return {
  -- the colorscheme should be available when starting Neovim
  "folke/tokyonight.nvim",

  -- I have a separate config.mappings file where I require which-key.
  -- With lazy the plugin will be automatically loaded when it is required somewhere
  { "folke/which-key.nvim", lazy = true },

  {
    "nvim-neorg/neorg",
    -- lazy-load on filetype
    ft = "norg",
    -- custom config that will be executed when loading the plugin
    config = function()
      require("neorg").setup()
    end,
  },

  -- the above could also be written as
  {
    "nvim-neorg/neorg",
    ft = "norg",
    config = true, -- run require("norg").setup()
  },

  -- or set custom config
  {
    "nvim-neorg/neorg",
    ft = "norg",
    config = { foo = "bar" }, -- run require("norg").setup({foo = "bar"})
  },

  {
    "dstein64/vim-startuptime",
    -- lazy-load on a command
    cmd = "StartupTime",
  },

  {
    "hrsh7th/nvim-cmp",
    -- load cmp on InsertEnter
    event = "InsertEnter",
    -- these dependencies will only be loaded when cmp loads
    -- dependencies are always lazy-loaded unless specified otherwise
    dependencies = {
      "hrsh7th/cmp-nvim-lsp",
      "hrsh7th/cmp-buffer",
    },
    config = function()
      -- ...
    end,
  },

  -- you can use the VeryLazy event for things that can
  -- load later and are not important for the initial UI
  { "stevearc/dressing.nvim", event = "VeryLazy" },

  {
    "cshuaimin/ssr.nvim",
    -- init is always executed during startup, but doesn't load the plugin yet.
    init = function()
      vim.keymap.set({ "n", "x" }, "<leader>cR", function()
        -- this require will automatically load the plugin
        require("ssr").open()
      end, { desc = "Structural Replace" })
    end,
  },

  {
    "monaqa/dial.nvim",
    -- lazy-load on keys
    keys = { "<C-a>", "<C-x>" },
  },

  -- local plugins need to be explicitly configured with dir
  { dir = "~/projects/secret.nvim" },

  -- you can use a custom url to fetch a plugin
  { url = "git@github.com:folke/noice.nvim.git" },

  -- local plugins can also be configure with the dev option.
  -- This will use {config.dev.path}/noice.nvim/ instead of fetching it from Github
  -- With the dev option, you can easily switch between the local and installed version of a plugin
  { "folke/noice.nvim", dev = true },
}