About Helix
Helix is an open source modal text editor written in Rust. It runs in the terminal and includes multiple selections, tree-sitter support and language server features without extra setup.
What it does
Helix is a terminal editor that makes selections the core of editing. You select text first and then run a command on it, which is how it supports several cursors at once. It uses tree-sitter to understand code structure, so you can select functions, classes and other syntax nodes directly. Language server output provides completion, go-to-definition and diagnostics.
Key features
- Multiple selections as a core editing feature
- Select functions, classes and other syntax nodes
- Language server support with no extra setup
- Fuzzy finder and project-wide search
- Auto closing bracket pairs and surround support
Who it's for
Developers who like a keyboard-driven terminal editor, people who work over ssh or inside tmux, and anyone who wants modern defaults without writing a lot of configuration.
Pricing and good to know
Helix is free and open source under the MPL-2.0 license. It does not have a plugin system yet, so its features come built in. It is written in Rust and does not depend on Electron, JavaScript or VimScript.
Highlights
- Multiple selections as a core editing feature
- Select functions, classes and other syntax nodes
- Language server support with no extra setup
- Fuzzy finder for files and symbols
- Project-wide search from inside the editor
