helix-editor/helix

A post-modern modal text editor.

46,155

stars

6,562

commits

Rust

primary language

Sep 8, 2026

updated

helix-editor.com
kakoune
rust
text-editor
vim

README

Helix

Build status GitHub Release Documentation GitHub contributors Matrix Space

Screenshot

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 or documentation.

All shortcuts/keymaps can be found in the documentation on the website.

Troubleshooting

Features

  • Vim-like modal editing
  • Multiple selections
  • Built-in language server support
  • Smart, incremental syntax highlighting and code editing via tree-sitter

Although it's primarily a terminal-based editor, I am interested in exploring a custom renderer (similar to Emacs) using wgpu.

Note: Only certain languages have indentation definitions at the moment. Check runtime/queries/<lang>/ for indents.scm.

Installation

Installation documentation.

Packaging status

Contributing

Contributing guidelines can be found here.

Getting help

Your question might already be answered on the FAQ.

Discuss the project on the community Matrix Space (make sure to join #helix-editor:matrix.org if you're on a client that doesn't support Matrix Spaces yet).

Credits

Thanks to @jakenvac for designing the logo!

Contributors

(top 30 of 415)

archseer

1,431 commits

the-mikedavis

769 commits

dependabot[bot]

681 commits

pascalkuthe

201 commits

helix-editor/helix

A post-modern modal text editor.

46,155

stars

6,562

commits

Rust

primary language

Sep 8, 2026

updated

helix-editor.com
kakoune
rust
text-editor
vim

README

Helix

Build status GitHub Release Documentation GitHub contributors Matrix Space

Screenshot

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 or documentation.

All shortcuts/keymaps can be found in the documentation on the website.

Troubleshooting

Features

  • Vim-like modal editing
  • Multiple selections
  • Built-in language server support
  • Smart, incremental syntax highlighting and code editing via tree-sitter

Although it's primarily a terminal-based editor, I am interested in exploring a custom renderer (similar to Emacs) using wgpu.

Note: Only certain languages have indentation definitions at the moment. Check runtime/queries/<lang>/ for indents.scm.

Installation

Installation documentation.

Packaging status

Contributing

Contributing guidelines can be found here.

Getting help

Your question might already be answered on the FAQ.

Discuss the project on the community Matrix Space (make sure to join #helix-editor:matrix.org if you're on a client that doesn't support Matrix Spaces yet).

Credits

Thanks to @jakenvac for designing the logo!

Contributors

(top 30 of 415)

archseer

1,431 commits

the-mikedavis

769 commits

dependabot[bot]

681 commits

pascalkuthe

201 commits

Languages

Rust

76.4%

Tree-sitter Query

22.6%