diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 73dc7f43..df98fdf0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ A starter template for Neovim using [lazy.nvim](https://github.com/folke/lazy.nv
 ## ✅ Todo
 
 - [ ] documentation
-- [ ] treesitter auto-install seems broken. Switch to `ensure_installed` instead?
-- [ ] list all plugins in readme
+- [x] treesitter auto-install seems broken. Switch to `ensure_installed` instead?
+- [x] list all plugins in readme
 - [ ] test all-the-things
 
 <!-- plugins:start -->
diff --git a/lua/plugins/treesitter.lua b/lua/plugins/treesitter.lua
index 3ae91aa1..b6d1a09c 100644
--- a/lua/plugins/treesitter.lua
+++ b/lua/plugins/treesitter.lua
@@ -6,7 +6,23 @@ return {
     config = function()
       require("nvim-treesitter.configs").setup({
         sync_install = false,
-        auto_install = true,
+        ensure_installed = {
+          "bash",
+          "help",
+          "html",
+          "javascript",
+          "json",
+          "lua",
+          "markdown",
+          "markdown_inline",
+          "python",
+          "query",
+          "regex",
+          "tsx",
+          "typescript",
+          "vim",
+          "yaml",
+        },
         highlight = { enable = true },
         indent = { enable = true },
         context_commentstring = { enable = true, enable_autocmd = false },