path: root/book/src/install.md

# Installing Helix

<!--toc:start-->
- [Pre-built binaries](#pre-built-binaries)
- [Linux, macOS, Windows and OpenBSD packaging status](#linux-macos-windows-and-openbsd-packaging-status)
- [Linux](#linux)
  - [Ubuntu](#ubuntu)
  - [Fedora/RHEL](#fedorarhel)
  - [Arch Linux extra](#arch-linux-extra)
  - [NixOS](#nixos)
  - [Flatpak](#flatpak)
  - [Snap](#snap)
  - [AppImage](#appimage)
- [macOS](#macos)
  - [Homebrew Core](#homebrew-core)
  - [MacPorts](#macports)
- [Windows](#windows)
  - [Winget](#winget)
  - [Scoop](#scoop)
  - [Chocolatey](#chocolatey)
  - [MSYS2](#msys2)
- [Building from source](#building-from-source)
  - [Configuring Helix's runtime files](#configuring-helixs-runtime-files)
    - [Linux and macOS](#linux-and-macos)
    - [Windows](#windows)
    - [Multiple runtime directories](#multiple-runtime-directories)
  - [Validating the installation](#validating-the-installation)
  - [Configure the desktop shortcut](#configure-the-desktop-shortcut)
<!--toc:end-->

To install Helix, follow the instructions specific to your operating system.
Note that:

- To get the latest nightly version of Helix, you need to
  [build from source](#building-from-source).

- To take full advantage of Helix, install the language servers for your
  preferred programming languages. See the
  [wiki](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/wiki/How-to-install-the-default-language-servers)
  for instructions.

## Pre-built binaries

Download pre-built binaries from the
[GitHub Releases page](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/releases). Add the binary to your system's `$PATH` to use it from the command
line.

## Linux, macOS, Windows and OpenBSD packaging status

[![Packaging status](https://repology.org/badge/vertical-allrepos/helix.svg)](https://repology.org/project/helix/versions)

## Linux

The following third party repositories are available:

### Ubuntu

Add the `PPA` for Helix:

```sh
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:maveonair/helix-editor
sudo apt update
sudo apt install helix
```

### Fedora/RHEL

```sh
sudo dnf install helix
```

### Arch Linux extra

Releases are available in the `extra` repository:

```sh
sudo pacman -S helix
```

> 💡 When installed from the `extra` repository, run Helix with `helix` instead of `hx`.
>
> For example:
> ```sh
> helix --health
> ```
> to check health

Additionally, a [helix-git](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/helix-git/) package is available
in the AUR, which builds the master branch.

### NixOS

Helix is available in [nixpkgs](https://github.com/nixos/nixpkgs) through the `helix` attribute,
the unstable channel usually carries the latest release.

Helix is also available as a [flake](https://nixos.wiki/wiki/Flakes) in the project
root. Use `nix develop` to spin up a reproducible development shell. Outputs are
cached for each push to master using [Cachix](https://www.cachix.org/). The
flake is configured to automatically make use of this cache assuming the user
accepts the new settings on first use.

If you are using a version of Nix without flakes enabled,
[install Cachix CLI](https://docs.cachix.org/installation) and use
`cachix use helix` to configure Nix to use cached outputs when possible.

### Flatpak

Helix is available on [Flathub](https://flathub.org/en-GB/apps/com.helix_editor.Helix):

```sh
flatpak install flathub com.helix_editor.Helix
flatpak run com.helix_editor.Helix
```

### Snap

Helix is available on [Snapcraft](https://snapcraft.io/helix) and can be installed with:

```sh
snap install --classic helix
```

This will install Helix as both `/snap/bin/helix` and `/snap/bin/hx`, so make sure `/snap/bin` is in your `PATH`.

### AppImage

Install Helix using the Linux [AppImage](https://appimage.org/) format.
Download the official Helix AppImage from the [latest releases](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/releases/latest) page.

```sh
chmod +x helix-*.AppImage # change permission for executable mode
./helix-*.AppImage # run helix
```
 
## macOS

### Homebrew Core

```sh
brew install helix
```

### MacPorts

```sh
port install helix
```

## Windows

Install on Windows using [Winget](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/package-manager/winget/), [Scoop](https://scoop.sh/), [Chocolatey](https://chocolatey.org/)
or [MSYS2](https://msys2.org/).

### Winget
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 [App Installer from the Microsoft Store](https://www.microsoft.com/p/app-installer/9nblggh4nns1#activetab=pivot:overviewtab). If it's already installed, make sure it is updated with the latest version.

```sh
winget install Helix.Helix
```

### Scoop

```sh
scoop install helix
```

### Chocolatey

```sh
choco install helix
```

### MSYS2

For 64-bit Windows 8.1 or above:

```sh
pacman -S mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-helix
```

## Building from source

Requirements:

Clone the Helix GitHub repository into a directory of your choice. The
examples in this documentation assume installation into either `~/src/` on
Linux and macOS, or `%userprofile%\src\` on Windows.

- The [Rust toolchain](https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install)
- The [Git version control system](https://git-scm.com/)
- A C++14 compatible compiler to build the tree-sitter grammars, for example GCC or Clang

If you are using the `musl-libc` standard library instead of `glibc` the following environment variable must be set during the build to ensure tree-sitter grammars can be loaded correctly:

```sh
RUSTFLAGS="-C target-feature=-crt-static"
```

1. Clone the repository:

   ```sh
   git clone https://github.com/helix-editor/helix
   cd helix
   ```

2. Compile from source:

   ```sh
   cargo install --path helix-term --locked
   ```

   This command will create the `hx` executable and construct the tree-sitter
   grammars in the local `runtime` folder.

> 💡 If you do not want to fetch or build grammars, set an environment variable `HELIX_DISABLE_AUTO_GRAMMAR_BUILD`

> 💡 Tree-sitter grammars can be fetched and compiled if not pre-packaged. Fetch
> grammars with `hx --grammar fetch` and compile them with
> `hx --grammar build`. This will install them in
> the `runtime` directory within the user's helix config directory (more
> [details below](#multiple-runtime-directories)).

### Configuring Helix's runtime files

#### Linux and macOS

The **runtime** directory is one below the Helix source, so either export a
`HELIX_RUNTIME` environment variable to point to that directory and add it to
your `~/.bashrc` or equivalent:

```sh
export HELIX_RUNTIME=~/src/helix/runtime
```

Or, create a symbolic link:

```sh
ln -Ts $PWD/runtime ~/.config/helix/runtime
```

If the above command fails to create a symbolic link because the file exists either move `~/.config/helix/runtime` to a new location or delete it, then run the symlink command above again.

#### Windows

Either set the `HELIX_RUNTIME` environment variable to point to the runtime files using the Windows setting (search for
`Edit environment variables for your account`) or use the `setx` command in
Cmd:

```sh
setx HELIX_RUNTIME "%userprofile%\source\repos\helix\runtime"
```

> 💡 `%userprofile%` resolves to your user directory like
> `C:\Users\Your-Name\` for example.

Or, create a symlink in `%appdata%\helix\` that links to the source code directory:

| Method     | Command                                                                                |
| ---------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| PowerShell | `New-Item -ItemType Junction -Target "runtime" -Path "$Env:AppData\helix\runtime"`     |
| Cmd        | `cd %appdata%\helix` <br/> `mklink /D runtime "%userprofile%\src\helix\runtime"`       |

> 💡 On Windows, creating a symbolic link may require running PowerShell or
> Cmd as an administrator.

#### Multiple runtime directories

When Helix finds multiple runtime directories it will search through them for files in the
following order:

1. `runtime/` sibling directory to `$CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR` directory (this is intended for
  developing and testing helix only).
2. `runtime/` subdirectory of OS-dependent helix user config directory.
3. `$HELIX_RUNTIME`
4. Distribution-specific fallback directory (set at compile time—not run time—
   with the `HELIX_DEFAULT_RUNTIME` environment variable)
5. `runtime/` subdirectory of path to Helix executable.

This order also sets the priority for selecting which file will be used if multiple runtime
directories have files with the same name.

#### Note to packagers

If you are making a package of Helix for end users, to provide a good out of
the box experience, you should set the `HELIX_DEFAULT_RUNTIME` environment
variable at build time (before invoking `cargo build`) to a directory which
will store the final runtime files after installation. For example, say you want
to package the runtime into `/usr/lib/helix/runtime`. The rough steps a build
script could follow are:

1. `export HELIX_DEFAULT_RUNTIME=/usr/lib/helix/runtime`
1. `cargo build --profile opt --locked --path helix-term`
1. `cp -r runtime $BUILD_DIR/usr/lib/helix/`
1. `cp target/opt/hx $BUILD_DIR/usr/bin/hx`

This way the resulting `hx` binary will always look for its runtime directory in
`/usr/lib/helix/runtime` if the user has no custom runtime in `~/.config/helix`
or `HELIX_RUNTIME`.

### Validating the installation

To make sure everything is set up as expected you should run the Helix health
check:

```sh
hx --health
```

For more information on the health check results refer to
[Health check](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/wiki/Healthcheck).

### Configure the desktop shortcut

If your desktop environment supports the
[XDG desktop menu](https://specifications.freedesktop.org/menu-spec/menu-spec-latest.html)
you can configure Helix to show up in the application menu by copying the
provided `.desktop` and icon files to their correct folders:

```sh
cp contrib/Helix.desktop ~/.local/share/applications
cp contrib/helix.png ~/.icons # or ~/.local/share/icons
```

To use another terminal than the system default, you can modify the `.desktop`
file. For example, to use `kitty`:

```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
```