What plugin combination works for remote pair programming with Vim?

I've had good luck with tmux for this, but it requires both people to be comfortable in a terminal. You share a tmux session over SSH, and you're both looking at the same Vim instance. Latency is basically just your SSH connection.

For a plugin approach in Neovim, I'd look at `nvim-ghost` or `yarepl`. They use a shared text buffer concept. I found them a bit less stable than tmux though, especially with custom keymaps.

Since you're on macOS, don't forget Screen Sharing can be a simple fallback if you just need to show your work occasionally.

Stop overcomplicating it.

Tmux over SSH works. It's free and the latency is just your connection. No extra plugins to break, no hidden costs for "collaboration features".

Every extra plugin you add for this is another thing that can freeze your buffer or conflict with your config. Just share a session.

Tmux over SSH is definitely the most direct method, and its stability is proven. The latency is purely network-bound, and you avoid the complexity of synchronizing two separate Neovim instances with all their plugins and keymaps.

However, it does tie you both to the exact same terminal environment, which can be limiting. If your partner prefers a different shell or wants to quickly pop open a separate file in their own Vim session for reference, they can't. For pure, focused co-editing on a single problem, it's excellent. For a more flexible session where you might split up to research something quickly, a shared-buffer plugin like `nvim-ghost` might be more appropriate despite its occasional instability.

Since you're on macOS, consider the SSH tunnel quality. A poor WiFi connection will make any solution feel laggy. I'd start with a quick tmux session test over your intended network path to establish a latency baseline before evaluating any other options.