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< 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" > < strong aria-hidden = "true" > 1.< / strong > Installation< / a > < / li > < li > < ol class = "section" > < li class = "chapter-item expanded " > < a href = "package-managers.html" > < strong aria-hidden = "true" > 1.1.< / strong > Package Managers< / a > < / li > < li class = "chapter-item expanded " > < a href = "building-from-source.html" > < strong aria-hidden = "true" > 1.2.< / strong > Building from source< / a > < / li > < / ol > < / 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 = "registers.html" > < strong aria-hidden = "true" > 2.1.< / strong > Registers< / a > < / li > < li class = "chapter-item expanded " > < a href = "surround.html" > < strong aria-hidden = "true" > 2.2.< / strong > Surround< / a > < / li > < li class = "chapter-item expanded " > < a href = "textobjects.html" > < strong aria-hidden = "true" > 2.3.< / strong > Textobjects< / a > < / li > < li class = "chapter-item expanded " > < a href = "syntax-aware-motions.html" > < strong aria-hidden = "true" > 2.4.< / strong > Syntax aware motions< / a > < / li > < li class = "chapter-item expanded " > < a href = "pickers.html" > < strong aria-hidden = "true" > 2.5.< / strong > Pickers< / a > < / li > < li class = "chapter-item expanded " > < a href = "keymap.html" > < strong aria-hidden = "true" > 2.6.< / strong > Keymap< / a > < / li > < li class = "chapter-item expanded " > < a href = "commands.html" > < strong aria-hidden = "true" > 2.7.< / strong > Commands< / a > < / li > < li class = "chapter-item expanded " > < a href = "lang-support.html" > < strong aria-hidden = "true" > 2.8.< / 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 = "editor.html" > < strong aria-hidden = "true" > 4.1.< / strong > Editor< / a > < / li > < li class = "chapter-item expanded " > < a href = "themes.html" > < strong aria-hidden = "true" > 4.2.< / strong > Themes< / a > < / li > < li class = "chapter-item expanded " > < a href = "remapping.html" > < strong aria-hidden = "true" > 4.3.< / strong > Key remapping< / a > < / li > < li class = "chapter-item expanded " > < a href = "languages.html" > < strong aria-hidden = "true" > 4.4.< / 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 > < / ol > < / li > < / ol >
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< h2 id = "building-from-source" > < a class = "header" href = "#building-from-source" > Building from source< / a > < / h2 >
< 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 >
< li > < a href = "#note-to-packagers" > Note to packagers< / 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 >
< 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 $PWD/runtime ~/.config/helix/runtime
< / code > < / pre >
< p > If the above command fails to create a symbolic link because the file exists either move < code > ~/.config/helix/runtime< / code > to a new location or delete it, then run the symlink command above again.< / p >
< h4 id = "windows" > < a class = "header" href = "#windows" > Windows< / a > < / h4 >
< p > Either set the < code > HELIX_RUNTIME< / code > environment variable to point to the runtime files using the Windows setting (search for
< code > Edit environment variables for your account< / code > ) or use the < code > setx< / code > command in
Cmd:< / p >
< pre > < code class = "language-sh" > setx HELIX_RUNTIME "%userprofile%\source\repos\helix\runtime"
< / code > < / pre >
< blockquote >
< p > 💡 < code > %userprofile%< / code > resolves to your user directory like
< code > C:\Users\Your-Name\< / code > for example.< / p >
< / blockquote >
< p > Or, create a symlink in < code > %appdata%\helix\< / code > that links to the source code directory:< / p >
< div class = "table-wrapper" > < table > < thead > < tr > < th > Method< / th > < th > Command< / th > < / tr > < / thead > < tbody >
< tr > < td > PowerShell< / td > < td > < code > New-Item -ItemType Junction -Target "runtime" -Path "$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 $BUILD_DIR/usr/bin/hx< / code > < / li >
< / ol >
< p > This way the resulting < code > hx< / code > binary will always look for its runtime directory in
< code > /usr/lib/helix/runtime< / code > if the user has no custom runtime in < code > ~/.config/helix< / code >
or < code > HELIX_RUNTIME< / code > .< / p >
< h3 id = "validating-the-installation" > < a class = "header" href = "#validating-the-installation" > Validating the installation< / a > < / h3 >
< p > To make sure everything is set up as expected you should run the Helix health
check:< / p >
< pre > < code class = "language-sh" > hx --health
< / code > < / pre >
< p > For more information on the health check results refer to
< a href = "https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/wiki/Healthcheck" > Health check< / a > .< / p >
< h3 id = "configure-the-desktop-shortcut" > < a class = "header" href = "#configure-the-desktop-shortcut" > Configure the desktop shortcut< / a > < / h3 >
< p > If your desktop environment supports the
< a href = "https://specifications.freedesktop.org/menu-spec/menu-spec-latest.html" > XDG desktop menu< / a >
you can configure Helix to show up in the application menu by copying the
provided < code > .desktop< / code > and icon files to their correct folders:< / p >
< pre > < code class = "language-sh" > cp contrib/Helix.desktop ~/.local/share/applications
cp contrib/helix.png ~/.icons # or ~/.local/share/icons
< / code > < / pre >
< p > It is recommended to convert the links in the < code > .desktop< / code > file to absolute paths to avoid potential problems:< / p >
< pre > < code class = "language-sh" > sed -i -e "s|Exec=hx %F|Exec=$(readlink -f ~/.cargo/bin/hx) %F|g" \
-e "s|Icon=helix|Icon=$(readlink -f ~/.icons/helix.png)|g" ~/.local/share/applications/Helix.desktop
< / 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 >
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