Logo # Helix [![Build status](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/actions/workflows/build.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/actions) [![GitHub Release](https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/helix-editor/helix)](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/releases/latest) [![Documentation](https://shields.io/badge/-documentation-452859)](https://docs.helix-editor.com/) [![GitHub contributors](https://img.shields.io/github/contributors/helix-editor/helix)](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/graphs/contributors) [![Matrix Space](https://img.shields.io/matrix/helix-community:matrix.org)](https://matrix.to/#/#helix-community:matrix.org)
![Screenshot](./screenshot.png) A Kakoune / Neovim inspired editor, written in Rust. The editing model is very heavily based on Kakoune; during development I found myself agreeing with most of Kakoune's design decisions. For more information, see the [website](https://helix-editor.com) or [documentation](https://docs.helix-editor.com/). All shortcuts/keymaps can be found [in the documentation on the website](https://docs.helix-editor.com/keymap.html). [Troubleshooting](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/wiki/Troubleshooting) # Features - Vim-like modal editing - Multiple selections - Built-in language server support - Smart, incremental syntax highlighting and code editing via tree-sitter It's a terminal-based editor first, but I'd like to explore a custom renderer (similar to Emacs) in wgpu or skulpin. Note: Only certain languages have indentation definitions at the moment. Check `runtime/queries//` for `indents.scm`. # Installation Packages are available for various distributions (see [Installation docs](https://docs.helix-editor.com/install.html)). If you would like to build from source: ```shell git clone https://github.com/helix-editor/helix cd helix cargo install --path helix-term ``` This will install the `hx` binary to `$HOME/.cargo/bin` and build tree-sitter grammars in `./runtime/grammars`. Helix needs its runtime files so make sure to copy/symlink the `runtime/` directory into the config directory (for example `~/.config/helix/runtime` on Linux/macOS, or `%AppData%/helix/runtime` on Windows). | OS | Command | | -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | | Windows (Cmd) | `xcopy /e /i runtime %AppData%\helix\runtime` | | Windows (PowerShell) | `xcopy /e /i runtime $Env:AppData\helix\runtime` | | Linux / macOS | `ln -s $PWD/runtime ~/.config/helix/runtime` | Starting with Windows Vista you can also create symbolic links on Windows. Note that this requires elevated privileges - i.e. PowerShell or Cmd must be run as administrator. **PowerShell:** ```powershell New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Target "runtime" -Path "$Env:AppData\helix\runtime" ``` **Cmd:** ```cmd cd %appdata%\helix mklink /D runtime "\runtime" ``` The runtime location can be overridden via the `HELIX_RUNTIME` environment variable. > NOTE: if `HELIX_RUNTIME` is set prior to calling `cargo install --path helix-term`, > tree-sitter grammars will be built in `$HELIX_RUNTIME/grammars`. If you plan on keeping the repo locally, an alternative to copying/symlinking runtime files is to set `HELIX_RUNTIME=/path/to/helix/runtime` (`HELIX_RUNTIME=$PWD/runtime` if you're in the helix repo directory). Packages already solve this for you by wrapping the `hx` binary with a wrapper that sets the variable to the install dir. > NOTE: running via cargo also doesn't require setting explicit `HELIX_RUNTIME` path, it will automatically > detect the `runtime` directory in the project root. If you want to customize your `languages.toml` config, tree-sitter grammars may be manually fetched and built with `hx --grammar fetch` and `hx --grammar build`. In order to use LSP features like auto-complete, you will need to [install the appropriate Language Server](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/wiki/How-to-install-the-default-language-servers) for a language. [![Packaging status](https://repology.org/badge/vertical-allrepos/helix.svg)](https://repology.org/project/helix/versions) ## Adding Helix to your desktop environment If installing from source, to use Helix in desktop environments that supports [XDG desktop menu](https://specifications.freedesktop.org/menu-spec/menu-spec-latest.html), including Gnome and KDE, copy the provided `.desktop` file to the correct folder: ```bash cp contrib/Helix.desktop ~/.local/share/applications ``` To use another terminal than the default, you will need to modify the `.desktop` file. For example, to use `kitty`: ```bash sed -i "s|Exec=hx %F|Exec=kitty hx %F|g" ~/.local/share/applications/Helix.desktop sed -i "s|Terminal=true|Terminal=false|g" ~/.local/share/applications/Helix.desktop ``` Please note: there is no icon for Helix yet, so the system default will be used. ## macOS Helix can be installed on macOS through homebrew: ``` brew install helix ``` # Contributing Contributing guidelines can be found [here](./docs/CONTRIBUTING.md). # Getting help Your question might already be answered on the [FAQ](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/wiki/FAQ). Discuss the project on the community [Matrix Space](https://matrix.to/#/#helix-community:matrix.org) (make sure to join `#helix-editor:matrix.org` if you're on a client that doesn't support Matrix Spaces yet). # Credits Thanks to [@JakeHL](https://github.com/JakeHL) for designing the logo!