntastic_always_populate_loc_list = 1 let g:syntastic_auto_loc_list = 1 let g:syntastic_check_on_open = 1 let g:syntastic_check_on_wq = 0 < ============================================================================== 2. Functionality provided *syntastic-functionality* Syntax checking can be done automatically or on demand (see |'syntastic_mode_map'| and |:SyntasticToggleMode| for configuring this). When syntax checking is done, the features below can be used to notify the user of errors. See |syntastic-global-options| for how to configure and activate/deactivate these features. * A statusline flag * Signs beside lines with errors * The |location-list| can be populated with the errors for the associated buffer * Erroneous parts of lines can be highlighted (this functionality is only provided by some syntax checkers) * Balloons (if the |+balloon_eval| feature is compiled in) can be used to display error messages for erroneous lines when hovering the mouse over them * Error messages from multiple checkers can be aggregated in a single list ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2.1. The statusline flag *syntastic-statusline-flag* To use the statusline flag, this must appear in your |'statusline'| setting > %{SyntasticStatuslineFlag()} < Something like this could be more useful: > set statusline+=%#warningmsg# set statusline+=%{SyntasticStatuslineFlag()} set statusline+=%* < When syntax errors are detected a flag will be shown. The content of the flag is derived from the |syntastic_stl_format| option. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2.2. Error signs *syntastic-error-signs* Syntastic uses the |:sign| commands to mark lines with errors and warnings in the sign column. To enable this feature, use the |'syntastic_enable_signs'| option. Signs are colored using the Error and Todo syntax highlight groups by default. If you wish to customize the colors for the signs, you can use the following groups: SyntasticErrorSign - For syntax errors, links to 'error' by default SyntasticWarningSign - For syntax warnings, links to 'todo' by default SyntasticStyleErrorSign - For style errors, links to 'SyntasticErrorSign' by default SyntasticStyleWarningSign - For style warnings, links to 'SyntasticWarningSign' by default Example: > highlight SyntasticErrorSign guifg=white guibg=red < To set up highlighting for the line where a sign resides, you can use the following highlight groups: SyntasticErrorLine SyntasticWarningLine SyntasticStyleErrorLine - Links to 'SyntasticErrorLine' by default SyntasticStyleWarningLine - Links to 'SyntasticWarningLine' by default Example: > highlight SyntasticErrorLine guibg=#2f0000 < ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2.3. The error window *syntastic-error-window* You can use the |:Errors| command to display the errors for the current buffer in the |location-list|. Note that when you use |:Errors| the current location list is overwritten with Syntastic's own location list. The location list is also overwritten when |syntastic_auto_jump| is non-zero and the cursor has to jump to an issue. By default syntastic doesn't fill the |location-list| with the errors found by the checkers, in order to reduce clashes with other plugins. Consequently, if you run |:lopen| or |:lwindow| rather than |:Errors| to open the error window you wouldn't see syntastic's list of errors. If you insist on using |:lopen| or |:lwindow| you should either run |:SyntasticSetLoclist| after running the checks, or set |syntastic_always_populate_loc_list| which tells syntastic to update the |location-list| automatically. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2.4. Error highlighting *syntastic-highlighting* Some checkers provide enough information for syntastic to be able to highlight errors. By default the SpellBad syntax highlight group is used to color errors, and the SpellCap group is used for warnings. If you wish to customize the colors for highlighting you can use the following groups: SyntasticError - Links to 'SpellBad' by default SyntasticWarning - Links to 'SpellCap' by default SyntasticStyleError - Links to SyntasticError by default SyntasticStyleWarning - Links to SyntasticWarning by default Example: > highlight SyntasticError guibg=#2f0000 < ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2.5. Aggregating errors *syntastic-aggregating-errors* By default, namely if |'syntastic_aggregate_errors'| is unset, syntastic runs in turn the checkers corresponding to the filetype of the current file (see |syntastic-filetype-checkers|), and stops as soon as a checker reports any errors. It then notifies you of the errors using the notification mechanisms above. In this mode error lists are always produced by a single checker, and, if you open the error window, the name of the checker that generated the errors is shown on the statusline of the error window. If |'syntastic_aggregate_errors'| is set, syntastic runs all checkers that apply (still cf. |syntastic-filetype-checkers|), then aggregates errors found by all checkers in a single list, and notifies you. In this mode each error message is labeled with the name of the checker that generated it, but you can disable generation of these labels by turning off '|syntastic_id_checkers|'. If |'syntastic_sort_aggregated_errors'| is set (which is the default), messages in the aggregated list are grouped by file, then sorted by line number, then type, then column number. Otherwise messages produced by the same checker are grouped together, and sorting within each group is decided by the variables |'syntastic___sort'|. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2.6 Filtering errors *syntastic-filtering-errors* You can selectively disable some of the errors found by checkers either using |'syntastic_quiet_messages'|, or by specifying a list of patterns in |'syntastic_ignore_files'|. See also: |'syntastic___quiet_messages'|. ============================================================================== 3. Commands *syntastic-commands* :Errors *:Errors* When errors have been detected, use this command to pop up the |location-list| and display the error messages. Please note that the |:Errors| command overwrites the current location list with syntastic's own location list. :SyntasticToggleMode *:SyntasticToggleMode* Toggles syntastic between active and passive mode. See |'syntastic_mode_map'| for more info. :SyntasticCheck *:SyntasticCheck* Manually cause a syntax check to be done. By default the checkers in the |'g:syntastic__checkers'| or |'b:syntastic_checkers'| lists are run, cf. |syntastic-filetype-checkers|. If |syntastic_aggregate_errors| is unset (which is the default), checking stops the first time a checker reports any errors; if |syntastic_aggregate_errors| is set, all checkers that apply are run in turn, and all errors found are aggregated in a single list. The command may be followed by a (space separated) list of checkers. In this case |'g:syntastic__checkers'| and |'b:syntastic_checkers'| are ignored, and the checkers named by the command's arguments are run instead, in the order specified. The rules of |syntastic_aggregate_errors| still apply. Example: > :SyntasticCheck flake8 pylint < :SyntasticInfo *:SyntasticInfo* The command takes an optional argument, and outputs information about the checkers available for the filetype named by said argument, or for the current filetype if no argument was provided. :SyntasticReset *:SyntasticReset* Resets the list of errors and turns off all error notifiers. :SyntasticSetLoclist *:SyntasticSetLoclist* If |'syntastic_always_populate_loc_list'| is not set, the |location-list| is not filled in automatically with the list of errors detected by the checkers. This is useful if you run syntastic along with other plugins that use location lists. The |:SyntasticSetLoclist| command allows you to stick the errors into the location list explicitly. ============================================================================== 4. Global Options *syntastic-global-options* *'syntastic_check_on_open'* Default: 0 If enabled, syntastic will do syntax checks when buffers are first loaded as well as on saving > let g:syntastic_check_on_open = 1 < *'syntastic_check_on_wq'* Default: 1 Normally syntastic runs syntax checks whenever buffers are written to disk. If you want to skip these checks when you issue |:wq|, |:x|, and |:ZZ|, set this variable to 0. > let g:syntastic_check_on_wq = 0 < *'syntastic_aggregate_errors'* Default: 0 When enabled, syntastic runs all checkers that apply to the current filetype, then aggregates errors found by all checkers and displays them. When disabled, syntastic runs each checker in turn, and stops to display the results the first time a checker finds any errors. > let g:syntastic_aggregate_errors = 1 < *'syntastic_id_checkers'* Default: 1 When results from multiple checkers are aggregated in a single error list (that is either when |syntastic_aggregate_errors| is enabled, or when checking a file with a composite filetype), it might not be immediately obvious which checker has produced a given error message. This variable instructs syntastic to label error messages with the names of the checkers that created them. > let g:syntastic_id_checkers = 0 < *'syntastic_sort_aggregated_errors'* Default: 1 By default, when results from multiple checkers are aggregated in a single error list (that is either when |syntastic_aggregate_errors| is enabled, or when checking a file with a composite filetype), errors are grouped by file, then sorted by line number, then grouped by type (namely errors take precedence over warnings), then they are sorted by column number. If you want to leave messages grouped by checker output, set this variable to 0. > let g:syntastic_sort_aggregated_errors = 0 < *'syntastic_echo_current_error'* Default: 1 If enabled, syntastic will echo current error to the command window. If multiple errors are found on the same line, |syntastic_cursor_columns| is used to decide which one is shown. > let g:syntastic_echo_current_error = 1 < *'syntastic_cursor_columns'* Default: 1 This option controls which errors are echoed to the command window if |syntastic_echo_current_error| is set and multiple errors are found on the same line. When the option is enabled, the first error corresponding to the current column is show. Otherwise, the first error on the current line is echoed, regardless of the cursor position on the current line. When dealing with very large lists of errors, disabling this option can speed up navigation significantly: > let g:syntastic_cursor_column = 0 < *'syntastic_enable_signs'* Default: 1 Use this option to tell syntastic whether to use the |:sign| interface to mark syntax errors: > let g:syntastic_enable_signs = 1 < *'syntastic_error_symbol'* *'syntastic_style_error_symbol'* *'syntastic_warning_symbol'* *'syntastic_style_warning_symbol'* Use this option to control what the syntastic |:sign| text contains. Several error symbols can be customized: syntastic_error_symbol - For syntax errors, defaults to '>>' syntastic_style_error_symbol - For style errors, defaults to 'S>' syntastic_warning_symbol - For syntax warnings, defaults to '>>' syntastic_style_warning_symbol - For style warnings, defaults to 'S>' Example: > let g:syntastic_error_symbol = "✗" let g:syntastic_warning_symbol = "⚠" < *'syntastic_enable_balloons'* Default: 1 Use this option to tell syntastic whether to display error messages in balloons when the mouse is hovered over erroneous lines: > let g:syntastic_enable_balloons = 1 < Note that Vim must be compiled with |+balloon_eval|. *'syntastic_enable_highlighting'* Default: 1 Use this option to tell syntastic whether to use syntax highlighting to mark errors (where possible). Highlighting can be turned off with the following > let g:syntastic_enable_highlighting = 0 < *'syntastic_always_populate_loc_list'* Default: 0 Enable this option to tell syntastic to always stick any detected errors into the |location-list|: > let g:syntastic_always_populate_loc_list = 1 < *'syntastic_auto_jump'* Default: 0 Enable this option if you want the cursor to jump to the first detected issue when saving or opening a file. When set to 0 the cursor won't jump automatically. > let g:syntastic_auto_jump = 0 < When set to 1 the cursor will always jump to the first issue detected, regardless of type. > let g:syntastic_auto_jump = 1 < When set to 2 the cursor will jump to the first issue detected, but only if this issue is an error. > let g:syntastic_auto_jump = 2 < When set to 3 the cursor will jump to the first error detected, if any. If all issues detected are warnings, the cursor won't jump. > let g:syntastic_auto_jump = 3 < *'syntastic_auto_loc_list'* Default: 2 Use this option to tell syntastic to automatically open and/or close the |location-list| (see |syntastic-error-window|). When set to 0 the error window will not be opened or closed automatically. > let g:syntastic_auto_loc_list = 0 < When set to 1 the error window will be automatically opened when errors are detected, and closed when none are detected. > let g:syntastic_auto_loc_list = 1 < When set to 2 the error window will be automatically closed when no errors are detected, but not opened automatically. > let g:syntastic_auto_loc_list = 2 < *'syntastic_loc_list_height'* Default: 10 Use this option to specify the height of the location lists that syntastic opens. > let g:syntastic_loc_list_height = 5 < *'syntastic_ignore_files'* Default: [] Use this option to specify files that syntastic should never check. It's a list of |regular-expression| patterns. The full paths of files (see |::p|) are matched against these patterns, and the matches are case sensitive. Use |\c| to specify case insensitive patterns. Example: > let g:syntastic_ignore_files = ['\m^/usr/include/', '\m\c\.h$'] < *'syntastic_filetype_map'* Default: {} Use this option to map non-standard filetypes to standard ones. Corresponding checkers are mapped accordingly, which allows syntastic to check files with non-standard filetypes: > let g:syntastic_filetype_map = { \ "plaintex": "tex", \ "gentoo-metadata": "xml" } < Composite filetypes can also be mapped to simple types, which disables the default behaviour of running both checkers against the input file: > let g:syntastic_filetype_map = { "handlebars.html": "handlebars" } < *'syntastic_mode_map'* Default: { "mode": "active", "active_filetypes": [], "passive_filetypes": [] } Use this option to fine tune when automatic syntax checking is done (or not done). The option should be set to something like: > let g:syntastic_mode_map = { \ "mode": "active", \ "active_filetypes": ["ruby", "php"], \ "passive_filetypes": ["puppet"] } < "mode" can be mapped to one of two values - "active" or "passive". When set to "active", syntastic does automatic checking whenever a buffer is saved or initially opened. When set to "passive" syntastic only checks when the user calls |:SyntasticCheck|. The exceptions to these rules are defined with "active_filetypes" and "passive_filetypes". In passive mode, automatic checks are still done for filetypes in the "active_filetypes" array (and "passive_filetypes" is ignored). In active mode, automatic checks are not done for any filetypes in the "passive_filetypes" array ("active_filetypes" is ignored). If any of "mode", "active_filetypes", or "passive_filetypes" are left unspecified, they default to values above. If local variable |'b:syntastic_mode'| is defined its value takes precedence over all calculations involving |'syntastic_mode_map'| for the corresponding buffer. At runtime, the |:SyntasticToggleMode| command can be used to switch between active and passive modes. *'b:syntastic_mode'* Default: unset Only the local form |'b:syntastic_mode'| is used. When set to either "active" or "passive", it takes precedence over |'syntastic_mode_map'| when deciding whether the corresponding buffer should be checked automatically. *'syntastic_quiet_messages'* Default: {} Use this option to filter out some of the messages produced by checkers. The option should be set to something like: > let g:syntastic_quiet_messages = { \ "!level": "errors", \ "type": "style", \ "regex": '\m\[C03\d\d\]', \ "file:p": ['\m^/usr/include/', '\m\c\.h$'] } < Each element turns off messages matching the patterns specified by the corresponding value. Values are lists, but if a list consist of a single element you may omit the brackets (e.g. you may write "style" instead of ["style"]). Elements with values [] or '' are ignored (this is useful for overriding filters, cf. |filter-overrides|). "level" - takes one of two values, "warnings" or "errors" "type" - can be either "syntax" or "style" "regex" - is matched against the messages' text as a case insensitive |regular-expression| "file" - is matched against the filenames the messages refer to, as a case sensitive |regular-expression|. If a key is prefixed by an exclamation mark "!", the corresponding filter is negated (i.e. the above example silences all messages that are NOT errors). The "file" key may be followed by one or more filename modifiers (see |filename-modifiers|). The modifiers are applied to the filenames the messages refer to before matching against the value (i.e. in the above example the full path of the issues are matched against '\m^/usr/include/' and '\m\c\.h$'). If |'syntastic_id_checkers'| is set, filters are applied before error messages are labeled with the names of the checkers that created them. There are also checker-specific variants of this option, providing finer control. They are named |'syntastic___quiet_messages'|. For a particular checker, if both a |'syntastic_quiet_messages'| filter and a checker-specific filter are present, they are both applied (to the list of errors produced by the said checker). In case of conflicting values for the same keys, the values of the checker-specific filters take precedence. *filter-overrides* Since filter elements with values [] or '' are ignored, you can disable global filters for particular checkers, by setting the values of the corresponding elements in |'syntastic___quiet_messages'| to [] or ''. For example, the following setting will silence all warnings, except for the ones produced by "pylint": > let g:syntastic_quiet_messages = { "level": "warnings" } let g:syntastic_python_pylint_quiet_messages = { "level" : [] } < *'syntastic_stl_format'* Default: [Syntax: line:%F (%t)] Use this option to control what the syntastic statusline text contains. Several magic flags are available to insert information: %e - number of errors %w - number of warnings %t - total number of warnings and errors %fe - line number of first error %fw - line number of first warning %F - line number of first warning or error Several additional flags are available to hide text under certain conditions: %E{...} - hide the text in the brackets unless there are errors %W{...} - hide the text in the brackets unless there are warnings %B{...} - hide the text in the brackets unless there are both warnings AND errors These flags can't be nested. Example: > let g:syntastic_stl_format = '[%E{Err: %fe #%e}%B{, }%W{Warn: %fw #%w}]' < If this format is used and the current buffer has 5 errors and 1 warning starting on lines 20 and 10 respectively then this would appear on the statusline: > [Err: 20 #5, Warn: 10 #1] < If the buffer had 2 warnings, starting on line 5 then this would appear: > [Warn: 5 #2] < *'b:syntastic_skip_checks'* Default: unset Only the local form |'b:syntastic_skip_checks'| is used. When set to a true value, no checks are run against the corresponding buffer. Example: > let b:syntastic_skip_checks = 1 < *'syntastic_full_redraws'* Default: 0 in GUI Vim and MacVim, 1 otherwise Controls whether syntastic calls |:redraw| or |:redraw!| for screen redraws. Changing it can in principle make screen redraws smoother, but it can also cause screen to flicker, or cause ghost characters. Leaving it to the default should be safe. *'syntastic_exit_checks'* Default: 0 when running under "cmd.exe" on Windows, 1 otherwise Syntastic attempts to catch abnormal termination conditions from checkers by looking at their exit codes. The "cmd.exe" shell on Windows make these checks meaningless, by returning 1 to Vim when the checkers exit with non-zero codes. The above variable can be used to disable exit code checks in syntastic. *'syntastic_shell'* Default: Vim's 'shell' This is the (full path to) the shell syntastic will use to run the checkers. On UNIX and Mac OS-X this shell must accept Bourne-compatible syntax for file "stdout" and "stderr" redirections ">file" and "2>file". Examples of compatible shells are "zsh", "bash", "ksh", and of course the original Bourne "sh". This shell is independent of Vim's 'shell', and it isn't used for interactive operations. It must take care to initialize all environment variables needed by the checkers you're using. Example: > let g:syntastic_shell = "/bin/sh" < *'syntastic_debug'* Default: 0 Set this to the sum of one or more of the following flags to enable debugging: 1 - trace general workflow 2 - dump location lists 4 - trace notifiers 8 - trace autocommands 16 - dump options 32 - trace running of specific checkers Example: > let g:syntastic_debug = 1 < Syntastic will then add debugging messages to Vim's |message-history|. You can examine these messages with |:mes|. *'syntastic_debug_file'* Default: unset When set, debugging messages are written to the file named by its value, in addition to being added to Vim's |message-history|: > let g:syntastic_debug_file = '~/syntastic.log' < *'syntastic_extra_filetypes'* Default: [] List of filetypes handled by checkers external to syntastic. If you have a Vim plugin that adds a checker for syntastic, and if the said checker deals with a filetype that is unknown to syntastic, you might consider adding that filetype to this list: > let g:syntastic_extra_filetypes = [ "make", "gitcommit" ] < This will allow |:SyntasticInfo| to do proper tab completion for the new filetypes. ============================================================================== 5. Checker Options *syntastic-checker-options* ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5.1 Choosing which checkers to use *syntastic-filetype-checkers* *'g:syntastic__checkers'* You can tell syntastic which checkers to run for a given filetype by setting a variable 'g:syntastic__checkers' to a list of checkers, e.g. > let g:syntastic_php_checkers = ["php", "phpcs", "phpmd"] < *'b:syntastic_checkers'* There is also a per-buffer version of this setting, 'b:syntastic_checkers'. When set, it takes precedence over |'g:syntastic__checkers'|. You can use this in an autocmd to configure specific checkers for particular paths: > autocmd FileType python if stridx(expand("%:p"), "/some/path/") == 0 | \ let b:syntastic_checkers = ["pylint"] | endif < If neither |'g:syntastic__checkers'| nor |'b:syntastic_checkers'| is set, a default list of checker is used. Beware however that this list deliberately kept minimal, for performance reasons. Take a look at the wiki to find out what checkers and filetypes are supported by syntastic: https://github.com/scrooloose/syntastic/wiki/Syntax-Checkers Use |:SyntasticInfo| to see which checkers are available for a given filetype. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5.2 Choosing the executable *syntastic-config-exec* *'syntastic___exec'* The executable run by a checker is normally defined automatically, when the checker is registered. You can however override it, by setting the variable 'g:syntastic___exec': > let g:syntastic_ruby_mri_exec = '~/bin/ruby2' < This variable has a local version, 'b:syntastic___exec', which takes precedence over the global one in the corresponding buffer. *'b:syntastic__exec'* And there is also a local variable named 'b:syntastic__exec', which takes precedence over both 'b:syntastic___exec' and 'g:syntastic___exec' in the buffers where it is defined. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5.3 Configuring specific checkers *syntastic-config-makeprg* Most checkers use the 'makeprgBuild()' function and provide many options by default - in fact you can customise every part of the command that gets called. *'syntastic___