Helix Editor

Helix is a post-modern modal text editor inspired by Kakoune. It features multiple cursors, tree-sitter integration, and a clean design.

Features #

• Modal editing - Vim-like modal interface with improvements
• Multiple cursors - Kakoune-style multiple selections
• Tree-sitter - Built-in syntax highlighting and parsing
• LSP support - Language Server Protocol integration
• No plugins needed - Batteries included philosophy

Setup #

Install via package manager:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:maveonair/helix-editor
sudo apt update
sudo apt install helix

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S helix

# macOS
brew install helix

# Via mise
mise install helix

Configuration #

Config file: ~/.config/helix/config.toml

Example configuration:

theme = "dracula"

[editor]
line-number = "relative"
mouse = false
cursorline = true
auto-save = true

[editor.cursor-shape]
normal = "block"
insert = "bar"
select = "underline"

[editor.file-picker]
hidden = false

Key Differences from Vim/Neovim #

Helix uses a selection-first approach:

Key Bindings #

Multiple Cursors #

Helix excels at multiple selections:

• % - Select all occurrences in file
• s - Select matches in selection
• C - Copy selection to next line
• A-C - Copy selection to previous line
• ; - Collapse selection to cursor
• Alt-; - Flip cursor and selection

See Also #