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helix/README.md
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1# Helix
3[![Build status](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/actions/workflows/build.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/actions)
5![Screenshot](./screenshot.png)
7A Kakoune / Neovim inspired editor, written in Rust.
9The editing model is very heavily based on Kakoune; during development I found
10myself agreeing with most of Kakoune's design decisions.
12For more information, see the [website](https://helix-editor.com) or
13[documentation](https://docs.helix-editor.com/).
15All shortcuts/keymaps can be found [in the documentation on the website](https://docs.helix-editor.com/keymap.html).
17[Troubleshooting](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/wiki/Troubleshooting)
19# Features
21- Vim-like modal editing
22- Multiple selections
23- Built-in language server support
24- Smart, incremental syntax highlighting and code editing via tree-sitter
26It's a terminal-based editor first, but I'd like to explore a custom renderer
27(similar to Emacs) in wgpu or skulpin.
29Note: Only certain languages have indentation definitions at the moment. Check
30`runtime/queries/<lang>/` for `indents.scm`.
32# Installation
34Packages are available for various distributions (see [Installation docs](https://docs.helix-editor.com/install.html)).
36If you would like to build from source:
38```shell
39git clone https://github.com/helix-editor/helix
40cd helix
41cargo install --path helix-term
42```
44This will install the `hx` binary to `$HOME/.cargo/bin` and build tree-sitter grammars in `./runtime/grammars`.
46Helix needs its runtime files so make sure to copy/symlink the `runtime/` directory into the
47config directory (for example `~/.config/helix/runtime` on Linux/macOS, or `%AppData%/helix/runtime` on Windows).
49| OS | Command |
50| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
51| Windows (Cmd) | `xcopy /e /i runtime %AppData%\helix\runtime` |
52| Windows (PowerShell) | `xcopy /e /i runtime $Env:AppData\helix\runtime` |
53| Linux / MacOS | `ln -s $PWD/runtime ~/.config/helix/runtime` |
55Starting with Windows Vista you can also create symbolic links on Windows. Note that this requires
56elevated priviliges - i.e. PowerShell or Cmd must be run as administrator.
58**PowerShell:**
60```powershell
61New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Target "runtime" -Path "$Env:AppData\helix\runtime"
62```
64**Cmd:**
66```cmd
67cd %appdata%\helix
68mklink /D runtime "<helix-repo>\runtime"
69```
71The runtime location can be overridden via the `HELIX_RUNTIME` environment variable.
73> NOTE: if `HELIX_RUNTIME` is set prior to calling `cargo install --path helix-term`,
74> tree-sitter grammars will be built in `$HELIX_RUNTIME/grammars`.
76If you plan on keeping the repo locally, an alternative to copying/symlinking
77runtime files is to set `HELIX_RUNTIME=/path/to/helix/runtime`
78(`HELIX_RUNTIME=$PWD/runtime` if you're in the helix repo directory).
80Packages already solve this for you by wrapping the `hx` binary with a wrapper
81that sets the variable to the install dir.
83> NOTE: running via cargo also doesn't require setting explicit `HELIX_RUNTIME` path, it will automatically
84> detect the `runtime` directory in the project root.
86If you want to customize your `languages.toml` config,
87tree-sitter grammars may be manually fetched and built with `hx --grammar fetch` and `hx --grammar build`.
89In order to use LSP features like auto-complete, you will need to
90[install the appropriate Language Server](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/wiki/How-to-install-the-default-language-servers)
91for a language.
93[![Packaging status](https://repology.org/badge/vertical-allrepos/helix.svg)](https://repology.org/project/helix/versions)
95## Adding Helix to your desktop environment
97If 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:
99```bash
100cp contrib/Helix.desktop ~/.local/share/applications
101```
103To use another terminal than the default, you will need to modify the `.desktop` file. For example, to use `kitty`:
105```bash
106sed -i "s|Exec=hx %F|Exec=kitty hx %F|g" ~/.local/share/applications/Helix.desktop
107sed -i "s|Terminal=true|Terminal=false|g" ~/.local/share/applications/Helix.desktop
108```
110Please note: there is no icon for Helix yet, so the system default will be used.
112## MacOS
114Helix can be installed on MacOS through homebrew:
116```
117brew install helix
118```
120# Contributing
122Contributing guidelines can be found [here](./docs/CONTRIBUTING.md).
124# Getting help
126Your question might already be answered on the [FAQ](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/wiki/FAQ).
128Discuss 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).