# Helix
[](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/actions)
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/<lang>/` 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 "< helix-repo > \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.
[](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).
