Isn’t `hlsearch` the default option? I’m missing something?

[brxxlstxrs]

And why is that necessary?

kickstart.nvim/init.lua

Line 161 in 5aeddfd

vim.opt.hlsearch = true

[feoh]

Kickstart is a set of opinionated defaults. You're free to fork and modify to your heart's content.

[rmacklin]

I think they were asking if that line should be removed, not because they disagree with it, but because it appears to be set to the value that neovim defaults to.

[rmacklin]

Looks like it has been the default since 2015: neovim/neovim@9ebb5c6 so it probably is safe to remove. But also note the comment above that line is actually describing both that line and the subsequent line:

kickstart.nvim/init.lua

Lines 160 to 162 in 6f3fe35

	-- Set highlight on search, but clear on pressing <Esc> in normal mode
	vim.opt.hlsearch = true
	vim.keymap.set('n', '<Esc>', '<cmd>nohlsearch<CR>')

If line 161 is removed, that comment becomes a bit more ambiguous. If you come up with an appropriate rewording of the comment with line 161 removed, you could open a PR.

[feoh]

looks like I close this one error. I'll reopen it and please feel free to file a PR.