<buttonid="sidebar-toggle"class="icon-button"type="button"title="Toggle Table of Contents"aria-label="Toggle Table of Contents"aria-controls="sidebar">
<inputtype="search"name="search"id="searchbar"name="searchbar"placeholder="Search this book ..."aria-controls="searchresults-outer"aria-describedby="searchresults-header">
<p>This will install the <code>hx</code> binary to <code>$HOME/.cargo/bin</code> and build tree-sitter grammars in <code>./runtime/grammars</code>.</p>
<p>Helix also needs its runtime files so make sure to copy/symlink the <code>runtime/</code> directory into the
config directory (for example <code>~/.config/helix/runtime</code> on Linux/macOS). This location can be overridden
via the <code>HELIX_RUNTIME</code> environment variable.</p>
<p>The runtime location can be overridden via the <code>HELIX_RUNTIME</code> environment variable.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>NOTE: if <code>HELIX_RUNTIME</code> is set prior to calling <code>cargo install --path helix-term</code>,
tree-sitter grammars will be built in <code>$HELIX_RUNTIME/grammars</code>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>If you plan on keeping the repo locally, an alternative to copying/symlinking
runtime files is to set <code>HELIX_RUNTIME=/path/to/helix/runtime</code>
(<code>HELIX_RUNTIME=$PWD/runtime</code> if you're in the helix repo directory).</p>
<p>To use Helix in desktop environments that supports <ahref="https://specifications.freedesktop.org/menu-spec/menu-spec-latest.html">XDG desktop menu</a>, including Gnome and KDE, copy the provided <code>.desktop</code> file to the correct folder:</p>
sed -i "s|Terminal=true|Terminal=false|g" ~/.local/share/applications/Helix.desktop
</code></pre>
<p>Please note: there is no icon for Helix yet, so the system default will be used.</p>
<h2id="finishing-up-the-installation"><aclass="header"href="#finishing-up-the-installation">Finishing up the installation</a></h2>
<p>To make sure everything is set up as expected you should finally run the helix healthcheck via</p>
<pre><code>hx --health
</code></pre>
<p>For more information on the information displayed in the health check results refer to <ahref="https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/wiki/Healthcheck">Healthcheck</a>.</p>
<p>Tree-sitter grammars must be fetched and compiled if not pre-packaged.
Fetch grammars with <code>hx --grammar fetch</code> (requires <code>git</code>) and compile them
with <code>hx --grammar build</code> (requires a C++ compiler).</p>
<h3id="installing-language-servers"><aclass="header"href="#installing-language-servers">Installing language servers</a></h3>
<p>Language servers can optionally be installed if you want their features (auto-complete, diagnostics etc.).
Follow the <ahref="https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/wiki/How-to-install-the-default-language-servers">instructions on the wiki page</a> to add your language servers of choice.</p>
<p>(Currently not fully documented, see the <ahref="./keymap.html">keymappings</a> list for more.)</p>
<p>See <ahref="https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/blob/master/runtime/tutor">tutor</a> (accessible via <code>hx --tutor</code> or <code>:tutor</code>) for a vimtutor-like introduction.</p>
<p>Vim-like registers can be used to yank and store text to be pasted later. Usage is similar, with <code>"</code> being used to select a register:</p>
<ul>
<li><code>"ay</code> - Yank the current selection to register <code>a</code>.</li>
<li><code>"op</code> - Paste the text in register <code>o</code> after the selection.</li>
</ul>
<p>If there is a selected register before invoking a change or delete command, the selection will be stored in the register and the action will be carried out:</p>
<ul>
<li><code>"hc</code> - Store the selection in register <code>h</code> and then change it (delete and enter insert mode).</li>
<li><code>"md</code> - Store the selection in register <code>m</code> and delete it.</li>
<p>There is no special register for copying to system clipboard, instead special commands and keybindings are provided. See the <ahref="keymap.html#space-mode">keymap</a> for the specifics.
The black hole register works as a no-op register, meaning no data will be written to / read from it.</p>
<p>NOTE: <code>f</code>, <code>c</code>, etc need a tree-sitter grammar active for the current
document and a special tree-sitter query file to work properly. <ahref="./lang-support.html">Only
some grammars</a> currently have the query file implemented.
Contributions are welcome!</p>
</blockquote>
<h2id="tree-sitter-textobject-based-navigation"><aclass="header"href="#tree-sitter-textobject-based-navigation">Tree-sitter Textobject Based Navigation</a></h2>
<p>Navigating between functions, classes, parameters, etc is made
possible by leveraging tree-sitter and textobjects queries. For
example to move to the next function use <code>]f</code>, to move to previous
<tr><td><code>G</code></td><td>Go to line number <code><n></code></td><td><code>goto_line</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>Alt-.</code></td><td>Repeat last motion (<code>f</code>, <code>t</code> or <code>m</code>)</td><td><code>repeat_last_motion</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>Home</code></td><td>Move to the start of the line</td><td><code>goto_line_start</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>End</code></td><td>Move to the end of the line</td><td><code>goto_line_end</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>Alt-d</code></td><td>Delete selection, without yanking</td><td><code>delete_selection_noyank</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>c</code></td><td>Change selection (delete and enter insert mode)</td><td><code>change_selection</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>Alt-c</code></td><td>Change selection (delete and enter insert mode, without yanking)</td><td><code>change_selection_noyank</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>Ctrl-a</code></td><td>Increment object (number) under cursor</td><td><code>increment</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>Ctrl-x</code></td><td>Decrement object (number) under cursor</td><td><code>decrement</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>Q</code></td><td>Start/stop macro recording to the selected register (experimental)</td><td><code>record_macro</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>q</code></td><td>Play back a recorded macro from the selected register (experimental)</td><td><code>replay_macro</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>|</code></td><td>Pipe each selection through shell command, replacing with output</td><td><code>shell_pipe</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>Alt-|</code></td><td>Pipe each selection into shell command, ignoring output</td><td><code>shell_pipe_to</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>!</code></td><td>Run shell command, inserting output before each selection</td><td><code>shell_insert_output</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>Alt-!</code></td><td>Run shell command, appending output after each selection</td><td><code>shell_append_output</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>$</code></td><td>Pipe each selection into shell command, keep selections where command returned 0</td><td><code>shell_keep_pipe</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>Alt-J</code></td><td>Join lines inside selection and select space</td><td><code>join_selections_space</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>K</code></td><td>Keep selections matching the regex</td><td><code>keep_selections</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>Alt-K</code></td><td>Remove selections matching the regex</td><td><code>remove_selections</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>Ctrl-c</code></td><td>Comment/uncomment the selections</td><td><code>toggle_comments</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>Alt-o</code>, <code>Alt-up</code></td><td>Expand selection to parent syntax node (<strong>TS</strong>)</td><td><code>expand_selection</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>Alt-i</code>, <code>Alt-down</code></td><td>Shrink syntax tree object selection (<strong>TS</strong>)</td><td><code>shrink_selection</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>Alt-p</code>, <code>Alt-left</code></td><td>Select previous sibling node in syntax tree (<strong>TS</strong>)</td><td><code>select_prev_sibling</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>Alt-n</code>, <code>Alt-right</code></td><td>Select next sibling node in syntax tree (<strong>TS</strong>)</td><td><code>select_next_sibling</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>s</code><code><char></code></td><td>Surround current selection with <code><char></code></td><td><code>surround_add</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>r</code><code><from><to></code></td><td>Replace surround character <code><from></code> with <code><to></code></td><td><code>surround_replace</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>d</code><code><char></code></td><td>Delete surround character <code><char></code></td><td><code>surround_delete</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>a</code><code><object></code></td><td>Select around textobject</td><td><code>select_textobject_around</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>k</code></td><td>Show documentation for item under cursor in a <ahref="keymap.html#popup">popup</a> (<strong>LSP</strong>)</td><td><code>hover</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>s</code></td><td>Open document symbol picker (<strong>LSP</strong>)</td><td><code>symbol_picker</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>S</code></td><td>Open workspace symbol picker (<strong>LSP</strong>)</td><td><code>workspace_symbol_picker</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:quit</code>, <code>:q</code></td><td>Close the current view.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:quit!</code>, <code>:q!</code></td><td>Force close the current view, ignoring unsaved changes.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:open</code>, <code>:o</code></td><td>Open a file from disk into the current view.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:buffer-close</code>, <code>:bc</code>, <code>:bclose</code></td><td>Close the current buffer.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:buffer-close!</code>, <code>:bc!</code>, <code>:bclose!</code></td><td>Close the current buffer forcefully, ignoring unsaved changes.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:buffer-close-others</code>, <code>:bco</code>, <code>:bcloseother</code></td><td>Close all buffers but the currently focused one.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:buffer-close-others!</code>, <code>:bco!</code>, <code>:bcloseother!</code></td><td>Force close all buffers but the currently focused one.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:buffer-close-all</code>, <code>:bca</code>, <code>:bcloseall</code></td><td>Close all buffers without quitting.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:buffer-close-all!</code>, <code>:bca!</code>, <code>:bcloseall!</code></td><td>Force close all buffers ignoring unsaved changes without quitting.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:buffer-next</code>, <code>:bn</code>, <code>:bnext</code></td><td>Goto next buffer.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:write</code>, <code>:w</code></td><td>Write changes to disk. Accepts an optional path (:write some/path.txt)</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:write!</code>, <code>:w!</code></td><td>Force write changes to disk creating necessary subdirectories. Accepts an optional path (:write some/path.txt)</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:new</code>, <code>:n</code></td><td>Create a new scratch buffer.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:format</code>, <code>:fmt</code></td><td>Format the file using the LSP formatter.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:indent-style</code></td><td>Set the indentation style for editing. ('t' for tabs or 1-8 for number of spaces.)</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:line-ending</code></td><td>Set the document's default line ending. Options: crlf, lf.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:earlier</code>, <code>:ear</code></td><td>Jump back to an earlier point in edit history. Accepts a number of steps or a time span.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:later</code>, <code>:lat</code></td><td>Jump to a later point in edit history. Accepts a number of steps or a time span.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:write-quit</code>, <code>:wq</code>, <code>:x</code></td><td>Write changes to disk and close the current view. Accepts an optional path (:wq some/path.txt)</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:write-quit!</code>, <code>:wq!</code>, <code>:x!</code></td><td>Write changes to disk and close the current view forcefully. Accepts an optional path (:wq! some/path.txt)</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:write-all</code>, <code>:wa</code></td><td>Write changes from all buffers to disk.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:write-quit-all</code>, <code>:wqa</code>, <code>:xa</code></td><td>Write changes from all buffers to disk and close all views.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:write-quit-all!</code>, <code>:wqa!</code>, <code>:xa!</code></td><td>Write changes from all buffers to disk and close all views forcefully (ignoring unsaved changes).</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:quit-all</code>, <code>:qa</code></td><td>Close all views.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:quit-all!</code>, <code>:qa!</code></td><td>Force close all views ignoring unsaved changes.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:cquit</code>, <code>:cq</code></td><td>Quit with exit code (default 1). Accepts an optional integer exit code (:cq 2).</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:cquit!</code>, <code>:cq!</code></td><td>Force quit with exit code (default 1) ignoring unsaved changes. Accepts an optional integer exit code (:cq! 2).</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:theme</code></td><td>Change the editor theme (show current theme if no name specified).</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:clipboard-yank</code></td><td>Yank main selection into system clipboard.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:clipboard-yank-join</code></td><td>Yank joined selections into system clipboard. A separator can be provided as first argument. Default value is newline.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:primary-clipboard-yank</code></td><td>Yank main selection into system primary clipboard.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:primary-clipboard-yank-join</code></td><td>Yank joined selections into system primary clipboard. A separator can be provided as first argument. Default value is newline.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:clipboard-paste-after</code></td><td>Paste system clipboard after selections.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:clipboard-paste-before</code></td><td>Paste system clipboard before selections.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:clipboard-paste-replace</code></td><td>Replace selections with content of system clipboard.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:primary-clipboard-paste-after</code></td><td>Paste primary clipboard after selections.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:primary-clipboard-paste-before</code></td><td>Paste primary clipboard before selections.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:primary-clipboard-paste-replace</code></td><td>Replace selections with content of system primary clipboard.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:show-clipboard-provider</code></td><td>Show clipboard provider name in status bar.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:change-current-directory</code>, <code>:cd</code></td><td>Change the current working directory.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:show-directory</code>, <code>:pwd</code></td><td>Show the current working directory.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:encoding</code></td><td>Set encoding. Based on <code>https://encoding.spec.whatwg.org</code>.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:reload</code></td><td>Discard changes and reload from the source file.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:reload-all</code></td><td>Discard changes and reload all documents from the source files.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:update</code></td><td>Write changes only if the file has been modified.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:lsp-restart</code></td><td>Restarts the Language Server that is in use by the current doc</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:tree-sitter-scopes</code></td><td>Display tree sitter scopes, primarily for theming and development.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:debug-start</code>, <code>:dbg</code></td><td>Start a debug session from a given template with given parameters.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:debug-remote</code>, <code>:dbg-tcp</code></td><td>Connect to a debug adapter by TCP address and start a debugging session from a given template with given parameters.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:debug-eval</code></td><td>Evaluate expression in current debug context.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:vsplit</code>, <code>:vs</code></td><td>Open the file in a vertical split.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:vsplit-new</code>, <code>:vnew</code></td><td>Open a scratch buffer in a vertical split.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:hsplit</code>, <code>:hs</code>, <code>:sp</code></td><td>Open the file in a horizontal split.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:hsplit-new</code>, <code>:hnew</code></td><td>Open a scratch buffer in a horizontal split.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:tutor</code></td><td>Open the tutorial.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:goto</code>, <code>:g</code></td><td>Goto line number.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:set-language</code>, <code>:lang</code></td><td>Set the language of current buffer.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:set-option</code>, <code>:set</code></td><td>Set a config option at runtime.<br>For example to disable smart case search, use <code>:set search.smart-case false</code>.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:get-option</code>, <code>:get</code></td><td>Get the current value of a config option.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:sort</code></td><td>Sort ranges in selection.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:rsort</code></td><td>Sort ranges in selection in reverse order.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:reflow</code></td><td>Hard-wrap the current selection of lines to a given width.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:tree-sitter-subtree</code>, <code>:ts-subtree</code></td><td>Display tree sitter subtree under cursor, primarily for debugging queries.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:config-reload</code></td><td>Refresh user config.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:config-open</code></td><td>Open the user config.toml file.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:log-open</code></td><td>Open the helix log file.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:insert-output</code></td><td>Run shell command, inserting output before each selection.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:append-output</code></td><td>Run shell command, appending output after each selection.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:pipe</code></td><td>Pipe each selection to the shell command.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>:run-shell-command</code>, <code>:sh</code></td><td>Run a shell command</td></tr>
<p>The following languages and Language Servers are supported. In order to use
Language Server features, you must first <ahref="https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/wiki/How-to-install-the-default-language-servers">install</a> the
appropriate Language Server.</p>
<p>Check the language support in your installed helix version with <code>hx --health</code>.</p>
<p>Also see the <ahref="./languages.html">Language Configuration</a> docs and the <ahref="./guides/adding_languages.html">Adding
Languages</a> guide for more language configuration information.</p>
</div><divstyle="break-before: page; page-break-before: always;"></div><h1id="migrating-from-vim"><aclass="header"href="#migrating-from-vim">Migrating from Vim</a></h1>
<p>Helix's editing model is strongly inspired from Vim and Kakoune, and a notable
difference from Vim (and the most striking similarity to Kakoune) is that Helix
follows the <code>selection → action</code> model. This means that the whatever you are
going to act on (a word, a paragraph, a line, etc) is selected first and the
action itself (delete, change, yank, etc) comes second. A cursor is simply a
single width selection.</p>
<p>See also Kakoune's <ahref="https://github.com/mawww/kakoune/wiki/Migrating-from-Vim">Migrating from Vim</a> and Helix's <ahref="https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/wiki/Migrating-from-Vim">Migrating from Vim</a>.</p>
<tr><td><code>scroll-lines</code></td><td>Number of lines to scroll per scroll wheel step.</td><td><code>3</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>shell</code></td><td>Shell to use when running external commands.</td><td>Unix: <code>["sh", "-c"]</code><br/>Windows: <code>["cmd", "/C"]</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>line-number</code></td><td>Line number display: <code>absolute</code> simply shows each line's number, while <code>relative</code> shows the distance from the current line. When unfocused or in insert mode, <code>relative</code> will still show absolute line numbers.</td><td><code>absolute</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>cursorline</code></td><td>Highlight all lines with a cursor.</td><td><code>false</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>cursorcolumn</code></td><td>Highlight all columns with a cursor.</td><td><code>false</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>gutters</code></td><td>Gutters to display: Available are <code>diagnostics</code> and <code>diff</code> and <code>line-numbers</code> and <code>spacer</code>, note that <code>diagnostics</code> also includes other features like breakpoints, 1-width padding will be inserted if gutters is non-empty</td><td><code>["diagnostics", "spacer", "line-numbers", "spacer", "diff"]</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>auto-completion</code></td><td>Enable automatic pop up of auto-completion.</td><td><code>true</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>auto-format</code></td><td>Enable automatic formatting on save.</td><td><code>true</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>auto-save</code></td><td>Enable automatic saving on focus moving away from Helix. Requires <ahref="https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/wiki/Terminal-Support">focus event support</a> from your terminal.</td><td><code>false</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>idle-timeout</code></td><td>Time in milliseconds since last keypress before idle timers trigger. Used for autocompletion, set to 0 for instant.</td><td><code>400</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>completion-trigger-len</code></td><td>The min-length of word under cursor to trigger autocompletion</td><td><code>2</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>auto-info</code></td><td>Whether to display infoboxes</td><td><code>true</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>true-color</code></td><td>Set to <code>true</code> to override automatic detection of terminal truecolor support in the event of a false negative.</td><td><code>false</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>rulers</code></td><td>List of column positions at which to display the rulers. Can be overridden by language specific <code>rulers</code> in <code>languages.toml</code> file.</td><td><code>[]</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>bufferline</code></td><td>Renders a line at the top of the editor displaying open buffers. Can be <code>always</code>, <code>never</code> or <code>multiple</code> (only shown if more than one buffer is in use)</td><td><code>never</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>color-modes</code></td><td>Whether to color the mode indicator with different colors depending on the mode itself</td><td><code>false</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>left</code></td><td>A list of elements aligned to the left of the statusline</td><td><code>["mode", "spinner", "file-name"]</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>center</code></td><td>A list of elements aligned to the middle of the statusline</td><td><code>[]</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>right</code></td><td>A list of elements aligned to the right of the statusline</td><td><code>["diagnostics", "selections", "position", "file-encoding"]</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>separator</code></td><td>The character used to separate elements in the statusline</td><td><code>"│"</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>mode.normal</code></td><td>The text shown in the <code>mode</code> element for normal mode</td><td><code>"NOR"</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>mode.insert</code></td><td>The text shown in the <code>mode</code> element for insert mode</td><td><code>"INS"</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>mode.select</code></td><td>The text shown in the <code>mode</code> element for select mode</td><td><code>"SEL"</code></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<p>The following statusline elements can be configured:</p>
<tr><td><code>position-percentage</code></td><td>The cursor position as a percentage of the total number of lines</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>separator</code></td><td>The string defined in <code>editor.statusline.separator</code> (defaults to <code>"│"</code>)</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>spacer</code></td><td>Inserts a space between elements (multiple/contiguous spacers may be specified)</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>git-global</code></td><td>Enables reading global .gitignore, whose path is specified in git's config: <code>core.excludefile</code> option.</td><td>true</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>render</code></td><td>Whether to render whitespace. May either be <code>"all"</code> or <code>"none"</code>, or a table with sub-keys <code>space</code>, <code>tab</code>, and <code>newline</code>.</td><td><code>"none"</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>characters</code></td><td>Literal characters to use when rendering whitespace. Sub-keys may be any of <code>tab</code>, <code>space</code>, <code>nbsp</code>, <code>newline</code> or <code>tabpad</code></td><td>See example below</td></tr>
<p>To use a theme add <code>theme = "<name>"</code> to your <ahref="./configuration.html"><code>config.toml</code></a> at the very top of the file before the first section or select it during runtime using <code>:theme <name></code>.</p>
<h2id="creating-a-theme"><aclass="header"href="#creating-a-theme">Creating a theme</a></h2>
<p>Create a file with the name of your theme as file name (i.e <code>mytheme.toml</code>) and place it in your <code>themes</code> directory (i.e <code>~/.config/helix/themes</code>). The directory might have to be created beforehand.</p>
<p>The names "default" and "base16_default" are reserved for the builtin themes and cannot be overridden by user defined themes.</p>
<p>The default theme.toml can be found <ahref="https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/blob/master/theme.toml">here</a>, and user submitted themes <ahref="https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/blob/master/runtime/themes">here</a>. </p>
<p>Each line in the theme file is specified as below:</p>
<p>where <code>key</code> represents what you want to style, <code>fg</code> specifies the foreground color, <code>bg</code> the background color, <code>underline</code> the underline <code>style</code>/<code>color</code>, and <code>modifiers</code> is a list of style modifiers. <code>bg</code>, <code>underline</code> and <code>modifiers</code> can be omitted to defer to the defaults.</p>
<p>if the key contains a dot <code>'.'</code>, it must be quoted to prevent it being parsed as a <ahref="https://toml.io/en/v1.0.0#keys">dotted key</a>.</p>
<p>These keys match <ahref="https://tree-sitter.github.io/tree-sitter/syntax-highlighting#theme">tree-sitter scopes</a>.</p>
<p>For a given highlight produced, styling will be determined based on the longest matching theme key. For example, the highlight <code>function.builtin.static</code> would match the key <code>function.builtin</code> rather than <code>function</code>.</p>
<p>We use a similar set of scopes as
<ahref="https://www.sublimetext.com/docs/scope_naming.html">SublimeText</a>. See also
<tr><td><code>ui.statusline.normal</code></td><td>Statusline mode during normal mode (<ahref="./configuration.html#editor-section">only if <code>editor.color-modes</code> is enabled</a>)</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>ui.statusline.insert</code></td><td>Statusline mode during insert mode (<ahref="./configuration.html#editor-section">only if <code>editor.color-modes</code> is enabled</a>)</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>ui.statusline.select</code></td><td>Statusline mode during select mode (<ahref="./configuration.html#editor-section">only if <code>editor.color-modes</code> is enabled</a>)</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>ui.statusline.separator</code></td><td>Separator character in statusline</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>ui.popup</code></td><td>Documentation popups (e.g Space + k)</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>ui.popup.info</code></td><td>Prompt for multiple key options</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>ui.text.info</code></td><td>The key: command text in <code>ui.popup.info</code> boxes</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>ui.virtual.ruler</code></td><td>Ruler columns (see the <ahref="./configuration.html#editor-section"><code>editor.rulers</code> config</a>)</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>ui.cursorline.primary</code></td><td>The line of the primary cursor (<ahref="./configuration.html#editor-section">if cursorline is enabled</a>)</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>ui.cursorline.secondary</code></td><td>The lines of any other cursors (<ahref="./configuration.html#editor-section">if cursorline is enabled</a>)</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>ui.cursorcolumn.primary</code></td><td>The column of the primary cursor (<ahref="./configuration.html#editor-section">if cursorcolumn is enabled</a>)</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>ui.cursorcolumn.secondary</code></td><td>The columns of any other cursors (<ahref="./configuration.html#editor-section">if cursorcolumn is enabled</a>)</td></tr>
<p>Keys can be disabled by binding them to the <code>no_op</code> command.</p>
<p>Commands can be found at <ahref="https://docs.helix-editor.com/keymap.html">Keymap</a> Commands.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Commands can also be found in the source code at <ahref="https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/blob/master/helix-term/src/commands.rs"><code>helix-term/src/commands.rs</code></a> at the invocation of <code>static_commands!</code> macro and the <code>TypableCommandList</code>.</p>
<tr><td><code>name</code></td><td>The name of the language</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>scope</code></td><td>A string like <code>source.js</code> that identifies the language. Currently, we strive to match the scope names used by popular TextMate grammars and by the Linguist library. Usually <code>source.<name></code> or <code>text.<name></code> in case of markup languages</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>injection-regex</code></td><td>regex pattern that will be tested against a language name in order to determine whether this language should be used for a potential <ahref="https://tree-sitter.github.io/tree-sitter/syntax-highlighting#language-injection">language injection</a> site.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>file-types</code></td><td>The filetypes of the language, for example <code>["yml", "yaml"]</code>. See the file-type detection section below.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>shebangs</code></td><td>The interpreters from the shebang line, for example <code>["sh", "bash"]</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>roots</code></td><td>A set of marker files to look for when trying to find the workspace root. For example <code>Cargo.lock</code>, <code>yarn.lock</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>auto-format</code></td><td>Whether to autoformat this language when saving</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>diagnostic-severity</code></td><td>Minimal severity of diagnostic for it to be displayed. (Allowed values: <code>Error</code>, <code>Warning</code>, <code>Info</code>, <code>Hint</code>)</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>comment-token</code></td><td>The token to use as a comment-token</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>indent</code></td><td>The indent to use. Has sub keys <code>tab-width</code> and <code>unit</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>language-server</code></td><td>The Language Server to run. See the Language Server configuration section below.</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>config</code></td><td>Language Server configuration</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>grammar</code></td><td>The tree-sitter grammar to use (defaults to the value of <code>name</code>)</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>formatter</code></td><td>The formatter for the language, it will take precedence over the lsp when defined. The formatter must be able to take the original file as input from stdin and write the formatted file to stdout</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>max-line-length</code></td><td>Maximum line length. Used for the <code>:reflow</code> command</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<h3id="file-type-detection-and-the-file-types-key"><aclass="header"href="#file-type-detection-and-the-file-types-key">File-type detection and the <code>file-types</code> key</a></h3>
<p>Helix determines which language configuration to use with the <code>file-types</code> key
from the above section. <code>file-types</code> is a list of strings or tables, for
<tr><td><code>command</code></td><td>The name of the language server binary to execute. Binaries must be in <code>$PATH</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>args</code></td><td>A list of arguments to pass to the language server binary</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>timeout</code></td><td>The maximum time a request to the language server may take, in seconds. Defaults to <code>20</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>language-id</code></td><td>The language name to pass to the language server. Some language servers support multiple languages and use this field to determine which one is being served in a buffer</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>environment</code></td><td>Any environment variables that will be used when starting the language server <code>{ "KEY1" = "Value1", "KEY2" = "Value2" }</code></td></tr>
# pass format options according to https://github.com/typescript-language-server/typescript-language-server#workspacedidchangeconfiguration omitting the "[language].format." prefix.
<tr><td><code>git</code></td><td>A git remote URL from which the grammar should be cloned</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>rev</code></td><td>The revision (commit hash or tag) which should be fetched</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>subpath</code></td><td>A path within the grammar directory which should be built. Some grammar repositories host multiple grammars (for example <code>tree-sitter-typescript</code> and <code>tree-sitter-ocaml</code>) in subdirectories. This key is used to point <code>hx --grammar build</code> to the correct path for compilation. When omitted, the root of repository is used</td></tr>
<p>If you get errors when running after switching branches, you may have to update the tree-sitter grammars. Run <code>hx --grammar fetch</code> to fetch the grammars and <code>hx --grammar build</code> to build any out-of-date grammars.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>If a parser is segfaulting or you want to remove the parser, make sure to remove the compiled parser in <code>runtime/grammar/<name>.so</code></p>
<p>Textobjects that are language specific (<ahref="guides/../usage.html#textobjects">like functions, classes, etc</a>)
require an accompanying tree-sitter grammar and a <code>textobjects.scm</code> query file
to work properly. Tree-sitter allows us to query the source code syntax tree
and capture specific parts of it. The queries are written in a lisp dialect.
More information on how to write queries can be found in the <ahref="https://tree-sitter.github.io/tree-sitter/using-parsers#query-syntax">official tree-sitter
documentation</a>.</p>
<p>Query files should be placed in <code>runtime/queries/{language}/textobjects.scm</code>
when contributing. Note that to test the query files locally you should put
them under your local runtime directory (<code>~/.config/helix/runtime</code> on Linux
for example).</p>
<p>The following <ahref="https://tree-sitter.github.io/tree-sitter/using-parsers#capturing-nodes">captures</a> are recognized:</p>
<p><ahref="https://github.com/search?q=repo%3Ahelix-editor%2Fhelix+filename%3Atextobjects.scm&type=Code&ref=advsearch&l=&l=">Example query files</a> can be found in the helix GitHub repository.</p>
<h2id="queries-for-textobject-based-navigation"><aclass="header"href="#queries-for-textobject-based-navigation">Queries for Textobject Based Navigation</a></h2>
<p><ahref="guides/../usage.html#tree-sitter-textobject-based-navigation">Tree-sitter based navigation</a> is done using captures in the
following order:</p>
<ul>
<li><code>object.movement</code></li>
<li><code>object.around</code></li>
<li><code>object.inside</code></li>
</ul>
<p>For example if a <code>function.around</code> capture has been already defined for a language
in it's <code>textobjects.scm</code> file, function navigation should also work automatically.
<code>function.movement</code> should be defined only if the node captured by <code>function.around</code>
