diff --git a/lua/lazy_setup.lua b/lua/lazy_setup.lua
index 8a19892..4d9552f 100644
--- a/lua/lazy_setup.lua
+++ b/lua/lazy_setup.lua
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 require("lazy").setup({
   {
     "AstroNvim/AstroNvim",
-    version = "^4", -- Remove version tracking to elect for nightly AstroNvim
+    version = "^5", -- Remove version tracking to elect for nightly AstroNvim
     import = "astronvim.plugins",
     opts = { -- AstroNvim options must be set here with the `import` key
       mapleader = " ", -- This ensures the leader key must be configured before Lazy is set up
diff --git a/lua/plugins/astrocore.lua b/lua/plugins/astrocore.lua
index cda56a8..f786291 100644
--- a/lua/plugins/astrocore.lua
+++ b/lua/plugins/astrocore.lua
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ return {
       large_buf = { size = 1024 * 256, lines = 10000 }, -- set global limits for large files for disabling features like treesitter
       autopairs = true, -- enable autopairs at start
       cmp = true, -- enable completion at start
-      diagnostics_mode = 3, -- diagnostic mode on start (0 = off, 1 = no signs/virtual text, 2 = no virtual text, 3 = on)
+      diagnostics = { virtual_text = true, virtual_lines = false }, -- diagnostic settings on startup
       highlighturl = true, -- highlight URLs at start
       notifications = true, -- enable notifications at start
     },
diff --git a/lua/plugins/mason.lua b/lua/plugins/mason.lua
index 3429661..2d79b5f 100644
--- a/lua/plugins/mason.lua
+++ b/lua/plugins/mason.lua
@@ -1,38 +1,27 @@
 if true then return {} end -- WARN: REMOVE THIS LINE TO ACTIVATE THIS FILE
 
--- Customize Mason plugins
+-- Customize Mason
 
 ---@type LazySpec
 return {
-  -- use mason-lspconfig to configure LSP installations
+  -- use mason-tool-installer for automatically installing Mason packages
   {
-    "williamboman/mason-lspconfig.nvim",
-    -- overrides `require("mason-lspconfig").setup(...)`
-    opts = {
-      ensure_installed = {
-        "lua_ls",
-        -- add more arguments for adding more language servers
-      },
-    },
-  },
-  -- use mason-null-ls to configure Formatters/Linter installation for null-ls sources
-  {
-    "jay-babu/mason-null-ls.nvim",
-    -- overrides `require("mason-null-ls").setup(...)`
+    "WhoIsSethDaniel/mason-tool-installer.nvim",
+    -- overrides `require("mason-tool-installer").setup(...)`
     opts = {
+      -- Make sure to use the names found in `:Mason`
       ensure_installed = {
+        -- install language servers
+        "lua-language-server",
+
+        -- install formatters
         "stylua",
-        -- add more arguments for adding more null-ls sources
-      },
-    },
-  },
-  {
-    "jay-babu/mason-nvim-dap.nvim",
-    -- overrides `require("mason-nvim-dap").setup(...)`
-    opts = {
-      ensure_installed = {
-        "python",
-        -- add more arguments for adding more debuggers
+
+        -- install debuggers
+        "debugpy",
+
+        -- install any other package
+        "tree-sitter-cli",
       },
     },
   },
diff --git a/lua/plugins/user.lua b/lua/plugins/user.lua
index 121089e..b7de6df 100644
--- a/lua/plugins/user.lua
+++ b/lua/plugins/user.lua
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 if true then return {} end -- WARN: REMOVE THIS LINE TO ACTIVATE THIS FILE
 
 -- You can also add or configure plugins by creating files in this `plugins/` folder
+-- PLEASE REMOVE THE EXAMPLES YOU HAVE NO INTEREST IN BEFORE ENABLING THIS FILE
 -- Here are some examples:
 
 ---@type LazySpec
@@ -17,26 +18,28 @@ return {
 
   -- == Examples of Overriding Plugins ==
 
-  -- customize alpha options
+  -- customize dashboard options
   {
-    "goolord/alpha-nvim",
-    opts = function(_, opts)
-      -- customize the dashboard header
-      opts.section.header.val = {
-        " █████  ███████ ████████ ██████   ██████",
-        "██   ██ ██         ██    ██   ██ ██    ██",
-        "███████ ███████    ██    ██████  ██    ██",
-        "██   ██      ██    ██    ██   ██ ██    ██",
-        "██   ██ ███████    ██    ██   ██  ██████",
-        " ",
-        "    ███    ██ ██    ██ ██ ███    ███",
-        "    ████   ██ ██    ██ ██ ████  ████",
-        "    ██ ██  ██ ██    ██ ██ ██ ████ ██",
-        "    ██  ██ ██  ██  ██  ██ ██  ██  ██",
-        "    ██   ████   ████   ██ ██      ██",
-      }
-      return opts
-    end,
+    "folke/snacks.nvim",
+    opts = {
+      dashboard = {
+        preset = {
+          header = table.concat({
+            " █████  ███████ ████████ ██████   ██████ ",
+            "██   ██ ██         ██    ██   ██ ██    ██",
+            "███████ ███████    ██    ██████  ██    ██",
+            "██   ██      ██    ██    ██   ██ ██    ██",
+            "██   ██ ███████    ██    ██   ██  ██████ ",
+            "",
+            "███    ██ ██    ██ ██ ███    ███",
+            "████   ██ ██    ██ ██ ████  ████",
+            "██ ██  ██ ██    ██ ██ ██ ████ ██",
+            "██  ██ ██  ██  ██  ██ ██  ██  ██",
+            "██   ████   ████   ██ ██      ██",
+          }, "\n"),
+        },
+      },
+    },
   },
 
   -- You can disable default plugins as follows: