mini.surround documentation

Generated from the main branch of ‘mini.nvim’

Module

Fast and feature-rich surrounding. Can be configured to have experience similar to tpope/vim-surround (see MiniSurround-vim-surround-config).

Features:

Actions (text editing actions are dot-repeatable out of the box and respect [count]) with configurable mappings:
- Add surrounding with sa (in visual mode or on motion).
- Delete surrounding with sd.
- Replace surrounding with sr.
- Find surrounding with sf or sF (move cursor right or left).
- Highlight surrounding with sh.
Surrounding is identified by a single character as both “input” (in delete and replace start, find, and highlight) and “output” (in add and replace end):
- ‘f’ - function call (string of alphanumeric symbols or ’_’ or ‘.’ followed by balanced ‘()’). In “input” finds function call, in “output” prompts user to enter function name.
- ‘t’ - tag. In “input” finds tag with same identifier, in “output” prompts user to enter tag name with possible attributes.
- All symbols in brackets ‘()’, ‘[]’, ‘{}’, ‘<>“. In”input’ represents balanced brackets (open - with whitespace pad, close - without), in “output” - left and right parts of brackets.
- ‘?’ - interactive. Prompts user to enter left and right parts.
- All other single character identifiers (supported by getcharstr()) represent surrounding with identical left and right parts.
Configurable search methods to find not only covering but possibly next, previous, or nearest surrounding. See more in MiniSurround.config.
All actions involving finding surrounding (delete, replace, find, highlight) can be used with suffix that changes search method to find previous/last. See more in MiniSurround.config.

Known issues which won’t be resolved:

Search for surrounding is done using Lua patterns (regex-like approach). So certain amount of false positives should be expected.
When searching for “input” surrounding, there is no distinction if it is inside string or comment. So in this case there will be not proper match for a function call: ‘f(a = “)”, b = 1)’.
Tags are searched using regex-like methods, so issues are inevitable. Overall it is pretty good, but certain cases won’t work. Like self-nested tags won’t match correctly on both ends: ‘<a><a></a></a>’.

Setup

This module needs a setup with require('mini.surround').setup({}) (replace {} with your config table). It will create global Lua table MiniSurround which you can use for scripting or manually (with :lua MiniSurround.*).

See MiniSurround.config for config structure and default values.

You can override runtime config settings locally to buffer inside vim.b.minisurround_config which should have same structure as MiniSurround.config. See mini.nvim-buffer-local-config for more details.

To stop module from showing non-error feedback, set config.silent = true.

Example usage

Regular mappings:

saiw) - add (sa) for inner word (iw) parenthesis ()).
saiw?[[<CR>]]<CR> - add (sa) for inner word (iw) interactive surrounding (?): [[ for left and ]] for right.
2sdf - delete (sd) second (2) surrounding function call (f).
sr)tdiv<CR> - replace (sr) surrounding parenthesis ()) with tag (t) with identifier ‘div’ (div<CR> in command line prompt).
sff - find right (sf) part of surrounding function call (f).
sh} - highlight (sh) for a brief period of time surrounding curly brackets (}).

Extended mappings (temporary force “prev”/“next” search methods):

sdnf - delete (sd) next (n) function call (f).
srlf( - replace (sr) last (l) function call (f) with padded bracket (().
2sfnt - find (sf) second (2) next (n) tag (t).
2shl} - highlight (sh) last (l) second (2) curly bracket (}).

Comparisons

tpope/vim-surround:
- ‘vim-surround’ has completely different, with other focus set of default mappings, while ‘mini.surround’ has a more coherent set.
- ‘mini.surround’ supports dot-repeat, customized search path (see MiniSurround.config), customized specifications (see MiniSurround-surrounding-specification) allowing usage of tree-sitter queries (see MiniSurround.gen_spec.input.treesitter()), highlighting and finding surrounding, “last”/“next” extended mappings. While ‘vim-surround’ does not.
machakann/vim-sandwich:
- Both have same keybindings for common actions (add, delete, replace).
- Otherwise same differences as with ‘tpope/vim-surround’ (except dot-repeat because ‘vim-sandwich’ supports it).
kylechui/nvim-surround:
- ‘nvim-surround’ is designed after ‘tpope/vim-surround’ with same default mappings and logic, while ‘mini.surround’ has mappings similar to ‘machakann/vim-sandwich’.
- ‘mini.surround’ has more flexible customization of input surrounding (with composed patterns, region pair(s), search methods).
- ‘mini.surround’ supports [count] in both input and output surrounding (see MiniSurround-count-with-actions) while ‘nvim-surround’ doesn’t.
- ‘mini.surround’ supports “last”/“next” extended mappings.
mini.ai:
- Both use similar logic for finding target: textobject in ‘mini.ai’ and surrounding pair in ‘mini.surround’. While ‘mini.ai’ uses extraction pattern for separate a and i textobjects, ‘mini.surround’ uses it to select left and right surroundings (basically a difference between a and i textobjects).
- Some builtin specifications are slightly different:
  - Quotes in ‘mini.ai’ are balanced, in ‘mini.surround’ they are not.
  - The ‘mini.surround’ doesn’t have argument surrounding.
  - Default behavior in ‘mini.ai’ selects one of the edges into a textobject, while ‘mini.surround’ - both.

Highlight groups

MiniSurround - highlighting of requested surrounding.

To change any highlight group, set it directly with nvim_set_hl().

Disabling

To disable, set vim.g.minisurround_disable (globally) or vim.b.minisurround_disable (for a buffer) to true. Considering high number of different scenarios and customization intentions, writing exact rules for disabling module’s functionality is left to user. See mini.nvim-disabling-recipes for common recipes.

Builtin surroundings

This table describes all builtin surroundings along with what they represent. Explanation:

Key represents the surrounding identifier: single character which should be typed after action mappings (see “Mappings” in MiniSurround.config).
Name is a description of surrounding.
Example line contains a string for which examples are constructed. The * denotes the cursor position over a character.
Delete shows the result of typing sd followed by surrounding identifier. It aims to demonstrate “input” surrounding which is also used in replace with sr (surrounding id is typed first), highlight with sh, find with sf and sF.
Replace shows the result of typing sr! followed by surrounding identifier (with possible follow up from user). It aims to demonstrate “output” surrounding which is also used in adding with sa (followed by textobject/motion or in Visual mode).

Example: typing sd) with cursor on * (covers a character) changes line !( *a (bb) )! into ! aa (bb) !. Typing sr!) changes same initial line into (( aa (bb) )).

┌───┬───────────────┬───────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────────┐
│Key│     Name      │  Example line │    Delete   │     Replace     │
├───┴───────────────┴───────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────────┤
├┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┤
│ ( │  Balanced ()  │ !( *a (bb) )! │  !aa (bb)!  │ ( ( aa (bb) ) ) │
│ [ │  Balanced []  │ ![ *a [bb] ]! │  !aa [bb]!  │ [ [ aa [bb] ] ] │
│ { │  Balanced {}  │ !{ *a {bb} }! │  !aa {bb}!  │ { { aa {bb} } } │
│ < │  Balanced <>  │ !< *a <bb> >! │  !aa <bb>!  │ < < aa <bb> > > │
├┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┤
│ ) │  Balanced ()  │ !( *a (bb) )! │ ! aa (bb) ! │ (( aa (bb) ))   │
│ ] │  Balanced []  │ ![ *a [bb] ]! │ ! aa [bb] ! │ [[ aa [bb] ]]   │
│ } │  Balanced {}  │ !{ *a {bb} }! │ ! aa {bb} ! │ {{ aa {bb} }}   │
│ > │  Balanced <>  │ !< *a <bb> >! │ ! aa <bb> ! │ << aa <bb> >>   │
│ b │  Alias for    │ !( *a {bb} )! │ ! aa {bb} ! │ (( aa {bb} ))   │
│   │  ), ], or }   │               │             │                 │
├┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┤
│ q │  Alias for    │ !'aa'*a'aa'!  │ !'aaaaaa'!  │ "'aa'aa'aa'"    │
│   │  ", ', or `   │               │             │                 │
├┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┤
│ ? │  User prompt  │ !e * o!       │ ! a !       │ ee a oo         │
│   │(typed e and o)│               │             │                 │
├┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┤
│ t │      Tag      │ !<x>*</x>!    │ !a!         │ <y><x>a</x></y> │
│   │               │               │             │ (typed y)       │
├┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┤
│ f │ Function call │ !f(*a, bb)!   │ !aa, bb!    │ g(f(*a, bb))    │
│   │               │               │             │ (typed g)       │
├┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┤
│   │    Default    │ !_a*a_!       │ !aaa!       │ __aaa__         │
│   │   (typed _)   │               │             │                 │
└┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┘

Notes:

All examples assume default config.search_method.
Open brackets differ from close brackets by how they treat inner edge whitespace: open includes it left and right parts, close does not.
Output value of b alias is same as ). For q alias - same as ".
Default surrounding is activated for all characters which are not configured surrounding identifiers. Notes:
- Due to special handling of underlying x.-x Lua pattern (see MiniSurround-search-algorithm), it doesn’t really support non-trivial [count] for “cover” search method.
- When cursor is exactly on the identifier character while there are two matching candidates on both left and right, the one resulting in region with smaller width is preferred.

Glossary

Note: this is similar to MiniAi-glossary.

REGION

Table representing region in a buffer. Fields: <from> and <to> for inclusive start and end positions (<to> might be nil to describe empty region). Each position is also a table with line <line> and column <col> (both start at 1). Examples:

{ from = { line = 1, col = 1 }, to = { line = 2, col = 1 } }

-- Empty region
{ from = { line = 10, col = 10 } }

REGION PAIR

Table representing regions for left and right surroundings. Fields: <left> and <right> with regions. Example:

{
  left  = { from = { line = 1, col = 1 }, to = { line = 1, col = 1 } },
  right = { from = { line = 1, col = 3 } },
}

PATTERN

String describing Lua pattern.

SPAN

Interval inside a string (end-exclusive). Like [1, 5). Equal from and to edges describe empty span at that point.

Span A = [a1, a2) covers B = [b1, b2) if every element of B is within A (a1 <= b < a2). It also is described as “B is nested inside A”.

NESTED PATTERN

Array of patterns aimed to describe nested spans.

SPAN MATCHES NESTED PATTERN

If there is a sequence of consecutively nested spans each matching corresponding pattern within substring of previous span (or input string for first span). Example:

-- Nested patterns for balanced `()` with inner space
{ '%b()', '^. .* .$' }

-- Example input string (with columns underneath for easier reading):
   "( ( () ( ) ) )"
--  12345678901234

Here are all matching spans [1, 15) and [3, 13). Both [5, 7) and [8, 10) match first pattern but not second. All other combinations of ( and ) don’t match first pattern (not balanced).

COMPOSED PATTERN

Array with each element describing possible pattern (or array of them) at that place. Composed pattern basically defines all possible combinations of nested pattern (their cartesian product). Examples:

Either balanced () or balanced [] but both with inner edge space:

-- Composed pattern
{ { '%b()', '%b[]' }, '^. .* .$' }

-- Composed pattern expanded into equivalent array of nested patterns
{ '%b()', '^. .* .$' } -- and
{ '%b[]', '^. .* .$' }

Either “balanced () with inner edge space” or “balanced [] with no inner edge space”, both with 5 or more characters:

-- Composed pattern
{ { { '%b()', '^. .* .$' }, { '%b[]', '^.[^ ].*[^ ].$' } }, '.....' }

-- Composed pattern expanded into equivalent array of nested patterns
{ '%b()', '^. .* .$', '.....' } -- and
{ '%b[]', '^.[^ ].*[^ ].$', '.....' }

SPAN MATCHES COMPOSED PATTERN

If it matches at least one nested pattern from expanded composed pattern.

Surrounding specification

Surround specification is a table with keys:

<input> - defines how to find and extract surrounding for “input” operations (like delete). See more in “Input surrounding” section.
<output> - defines what to add on left and right for “output” operations (like add). See more in “Output surrounding” section.

Example of surround info for builtin ) identifier:

{
  input = { '%b()', '^.().*().$' },
  output = { left = '(', right = ')' }
}

Input surrounding

Specification for input surrounding has a structure of composed pattern (see MiniSurround-glossary) with two differences:

Last pattern(s) should have two or four empty capture groups denoting how the last string should be processed to extract surrounding parts:
- Two captures represent left part from start of string to first capture and right part - from second capture to end of string. Example: a()b()c defines left surrounding as ‘a’, right - ‘c’.
- Four captures define left part inside captures 1 and 2, right part - inside captures 3 and 4. Example: a()()b()c() defines left part as empty, right part as ‘c’.
Allows callable objects (see vim.is_callable()) in certain places (enables more complex surroundings in exchange of increase in configuration complexity and computations):
- If specification itself is a callable, it will be called without arguments and should return one of:
  - Composed pattern. Useful for implementing user input. Example of simplified variant of input surrounding for function call with name taken from user prompt:
    function() local left_edge = vim.pesc(vim.fn.input('Function name: ')) return { left_edge .. '%b()', '^.-%(().*()%)$' } end
  - Single region pair (see MiniSurround-glossary). Useful to allow full control over surrounding. Will be taken as is. Example of returning first and last lines of a buffer:
    function() local n_lines = vim.fn.line('$') return { left = { from = { line = 1, col = 1 }, to = { line = 1, col = vim.fn.getline(1):len() } }, right = { from = { line = n_lines, col = 1 }, to = { line = n_lines, col = vim.fn.getline(n_lines):len() } }, } end
  - Array of region pairs. Useful for incorporating other instruments, like treesitter (see MiniSurround.gen_spec.input.treesitter()). The best region pair will be picked in the same manner as with composed pattern (respecting options n_lines, search_method, etc.) using output region (from start of left region to end of right region). Example using edges of “best” line with display width more than 80:
    function() local make_line_region_pair = function(n) local left = { line = n, col = 1 } local right = { line = n, col = vim.fn.getline(n):len() } return { left = { from = left, to = left }, right = { from = right, to = right }, } end local res = {} for i = 1, vim.fn.line('$') do if vim.fn.getline(i):len() > 80 then table.insert(res, make_line_region_pair(i)) end end return res end
- If there is a callable instead of assumed string pattern, it is expected to have signature (line, init) and behave like pattern:find(). It should return two numbers representing span in line next after or at init (nil if there is no such span). !IMPORTANT NOTE!: it means that output’s from shouldn’t be strictly to the left of init (it will lead to infinite loop). Not allowed as last item (as it should be pattern with captures). Example of matching only balanced parenthesis with big enough width:
```
{
  '%b()',
  function(s, init)
    if init > 1 or s:len() < 5 then return end
    return 1, s:len()
  end,
  '^.().*().$'
}
```

More examples:

-- Pair of balanced brackets from set (used for builtin `b` identifier)
{ { '%b()', '%b[]', '%b{}' }, '^.().*().$' }

-- Lua block string
{ '%[%[().-()%]%]' }

See MiniSurround.gen_spec for function wrappers to create commonly used surrounding specifications.

Output surrounding

Specification for output can be either a table with <left> and <right> fields, or a callable returning such table (will be called with no arguments). Strings can contain new lines character “” to add multiline parts.

Examples:

-- Lua block string
{ left = '[[', right = ']]' }

-- Brackets on separate lines (indentation is not preserved)
{ left = '(\n', right = '\n)' }

-- Function call
function()
  local function_name = MiniSurround.user_input('Function name')
  return { left = function_name .. '(', right = ')' }
end

Count with actions

[count] is supported by all actions in the following ways:

In add, two types of [count] is supported in Normal mode: [count1]sa[count2][textobject]. The [count1] defines how many times left and right parts of output surrounding will be repeated and [count2] is used for textobject. In Visual mode [count] is treated as [count1]. Example: 2sa3aw) and v3aw2sa) will result into textobject 3aw being surrounded by (( and )).
In delete/replace/find/highlight [count] means “find n-th surrounding and execute operator on it”. Example: 2sd) on line (a(b(c)b)a) with cursor on c will result into (ab(c)ba) (and not in (abcba) if it would have meant “delete n times”).

Search algorithm

Search for the input surrounding relies on these principles:

Input surrounding specification is constructed based on surrounding identifier (see MiniSurround-surrounding-specification).
General search is done by converting some 2d buffer region (neighborhood of reference region) into 1d string (each line is appended with \n). Then search for a best span matching specification is done inside string (see MiniSurround-glossary). After that, span is converted back into 2d region. Note: first search is done inside reference region lines, and only after that - inside its neighborhood within config.n_lines (see MiniSurround.config).
The best matching span is chosen by iterating over all spans matching surrounding specification and comparing them with “current best”. Comparison also depends on reference region (tighter covering is better, otherwise closer is better) and search method (if span is even considered).
Extract pair of spans (for left and right regions in region pair) based on extraction pattern (last item in nested pattern).
For [count] greater than 1, steps are repeated with current best match becoming reference region. One such additional step is also done if final region is equal to reference region.

Notes:

Iteration over all matched spans is done in depth-first fashion with respect to nested pattern.
It is guaranteed that span is compared only once.
For the sake of increasing functionality, during iteration over all matching spans, some Lua patterns in composed pattern are handled specially.
- %bxx (xx is two identical characters). It denotes balanced pair of identical characters and results into “paired” matches. For example, %b"" for "aa" "bb" would match "aa" and "bb", but not middle " ".
- x.-y (x and y are different strings). It results only in matches with smallest width. For example, e.-o for e e o o will result only in middle e o. Note: it has some implications for when parts have quantifiers (like +, etc.), which usually can be resolved with frontier pattern %f[].

setup()

MiniSurround.setup({config})

Module setup

Parameters

{config} (table|nil) Module config table. See MiniSurround.config.

Usage

require('mini.surround').setup() -- use default config
-- OR
require('mini.surround').setup({}) -- replace {} with your config table

config

MiniSurround.config

Defaults

MiniSurround.config = {
  -- Add custom surroundings to be used on top of builtin ones. For more
  -- information with examples, see `:h MiniSurround.config`.
  custom_surroundings = nil,

  -- Duration (in ms) of highlight when calling `MiniSurround.highlight()`
  highlight_duration = 500,

  -- Module mappings. Use `''` (empty string) to disable one.
  mappings = {
    add = 'sa', -- Add surrounding in Normal and Visual modes
    delete = 'sd', -- Delete surrounding
    find = 'sf', -- Find surrounding (to the right)
    find_left = 'sF', -- Find surrounding (to the left)
    highlight = 'sh', -- Highlight surrounding
    replace = 'sr', -- Replace surrounding

    suffix_last = 'l', -- Suffix to search with "prev" method
    suffix_next = 'n', -- Suffix to search with "next" method
  },

  -- Number of lines within which surrounding is searched
  n_lines = 20,

  -- Whether to respect selection type:
  -- - Place surroundings on separate lines in linewise mode.
  -- - Place surroundings on each line in blockwise mode.
  respect_selection_type = false,

  -- How to search for surrounding (first inside current line, then inside
  -- neighborhood). One of 'cover', 'cover_or_next', 'cover_or_prev',
  -- 'cover_or_nearest', 'next', 'prev', 'nearest'. For more details,
  -- see `:h MiniSurround.config`.
  search_method = 'cover',

  -- Whether to disable showing non-error feedback
  -- This also affects (purely informational) helper messages shown after
  -- idle time if user input is required.
  silent = false,
}

Mappings

config.mappings defines what mappings are set up for particular actions. By default it uses “prefix style” left hand side starting with “s” (for “surround”): sa - “surround add”, sd - “surround delete”, etc.

Note: if ‘timeoutlen’ is low enough to cause occasional usage of s key (that deletes character under cursor), disable it with the following call:

vim.keymap.set({ 'n', 'x' }, 's', '<Nop>')

Custom surroundings

User can define own surroundings by supplying config.custom_surroundings. It should be a table with keys being single character surrounding identifier (supported by getcharstr()) and values - surround specification (see MiniSurround-surrounding-specification).

General recommendations:

In config.custom_surroundings only some data can be defined (like only output). Other fields will be taken from builtin surroundings.
Function returning surround info at <input> or <output> fields of specification is helpful when user input is needed (like asking for function name). Use input() or MiniSurround.user_input(). Return nil to stop any current surround operation.
Keys should use character representation which can be getcharstr() output. For example, '\r' and not '<CR>'.

Examples of using config.custom_surroundings (see more examples at MiniSurround.gen_spec):

local surround = require('mini.surround')
surround.setup({
  custom_surroundings = {
    -- Make `)` insert parts with spaces. `input` pattern stays the same.
    [')'] = { output = { left = '( ', right = ' )' } },

    -- Use function to compute surrounding info
    ['*'] = {
      input = function()
        local n_star = MiniSurround.user_input('Number of * to find')
        local many_star = string.rep('%*', tonumber(n_star) or 1)
        return { many_star .. '().-()' .. many_star }
      end,
      output = function()
        local n_star = MiniSurround.user_input('Number of * to output')
        local many_star = string.rep('*', tonumber(n_star) or 1)
        return { left = many_star, right = many_star }
      end,
    },
  },
})

-- Create custom surrounding for Lua's block string `[[...]]`
-- Use this inside autocommand or 'after/ftplugin/lua.lua' file
vim.b.minisurround_config = {
  custom_surroundings = {
    s = {
      input = { '%[%[().-()%]%]' },
      output = { left = '[[', right = ']]' },
    },
  },
}

Respect selection type

Boolean option config.respect_selection_type controls whether to respect selection type when adding and deleting surrounding. When enabled:

Linewise adding places surroundings on separate lines while indenting surrounded lines ones.
Deleting surroundings which look like they were the result of linewise adding will act to revert it: delete lines with surroundings and dedent surrounded lines ones.
Blockwise adding places surroundings on whole edges, not only start and end of selection. Note: it doesn’t really work outside of text and in presence of multibyte characters; and probably won’t due to implementation difficulties.

Search method

Value of config.search_method defines how best match search is done. Based on its value, one of the following matches will be selected:

Covering match. Left/right edge is before/after left/right edge of reference region.
Previous match. Left/right edge is before left/right edge of reference region.
Next match. Left/right edge is after left/right edge of reference region.
Nearest match. Whichever is closest among previous and next matches.

Possible values are:

'cover' (default) - use only covering match. Don’t use either previous or next; report that there is no surrounding found.
'cover_or_next' - use covering match. If not found, use next.
'cover_or_prev' - use covering match. If not found, use previous.
'cover_or_nearest' - use covering match. If not found, use nearest.
'next' - use next match.
'previous' - use previous match.
'nearest' - use nearest match.

Note: search is first performed on the reference region lines and only after failure - on the whole neighborhood defined by config.n_lines. This means that with config.search_method not equal to 'cover', “previous” or “next” surrounding will end up as search result if they are found on first stage although covering match might be found in bigger, whole neighborhood. This design is based on observation that most of the time operation is done within reference region lines (usually cursor line).

Here is an example of how replacing ) with ] surrounding is done based on a value of 'config.search_method' when cursor is inside bbb word:

'cover': (a) bbb (c) -> (a) bbb (c) (with message)
'cover_or_next': (a) bbb (c) -> (a) bbb [c]
'cover_or_prev': (a) bbb (c) -> [a] bbb (c)
'cover_or_nearest': depends on cursor position. For first and second b - as in cover_or_prev (as previous match is nearer), for third - as in cover_or_next (as next match is nearer).
'next': (a) bbb (c) -> (a) bbb [c]. Same outcome for (bbb).
'prev': (a) bbb (c) -> [a] bbb (c). Same outcome for (bbb).
'nearest': depends on cursor position (same as in 'cover_or_nearest').

Search suffixes

To provide more searching possibilities, ‘mini.surround’ creates extended mappings force “prev” and “next” methods for particular search. It does so by appending mapping with certain suffix: config.mappings.suffix_last for mappings which will use “prev” search method, config.mappings.suffix_next

“next” search method.

Notes:

It creates new mappings only for actions involving surrounding search: delete, replace, find (right and left), highlight.
All new mappings behave the same way as if config.search_method is set to certain search method. They preserve dot-repeat support, respect [count].
Supply empty string to disable creation of corresponding set of mappings.

Example with default values (n for suffix_next, l for suffix_last) and initial line (aa) (bb) (cc).

Typing sdn) with cursor inside (aa) results into (aa) bb (cc).
Typing sdl) with cursor inside (cc) results into (aa) bb (cc).
Typing 2srn)] with cursor inside (aa) results into (aa) (bb) [cc].

Setup similar to ‘tpope/vim-surround’

MiniSurround-vim-surround-config

This module is primarily designed after ‘machakann/vim-sandwich’. To get behavior closest to ‘tpope/vim-surround’ (but not identical), use this setup:

require('mini.surround').setup({
  mappings = {
    add = 'ys',
    delete = 'ds',
    find = '',
    find_left = '',
    highlight = '',
    replace = 'cs',

    -- Add this only if you don't want to use extended mappings
    suffix_last = '',
    suffix_next = '',
  },
  search_method = 'cover_or_next',
})

-- Remap adding surrounding to Visual mode selection
vim.keymap.del('x', 'ys')
vim.keymap.set('x', 'S', [[:<C-u>lua MiniSurround.add('visual')<CR>]], { silent = true })

-- Make special mapping for "add surrounding for line"
vim.keymap.set('n', 'yss', 'ys_', { remap = true })