summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/24.03.1/install.html
blob: 2c6f3b2ea1e0177487f570cbbeef303df3f0f198 (plain) (blame)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<html lang="en" class="colibri" dir="ltr">
    <head>
        <!-- Book generated using mdBook -->
        <meta charset="UTF-8">
        <title>Installation</title>


        <!-- Custom HTML head -->
        
        <meta name="description" content="">
        <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
        <meta name="theme-color" content="#ffffff">

        <link rel="icon" href="favicon.svg">
        <link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.png">
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="css/variables.css">
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="css/general.css">
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="css/chrome.css">
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="css/print.css" media="print">

        <!-- Fonts -->
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="FontAwesome/css/font-awesome.css">
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="fonts/fonts.css">

        <!-- Highlight.js Stylesheets -->
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="highlight.css">
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="tomorrow-night.css">
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="ayu-highlight.css">

        <!-- Custom theme stylesheets -->
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="custom.css">

    </head>
    <body class="sidebar-visible no-js">
    <div id="body-container">
        <!-- Provide site root to javascript -->
        <script>
            var path_to_root = "";
            var default_theme = window.matchMedia("(prefers-color-scheme: dark)").matches ? "colibri" : "colibri";
        </script>

        <!-- Work around some values being stored in localStorage wrapped in quotes -->
        <script>
            try {
                var theme = localStorage.getItem('mdbook-theme');
                var sidebar = localStorage.getItem('mdbook-sidebar');

                if (theme.startsWith('"') && theme.endsWith('"')) {
                    localStorage.setItem('mdbook-theme', theme.slice(1, theme.length - 1));
                }

                if (sidebar.startsWith('"') && sidebar.endsWith('"')) {
                    localStorage.setItem('mdbook-sidebar', sidebar.slice(1, sidebar.length - 1));
                }
            } catch (e) { }
        </script>

        <!-- Set the theme before any content is loaded, prevents flash -->
        <script>
            var theme;
            try { theme = localStorage.getItem('mdbook-theme'); } catch(e) { }
            if (theme === null || theme === undefined) { theme = default_theme; }
            var html = document.querySelector('html');
            html.classList.remove('colibri')
            html.classList.add(theme);
            var body = document.querySelector('body');
            body.classList.remove('no-js')
            body.classList.add('js');
        </script>

        <input type="checkbox" id="sidebar-toggle-anchor" class="hidden">

        <!-- Hide / unhide sidebar before it is displayed -->
        <script>
            var body = document.querySelector('body');
            var sidebar = null;
            var sidebar_toggle = document.getElementById("sidebar-toggle-anchor");
            if (document.body.clientWidth >= 1080) {
                try { sidebar = localStorage.getItem('mdbook-sidebar'); } catch(e) { }
                sidebar = sidebar || 'visible';
            } else {
                sidebar = 'hidden';
            }
            sidebar_toggle.checked = sidebar === 'visible';
            body.classList.remove('sidebar-visible');
            body.classList.add("sidebar-" + sidebar);
        </script>

        <nav id="sidebar" class="sidebar" aria-label="Table of contents">
            <div class="sidebar-scrollbox">
                <ol class="chapter"><li class="chapter-item expanded affix "><a href="title-page.html">Helix</a></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><a href="install.html" class="active"><strong aria-hidden="true">1.</strong> Installation</a></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><a href="usage.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">2.</strong> Usage</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item expanded "><a href="keymap.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">2.1.</strong> Keymap</a></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><a href="commands.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">2.2.</strong> Commands</a></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><a href="lang-support.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">2.3.</strong> Language support</a></li></ol></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><a href="from-vim.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">3.</strong> Migrating from Vim</a></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><a href="configuration.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">4.</strong> Configuration</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item expanded "><a href="themes.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">4.1.</strong> Themes</a></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><a href="remapping.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">4.2.</strong> Key remapping</a></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><a href="languages.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">4.3.</strong> Languages</a></li></ol></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><a href="guides/index.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.</strong> Guides</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item expanded "><a href="guides/adding_languages.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.1.</strong> Adding languages</a></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><a href="guides/textobject.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.2.</strong> Adding textobject queries</a></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><a href="guides/indent.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.3.</strong> Adding indent queries</a></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><a href="guides/injection.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.4.</strong> Adding injection queries</a></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><a href="guides/rainbow_bracket_queries.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.5.</strong> Adding rainbow bracket queries</a></li></ol></li></ol>
            </div>
            <div id="sidebar-resize-handle" class="sidebar-resize-handle"></div>
        </nav>

        <!-- Track and set sidebar scroll position -->
        <script>
            var sidebarScrollbox = document.querySelector('#sidebar .sidebar-scrollbox');
            sidebarScrollbox.addEventListener('click', function(e) {
                if (e.target.tagName === 'A') {
                    sessionStorage.setItem('sidebar-scroll', sidebarScrollbox.scrollTop);
                }
            }, { passive: true });
            var sidebarScrollTop = sessionStorage.getItem('sidebar-scroll');
            sessionStorage.removeItem('sidebar-scroll');
            if (sidebarScrollTop) {
                // preserve sidebar scroll position when navigating via links within sidebar
                sidebarScrollbox.scrollTop = sidebarScrollTop;
            } else {
                // scroll sidebar to current active section when navigating via "next/previous chapter" buttons
                var activeSection = document.querySelector('#sidebar .active');
                if (activeSection) {
                    activeSection.scrollIntoView({ block: 'center' });
                }
            }
        </script>

        <div id="page-wrapper" class="page-wrapper">

            <div class="page">
                                <div id="menu-bar-hover-placeholder"></div>
                <div id="menu-bar" class="menu-bar sticky">
                    <div class="left-buttons">
                        <label id="sidebar-toggle" class="icon-button" for="sidebar-toggle-anchor" title="Toggle Table of Contents" aria-label="Toggle Table of Contents" aria-controls="sidebar">
                            <i class="fa fa-bars"></i>
                        </label>
                        <button id="theme-toggle" class="icon-button" type="button" title="Change theme" aria-label="Change theme" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="theme-list">
                            <i class="fa fa-paint-brush"></i>
                        </button>
                        <ul id="theme-list" class="theme-popup" aria-label="Themes" role="menu">
                            <li role="none"><button role="menuitem" class="theme" id="light">Light</button></li>
                            <li role="none"><button role="menuitem" class="theme" id="rust">Rust</button></li>
                            <li role="none"><button role="menuitem" class="theme" id="coal">Coal</button></li>
                            <li role="none"><button role="menuitem" class="theme" id="navy">Navy</button></li>
                            <li role="none"><button role="menuitem" class="theme" id="ayu">Ayu</button></li>
                            <li role="none"><button role="menuitem" class="theme" id="colibri">Colibri</button></li>
                        </ul>
                        <button id="search-toggle" class="icon-button" type="button" title="Search. (Shortkey: s)" aria-label="Toggle Searchbar" aria-expanded="false" aria-keyshortcuts="S" aria-controls="searchbar">
                            <i class="fa fa-search"></i>
                        </button>
                    </div>

                    <h1 class="menu-title"></h1>

                    <div class="right-buttons">
                        <a href="print.html" title="Print this book" aria-label="Print this book">
                            <i id="print-button" class="fa fa-print"></i>
                        </a>
                        <a href="https://github.com/helix-editor/helix" title="Git repository" aria-label="Git repository">
                            <i id="git-repository-button" class="fa fa-github"></i>
                        </a>
                        <a href="https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/edit/master/book/src/install.md" title="Suggest an edit" aria-label="Suggest an edit">
                            <i id="git-edit-button" class="fa fa-edit"></i>
                        </a>

                    </div>
                </div>

                <div id="search-wrapper" class="hidden">
                    <form id="searchbar-outer" class="searchbar-outer">
                        <input type="search" id="searchbar" name="searchbar" placeholder="Search this book ..." aria-controls="searchresults-outer" aria-describedby="searchresults-header">
                    </form>
                    <div id="searchresults-outer" class="searchresults-outer hidden">
                        <div id="searchresults-header" class="searchresults-header"></div>
                        <ul id="searchresults">
                        </ul>
                    </div>
                </div>

                <!-- Apply ARIA attributes after the sidebar and the sidebar toggle button are added to the DOM -->
                <script>
                    document.getElementById('sidebar-toggle').setAttribute('aria-expanded', sidebar === 'visible');
                    document.getElementById('sidebar').setAttribute('aria-hidden', sidebar !== 'visible');
                    Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('#sidebar a')).forEach(function(link) {
                        link.setAttribute('tabIndex', sidebar === 'visible' ? 0 : -1);
                    });
                </script>

                <div id="content" class="content">
                    <main>
                        <h1 id="installing-helix"><a class="header" href="#installing-helix">Installing Helix</a></h1>
<!--toc:start-->
<ul>
<li><a href="#pre-built-binaries">Pre-built binaries</a></li>
<li><a href="#linux-macos-windows-and-openbsd-packaging-status">Linux, macOS, Windows and OpenBSD packaging status</a></li>
<li><a href="#linux">Linux</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#ubuntu">Ubuntu</a></li>
<li><a href="#fedorarhel">Fedora/RHEL</a></li>
<li><a href="#arch-linux-extra">Arch Linux extra</a></li>
<li><a href="#nixos">NixOS</a></li>
<li><a href="#flatpak">Flatpak</a></li>
<li><a href="#snap">Snap</a></li>
<li><a href="#appimage">AppImage</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#macos">macOS</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#homebrew-core">Homebrew Core</a></li>
<li><a href="#macports">MacPorts</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#windows">Windows</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#winget">Winget</a></li>
<li><a href="#scoop">Scoop</a></li>
<li><a href="#chocolatey">Chocolatey</a></li>
<li><a href="#msys2">MSYS2</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#building-from-source">Building from source</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#configuring-helixs-runtime-files">Configuring Helix's runtime files</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#linux-and-macos">Linux and macOS</a></li>
<li><a href="#windows">Windows</a></li>
<li><a href="#multiple-runtime-directories">Multiple runtime directories</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#validating-the-installation">Validating the installation</a></li>
<li><a href="#configure-the-desktop-shortcut">Configure the desktop shortcut</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<!--toc:end-->
<p>To install Helix, follow the instructions specific to your operating system.
Note that:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>To get the latest nightly version of Helix, you need to
<a href="#building-from-source">build from source</a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>To take full advantage of Helix, install the language servers for your
preferred programming languages. See the
<a href="https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/wiki/How-to-install-the-default-language-servers">wiki</a>
for instructions.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="pre-built-binaries"><a class="header" href="#pre-built-binaries">Pre-built binaries</a></h2>
<p>Download pre-built binaries from the
<a href="https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/releases">GitHub Releases page</a>. Add the binary to your system's <code>$PATH</code> to use it from the command
line.</p>
<h2 id="linux-macos-windows-and-openbsd-packaging-status"><a class="header" href="#linux-macos-windows-and-openbsd-packaging-status">Linux, macOS, Windows and OpenBSD packaging status</a></h2>
<p><a href="https://repology.org/project/helix/versions"><img src="https://repology.org/badge/vertical-allrepos/helix.svg" alt="Packaging status" /></a></p>
<h2 id="linux"><a class="header" href="#linux">Linux</a></h2>
<p>The following third party repositories are available:</p>
<h3 id="ubuntu"><a class="header" href="#ubuntu">Ubuntu</a></h3>
<p>Add the <code>PPA</code> for Helix:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">sudo add-apt-repository ppa:maveonair/helix-editor
sudo apt update
sudo apt install helix
</code></pre>
<h3 id="fedorarhel"><a class="header" href="#fedorarhel">Fedora/RHEL</a></h3>
<pre><code class="language-sh">sudo dnf install helix
</code></pre>
<h3 id="arch-linux-extra"><a class="header" href="#arch-linux-extra">Arch Linux extra</a></h3>
<p>Releases are available in the <code>extra</code> repository:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">sudo pacman -S helix
</code></pre>
<blockquote>
<p>💡 When installed from the <code>extra</code> repository, run Helix with <code>helix</code> instead of <code>hx</code>.</p>
<p>For example:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">helix --health
</code></pre>
<p>to check health</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Additionally, a <a href="https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/helix-git/">helix-git</a> package is available
in the AUR, which builds the master branch.</p>
<h3 id="nixos"><a class="header" href="#nixos">NixOS</a></h3>
<p>Helix is available in <a href="https://github.com/nixos/nixpkgs">nixpkgs</a> through the <code>helix</code> attribute,
the unstable channel usually carries the latest release.</p>
<p>Helix is also available as a <a href="https://nixos.wiki/wiki/Flakes">flake</a> in the project
root. Use <code>nix develop</code> to spin up a reproducible development shell. Outputs are
cached for each push to master using <a href="https://www.cachix.org/">Cachix</a>. The
flake is configured to automatically make use of this cache assuming the user
accepts the new settings on first use.</p>
<p>If you are using a version of Nix without flakes enabled,
<a href="https://docs.cachix.org/installation">install Cachix CLI</a> and use
<code>cachix use helix</code> to configure Nix to use cached outputs when possible.</p>
<h3 id="flatpak"><a class="header" href="#flatpak">Flatpak</a></h3>
<p>Helix is available on <a href="https://flathub.org/en-GB/apps/com.helix_editor.Helix">Flathub</a>:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">flatpak install flathub com.helix_editor.Helix
flatpak run com.helix_editor.Helix
</code></pre>
<h3 id="snap"><a class="header" href="#snap">Snap</a></h3>
<p>Helix is available on <a href="https://snapcraft.io/helix">Snapcraft</a> and can be installed with:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">snap install --classic helix
</code></pre>
<p>This will install Helix as both <code>/snap/bin/helix</code> and <code>/snap/bin/hx</code>, so make sure <code>/snap/bin</code> is in your <code>PATH</code>.</p>
<h3 id="appimage"><a class="header" href="#appimage">AppImage</a></h3>
<p>Install Helix using the Linux <a href="https://appimage.org/">AppImage</a> format.
Download the official Helix AppImage from the <a href="https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/releases/latest">latest releases</a> page.</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">chmod +x helix-*.AppImage # change permission for executable mode
./helix-*.AppImage # run helix
</code></pre>
<h2 id="macos"><a class="header" href="#macos">macOS</a></h2>
<h3 id="homebrew-core"><a class="header" href="#homebrew-core">Homebrew Core</a></h3>
<pre><code class="language-sh">brew install helix
</code></pre>
<h3 id="macports"><a class="header" href="#macports">MacPorts</a></h3>
<pre><code class="language-sh">port install helix
</code></pre>
<h2 id="windows"><a class="header" href="#windows">Windows</a></h2>
<p>Install on Windows using <a href="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/package-manager/winget/">Winget</a>, <a href="https://scoop.sh/">Scoop</a>, <a href="https://chocolatey.org/">Chocolatey</a>
or <a href="https://msys2.org/">MSYS2</a>.</p>
<h3 id="winget"><a class="header" href="#winget">Winget</a></h3>
<p>Windows Package Manager winget command-line tool is by default available on Windows 11 and modern versions of Windows 10 as a part of the App Installer.
You can get <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/p/app-installer/9nblggh4nns1#activetab=pivot:overviewtab">App Installer from the Microsoft Store</a>. If it's already installed, make sure it is updated with the latest version.</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">winget install Helix.Helix
</code></pre>
<h3 id="scoop"><a class="header" href="#scoop">Scoop</a></h3>
<pre><code class="language-sh">scoop install helix
</code></pre>
<h3 id="chocolatey"><a class="header" href="#chocolatey">Chocolatey</a></h3>
<pre><code class="language-sh">choco install helix
</code></pre>
<h3 id="msys2"><a class="header" href="#msys2">MSYS2</a></h3>
<p>For 64-bit Windows 8.1 or above:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">pacman -S mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-helix
</code></pre>
<h2 id="building-from-source"><a class="header" href="#building-from-source">Building from source</a></h2>
<p>Requirements:</p>
<p>Clone the Helix GitHub repository into a directory of your choice. The
examples in this documentation assume installation into either <code>~/src/</code> on
Linux and macOS, or <code>%userprofile%\src\</code> on Windows.</p>
<ul>
<li>The <a href="https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install">Rust toolchain</a></li>
<li>The <a href="https://git-scm.com/">Git version control system</a></li>
<li>A C++14 compatible compiler to build the tree-sitter grammars, for example GCC or Clang</li>
</ul>
<p>If you are using the <code>musl-libc</code> standard library instead of <code>glibc</code> the following environment variable must be set during the build to ensure tree-sitter grammars can be loaded correctly:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">RUSTFLAGS="-C target-feature=-crt-static"
</code></pre>
<ol>
<li>
<p>Clone the repository:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">git clone https://github.com/helix-editor/helix
cd helix
</code></pre>
</li>
<li>
<p>Compile from source:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">cargo install --path helix-term --locked
</code></pre>
<p>This command will create the <code>hx</code> executable and construct the tree-sitter
grammars in the local <code>runtime</code> folder.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<blockquote>
<p>💡 If you do not want to fetch or build grammars, set an environment variable <code>HELIX_DISABLE_AUTO_GRAMMAR_BUILD</code></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>💡 Tree-sitter grammars can be fetched and compiled if not pre-packaged. Fetch
grammars with <code>hx --grammar fetch</code> and compile them with
<code>hx --grammar build</code>. This will install them in
the <code>runtime</code> directory within the user's helix config directory (more
<a href="#multiple-runtime-directories">details below</a>).</p>
</blockquote>
<h3 id="configuring-helixs-runtime-files"><a class="header" href="#configuring-helixs-runtime-files">Configuring Helix's runtime files</a></h3>
<h4 id="linux-and-macos"><a class="header" href="#linux-and-macos">Linux and macOS</a></h4>
<p>The <strong>runtime</strong> directory is one below the Helix source, so either export a
<code>HELIX_RUNTIME</code> environment variable to point to that directory and add it to
your <code>~/.bashrc</code> or equivalent:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">export HELIX_RUNTIME=~/src/helix/runtime
</code></pre>
<p>Or, create a symbolic link:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">ln -Ts $PWD/runtime ~/.config/helix/runtime
</code></pre>
<p>If the above command fails to create a symbolic link because the file exists either move <code>~/.config/helix/runtime</code> to a new location or delete it, then run the symlink command above again.</p>
<h4 id="windows-1"><a class="header" href="#windows-1">Windows</a></h4>
<p>Either set the <code>HELIX_RUNTIME</code> environment variable to point to the runtime files using the Windows setting (search for
<code>Edit environment variables for your account</code>) or use the <code>setx</code> command in
Cmd:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">setx HELIX_RUNTIME "%userprofile%\source\repos\helix\runtime"
</code></pre>
<blockquote>
<p>💡 <code>%userprofile%</code> resolves to your user directory like
<code>C:\Users\Your-Name\</code> for example.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Or, create a symlink in <code>%appdata%\helix\</code> that links to the source code directory:</p>
<div class="table-wrapper"><table><thead><tr><th>Method</th><th>Command</th></tr></thead><tbody>
<tr><td>PowerShell</td><td><code>New-Item -ItemType Junction -Target "runtime" -Path "$Env:AppData\helix\runtime"</code></td></tr>
<tr><td>Cmd</td><td><code>cd %appdata%\helix</code> <br/> <code>mklink /D runtime "%userprofile%\src\helix\runtime"</code></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<blockquote>
<p>💡 On Windows, creating a symbolic link may require running PowerShell or
Cmd as an administrator.</p>
</blockquote>
<h4 id="multiple-runtime-directories"><a class="header" href="#multiple-runtime-directories">Multiple runtime directories</a></h4>
<p>When Helix finds multiple runtime directories it will search through them for files in the
following order:</p>
<ol>
<li><code>runtime/</code> sibling directory to <code>$CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR</code> directory (this is intended for
developing and testing helix only).</li>
<li><code>runtime/</code> subdirectory of OS-dependent helix user config directory.</li>
<li><code>$HELIX_RUNTIME</code></li>
<li>Distribution-specific fallback directory (set at compile time—not run time—
with the <code>HELIX_DEFAULT_RUNTIME</code> environment variable)</li>
<li><code>runtime/</code> subdirectory of path to Helix executable.</li>
</ol>
<p>This order also sets the priority for selecting which file will be used if multiple runtime
directories have files with the same name.</p>
<h4 id="note-to-packagers"><a class="header" href="#note-to-packagers">Note to packagers</a></h4>
<p>If you are making a package of Helix for end users, to provide a good out of
the box experience, you should set the <code>HELIX_DEFAULT_RUNTIME</code> environment
variable at build time (before invoking <code>cargo build</code>) to a directory which
will store the final runtime files after installation. For example, say you want
to package the runtime into <code>/usr/lib/helix/runtime</code>. The rough steps a build
script could follow are:</p>
<ol>
<li><code>export HELIX_DEFAULT_RUNTIME=/usr/lib/helix/runtime</code></li>
<li><code>cargo build --profile opt --locked --path helix-term</code></li>
<li><code>cp -r runtime $BUILD_DIR/usr/lib/helix/</code></li>
<li><code>cp target/opt/hx $BUILD_DIR/usr/bin/hx</code></li>
</ol>
<p>This way the resulting <code>hx</code> binary will always look for its runtime directory in
<code>/usr/lib/helix/runtime</code> if the user has no custom runtime in <code>~/.config/helix</code>
or <code>HELIX_RUNTIME</code>.</p>
<h3 id="validating-the-installation"><a class="header" href="#validating-the-installation">Validating the installation</a></h3>
<p>To make sure everything is set up as expected you should run the Helix health
check:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">hx --health
</code></pre>
<p>For more information on the health check results refer to
<a href="https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/wiki/Healthcheck">Health check</a>.</p>
<h3 id="configure-the-desktop-shortcut"><a class="header" href="#configure-the-desktop-shortcut">Configure the desktop shortcut</a></h3>
<p>If your desktop environment supports the
<a href="https://specifications.freedesktop.org/menu-spec/menu-spec-latest.html">XDG desktop menu</a>
you can configure Helix to show up in the application menu by copying the
provided <code>.desktop</code> and icon files to their correct folders:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">cp contrib/Helix.desktop ~/.local/share/applications
cp contrib/helix.png ~/.icons # or ~/.local/share/icons
</code></pre>
<p>To use another terminal than the system default, you can modify the <code>.desktop</code>
file. For example, to use <code>kitty</code>:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">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
</code></pre>

                    </main>

                    <nav class="nav-wrapper" aria-label="Page navigation">
                        <!-- Mobile navigation buttons -->
                            <a rel="prev" href="title-page.html" class="mobile-nav-chapters previous" title="Previous chapter" aria-label="Previous chapter" aria-keyshortcuts="Left">
                                <i class="fa fa-angle-left"></i>
                            </a>

                            <a rel="next prefetch" href="usage.html" class="mobile-nav-chapters next" title="Next chapter" aria-label="Next chapter" aria-keyshortcuts="Right">
                                <i class="fa fa-angle-right"></i>
                            </a>

                        <div style="clear: both"></div>
                    </nav>
                </div>
            </div>

            <nav class="nav-wide-wrapper" aria-label="Page navigation">
                    <a rel="prev" href="title-page.html" class="nav-chapters previous" title="Previous chapter" aria-label="Previous chapter" aria-keyshortcuts="Left">
                        <i class="fa fa-angle-left"></i>
                    </a>

                    <a rel="next prefetch" href="usage.html" class="nav-chapters next" title="Next chapter" aria-label="Next chapter" aria-keyshortcuts="Right">
                        <i class="fa fa-angle-right"></i>
                    </a>
            </nav>

        </div>




        <script>
            window.playground_copyable = true;
        </script>


        <script src="elasticlunr.min.js"></script>
        <script src="mark.min.js"></script>
        <script src="searcher.js"></script>

        <script src="clipboard.min.js"></script>
        <script src="highlight.js"></script>
        <script src="book.js"></script>

        <!-- Custom JS scripts -->


    </div>
    </body>
</html>