diff --git a/plugins/by-name/rainbow-delimiters/default.nix b/plugins/by-name/rainbow-delimiters/default.nix
index 7db7a0f6..2809c9ba 100644
--- a/plugins/by-name/rainbow-delimiters/default.nix
+++ b/plugins/by-name/rainbow-delimiters/default.nix
@@ -1,24 +1,30 @@
 {
   lib,
-  helpers,
   config,
-  pkgs,
+  options,
   ...
 }:
-with lib;
-{
-  options.plugins.rainbow-delimiters = lib.nixvim.plugins.neovim.extraOptionsOptions // {
-    enable = mkEnableOption "rainbow-delimiters.nvim";
+let
+  opts = options.plugins.rainbow-delimiters;
+  inherit (builtins) any isNull;
+  inherit (lib) mapAttrs' nameValuePair isString;
+  inherit (lib.nixvim) mkRaw toLuaObject nestedLiteralLua;
+in
+lib.nixvim.plugins.mkNeovimPlugin {
+  name = "rainbow-delimiters";
+  package = "rainbow-delimiters-nvim";
+  description = "Rainbow delimiters for Neovim with Tree-sitter";
+  maintainers = [ ];
 
-    package = lib.mkPackageOption pkgs "rainbow-delimiters.nvim" {
-      default = [
-        "vimPlugins"
-        "rainbow-delimiters-nvim"
-      ];
-    };
+  # This plugin uses globals for configuration.
+  callSetup = false;
 
-    strategy = helpers.defaultNullOpts.mkAttrsOf' {
-      type = types.enum [
+  # TODO: introduced 2025-10-1: remove after 26.05
+  inherit (import ./deprecations.nix lib) deprecateExtraOptions optionsRenamedToSettings imports;
+
+  extraOptions = {
+    strategy = lib.nixvim.defaultNullOpts.mkAttrsOf' {
+      type = lib.types.enum [
         "global"
         "local"
         "noop"
@@ -29,12 +35,13 @@ with lib;
       description = ''
         Attrs mapping Tree-sitter language names to strategies.
         See `|rb-delimiters-strategy|` for more information about strategies.
+        This option adds definitions to `${opts.settings}.strategy` wrapped with required Lua code.
       '';
-      example = literalMD ''
+      example = lib.literalMD ''
         ```nix
         {
           # Use global strategy by default
-          default = "global";
+          "" = "global";
 
           # Use local for HTML
           html = "local";
@@ -56,102 +63,66 @@ with lib;
         ```
       '';
     };
-
-    query =
-      helpers.defaultNullOpts.mkAttrsOf types.str
-        {
-          default = "rainbow-delimiters";
-          lua = "rainbow-blocks";
-        }
-        ''
-          Attrs mapping Tree-sitter language names to queries.
-          See `|rb-delimiters-query|` for more information about queries.
-        '';
-
-    highlight =
-      helpers.defaultNullOpts.mkListOf types.str
-        [
-          "RainbowDelimiterRed"
-          "RainbowDelimiterYellow"
-          "RainbowDelimiterBlue"
-          "RainbowDelimiterOrange"
-          "RainbowDelimiterGreen"
-          "RainbowDelimiterViolet"
-          "RainbowDelimiterCyan"
-        ]
-        ''
-          List of names of the highlight groups to use for highlighting, for more information see
-          `|rb-delimiters-colors|`.
-        '';
-
-    whitelist = helpers.mkNullOrOption (with types; listOf str) ''
-      List of Tree-sitter languages for which to enable rainbow delimiters.
-      Rainbow delimiters will be disabled for all other languages.
-    '';
-
-    blacklist = helpers.mkNullOrOption (with types; listOf str) ''
-      List of Tree-sitter languages for which to disable rainbow delimiters.
-      Rainbow delimiters will be enabled for all other languages.
-    '';
-
-    log = {
-      file =
-        helpers.defaultNullOpts.mkStr { __raw = "vim.fn.stdpath('log') .. '/rainbow-delimiters.log'"; }
-          ''
-            Path to the log file, default is `rainbow-delimiters.log` in your standard log path
-            (see `|standard-path|`).
-          '';
-
-      level = helpers.defaultNullOpts.mkLogLevel "warn" ''
-        Only messages equal to or above this value will be logged.
-        The default is to log warnings or above.
-        See `|log_levels|` for possible values.
-      '';
-    };
   };
 
-  config =
-    let
-      cfg = config.plugins.rainbow-delimiters;
-    in
-    mkIf cfg.enable {
-      warnings = lib.nixvim.mkWarnings "plugins.rainbow-delimiters" {
+  settingsExample = {
+    blacklist = [ "json" ];
+    strategy = {
+      "" = nestedLiteralLua "require 'rainbow-delimiters'.strategy['global']";
+      "nix" = nestedLiteralLua "require 'rainbow-delimiters'.strategy['local']";
+    };
+    highlight = [
+      "RainbowDelimiterViolet"
+      "RainbowDelimiterBlue"
+      "RainbowDelimiterGreen"
+    ];
+  };
+
+  extraConfig = cfg: {
+    warnings = lib.nixvim.mkWarnings "plugins.rainbow-delimiters" [
+      {
         when = !config.plugins.treesitter.enable;
         message = "This plugin needs treesitter to function as intended.";
-      };
-      assertions = lib.nixvim.mkAssertions "plugins.rainbow-delimiters" {
-        assertion = (cfg.whitelist == null) || (cfg.blacklist == null);
+      }
 
+      # TODO: introduced 2025-10-1: remove after 26.05
+      {
+        when = cfg.strategy ? default;
         message = ''
-          Both `rainbow-delimiters.whitelist` and `rainbow-delimiters.blacklist` should not be
-          set simultaneously.
-          Please remove one of them.
+          Setting `${opts.strategy}` keys to the string `"default"` is deprecated.
+          You can set them to an empty string `""` instead.
         '';
-      };
+      }
+      {
+        when = (cfg.query ? default) && (cfg.query.default != "_mkMergedOptionModule");
+        message = ''
+          Setting `${opts.query}` keys to the string `"default"` is deprecated.
+          You can set them to an empty string `""` instead.
+        '';
+      }
+    ];
 
-      extraPlugins = [ cfg.package ];
-
-      globals.rainbow_delimiters =
-        with cfg;
-        {
-          strategy = helpers.ifNonNull' strategy (
-            mapAttrs' (name: value: {
-              name = if name == "default" then "__emptyString" else name;
-              value =
-                if isString value then helpers.mkRaw "require 'rainbow-delimiters'.strategy['${value}']" else value;
-            }) strategy
-          );
-          query = helpers.ifNonNull' query (
-            mapAttrs' (name: value: {
-              name = if name == "default" then "__emptyString" else name;
-              inherit value;
-            }) query
-          );
-          inherit highlight whitelist blacklist;
-          log = with log; {
-            inherit file level;
-          };
-        }
-        // cfg.extraOptions;
+    assertions = lib.nixvim.mkAssertions "plugins.rainbow-delimiters" {
+      assertion = any isNull [
+        (cfg.settings.whitelist or null)
+        (cfg.settings.blacklist or null)
+      ];
+      message = ''
+        Both `${opts.settings}.whitelist` and `${opts.settings}.blacklist` should not be set simultaneously.
+        Please remove one of them.
+      '';
     };
+
+    globals.rainbow_delimiters = lib.mkMerge [
+      cfg.settings
+      (lib.mkIf (cfg.strategy != null) {
+        strategy = mapAttrs' (
+          n: v:
+          nameValuePair (if n == "default" then "" else n) (
+            if isString v then mkRaw "require('rainbow-delimiters').strategy[${toLuaObject v}]" else v
+          )
+        ) cfg.strategy;
+      })
+    ];
+  };
 }
diff --git a/plugins/by-name/rainbow-delimiters/deprecations.nix b/plugins/by-name/rainbow-delimiters/deprecations.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a5f06009
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/by-name/rainbow-delimiters/deprecations.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+lib:
+let
+  inherit (lib) mapAttrs' nameValuePair;
+  inherit (lib.nixvim) ifNonNull';
+  basePathAnd = lib.concat [
+    "plugins"
+    "rainbow-delimiters"
+  ];
+in
+{
+  deprecateExtraOptions = true;
+
+  optionsRenamedToSettings = map (lib.splitString ".") [
+    "highlight"
+    "whitelist"
+    "blacklist"
+    "log.file"
+    "log.level"
+  ];
+
+  imports = [
+    (
+      let
+        oldOptPath = basePathAnd [ "query" ];
+      in
+      lib.mkChangedOptionModule oldOptPath
+        (basePathAnd [
+          "settings"
+          "query"
+        ])
+        (
+          config:
+          let
+            old = lib.getAttrFromPath oldOptPath config;
+          in
+          ifNonNull' old (mapAttrs' (n: nameValuePair (if n == "default" then "" else n)) old)
+        )
+    )
+  ];
+}
diff --git a/tests/test-sources/plugins/by-name/rainbow-delimiters/default.nix b/tests/test-sources/plugins/by-name/rainbow-delimiters/default.nix
index e402d069..8b21fc70 100644
--- a/tests/test-sources/plugins/by-name/rainbow-delimiters/default.nix
+++ b/tests/test-sources/plugins/by-name/rainbow-delimiters/default.nix
@@ -11,58 +11,56 @@
       treesitter.enable = true;
       rainbow-delimiters = {
         enable = true;
-
-        strategy = {
-          default = "global";
-          html = "local";
-          latex.__raw = ''
-            function()
-              -- Disabled for very large files, global strategy for large files,
-              -- local strategy otherwise
-              if vim.fn.line('$') > 10000 then
-                  return nil
-              elseif vim.fn.line('$') > 1000 then
-                  return rainbow.strategy['global']
-              end
-              return rainbow.strategy['local']
-            end
-          '';
-        };
-        query = {
-          default = "rainbow-delimiters";
-          lua = "rainbow-blocks";
-        };
-        highlight = [
-          "RainbowDelimiterRed"
-          "RainbowDelimiterYellow"
-          "RainbowDelimiterBlue"
-          "RainbowDelimiterOrange"
-          "RainbowDelimiterGreen"
-          "RainbowDelimiterViolet"
-          "RainbowDelimiterCyan"
-        ];
-        blacklist = [
-          "c"
-          "cpp"
-        ];
-        log = {
-          file.__raw = "vim.fn.stdpath('log') .. '/rainbow-delimiters.log'";
-          level = "warn";
+        settings = {
+          settingsExample = {
+            blacklist = [ "json" ];
+            strategy = {
+              "".__raw = "require 'rainbow-delimiters'.strategy['global']";
+              "nix".__raw = "require 'rainbow-delimiters'.strategy['local']";
+            };
+            highlight = [
+              "RainbowDelimiterViolet"
+              "RainbowDelimiterBlue"
+              "RainbowDelimiterGreen"
+            ];
+          };
         };
       };
     };
   };
 
-  example-whitelist = {
+  defaults = {
     plugins = {
       treesitter.enable = true;
       rainbow-delimiters = {
         enable = true;
+        settings = {
+          query = {
+            "" = "rainbow-delimiters";
+            javascript = "rainbow-delimiters-react";
+          };
+          strategy = {
+            "".__raw = "require 'rainbow-delimiters'.strategy['global']";
+          };
+          priority = {
+            "".__raw =
+              "math.floor(((vim.hl or vim.highlight).priorities.semantic_tokens + (vim.hl or vim.highlight).priorities.treesitter) / 2)";
+          };
+          log = {
+            level.__raw = "vim.log.levels.WARN";
+            file.__raw = "vim.fn.stdpath('log') .. '/rainbow-delimiters.log'";
+          };
+          highlight = [
+            "RainbowDelimiterRed"
+            "RainbowDelimiterYellow"
+            "RainbowDelimiterBlue"
+            "RainbowDelimiterOrange"
+            "RainbowDelimiterGreen"
+            "RainbowDelimiterViolet"
+            "RainbowDelimiterCyan"
+          ];
 
-        whitelist = [
-          "c"
-          "cpp"
-        ];
+        };
       };
     };
   };