5.0 KiB
Installation
We provide pre-built binaries on the GitHub Releases page.
OSX
Helix is available in homebrew-core:
brew install helix
Linux
NixOS
A flake containing the package is available in
the project root. The flake can also be used to spin up a reproducible development
shell for working on Helix with nix develop.
Flake outputs are cached for each push to master using Cachix. 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 you can
install Cachix cli; cachix use helix will
configure Nix to use cached outputs when possible.
Arch Linux
Releases are available in the community repository.
A helix-git package is also available on the AUR, which builds the master branch.
Fedora Linux
You can install the COPR package for Helix via
sudo dnf copr enable varlad/helix
sudo dnf install helix
Void Linux
sudo xbps-install helix
Windows
Helix can be installed using Scoop, Chocolatey or MSYS2.
Scoop:
scoop install helix
Chocolatey:
choco install helix
MSYS2:
Choose the proper command for your system from below:
- For 32 bit Windows 7 or above:
pacman -S mingw-w64-i686-helix
- For 64 bit Windows 7 or above:
pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-helix
- For 64 bit Windows 8.1 or above:
pacman -S mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-helix
Build from source
git clone https://github.com/helix-editor/helix
cd helix
cargo install --path helix-term --locked
This will install the hx binary to $HOME/.cargo/bin and build tree-sitter grammars in ./runtime/grammars.
Helix also 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). This location can be overridden
via the HELIX_RUNTIME environment variable.
| 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 $PWD/runtime ~/.config/helix/runtime |
Starting with Windows Vista you can also create symbolic links on Windows. Note that this requires elevated privileges - i.e. PowerShell or Cmd must be run as administrator.
PowerShell:
New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Target "runtime" -Path "$Env:AppData\helix\runtime"
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_RUNTIMEis set prior to callingcargo install --path helix-term --locked, 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).
To use Helix in desktop environments that supports XDG desktop menu, including Gnome and KDE, copy the provided .desktop file to the correct folder:
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:
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.
Finishing up the installation
To make sure everything is set up as expected you should finally run the helix healthcheck via
hx --health
For more information on the information displayed in the health check results refer to Healthcheck.
Building tree-sitter grammars
Tree-sitter grammars must be fetched and compiled if not pre-packaged.
Fetch grammars with hx --grammar fetch (requires git) and compile them
with hx --grammar build (requires a C++ compiler).
Installing language servers
Language servers can optionally be installed if you want their features (auto-complete, diagnostics etc.). Follow the instructions on the wiki page to add your language servers of choice.