Helix Mode

Helix keybindings in Emacs.

Helix is a modal text editor that uses a keybinding scheme very similar to Kakoune. That is, keybindings that are reminiscent of vi but flip around the verb-object model. Helix Mode implements a subset of Helix keybindings and modes.

Installation

Clone Helix Mode:

git clone https://github.com/mgmarlow/helix-mode /path/to/helix-mode

Add Helix Mode to your load path and enable it globally:

(add-to-list 'load-path "/path/to/helix-mode")
(require 'helix)
(helix-mode)

Or (>= Emacs 30.1) point use-package to this repository with the vc keyword:

(use-package helix
  :vc (:url "https://github.com/mgmarlow/helix-mode")
  :config
  (helix-mode))

Global vs. local mode

You can enable Helix mode globally (e.g. for all buffers besides minibuffers) via

(helix-mode)

Warning: Helix mode is still a work in progress, so some special buffer modes like dired will not work perfectly. You can still use Helix globally but note that you may need to manually invoke some commands in special buffers.

Alternatively, you can manually toggle Helix mode on/off in local buffers by invoking helix-normal-mode:

(helix-normal-mode 1)

Supported keybindings

Normal mode is the default mode. You can return to it by pressing ESC.

Movement

Key	Description	Command
h	Move left	helix-backward-char
l	Move right	helix-forward-char
j	Move down	helix-next-line
k	Move up	helix-previous-line
w	Move next word	helix-forward-word
b	Move previous word	helix-backward-word
G	Go to line	N/A
C-b	Move page up	N/A
C-f	Move page down	N/A

Changes

Key	Description	Command
d	Delete selection	helix-kill-thing-at-point
y	Yank selection	N/A
p	Paste	N/A
v	Begin selection	helix-begin-selection
u	Undo	N/A
o	Insert newline	helix-insert-newline
O	Insert line above	helis-insert-prevline
i	Insert mode	helix-insert
I	Insert beginning of line	helix-insert-beginning-line
a	Insert after	helix-insert-after
A	Insert end of line	helix-insert-after-end-line
r	Replace with a character	helix-replace
R	Replace with yanked text	helix-replace-yanked
C-c	Comment line	N/A

Selection

Key	Description	Command
x	Select current line	helix-select-line

Search

Key	Description	Command
/	Search	helix-search
n	Continue search forwards	helix-search-forward
N	Continue search backwards	helix-search-backward

Command mode

Accessed by typing : in normal mode.

Currently only supports basic save/quit commands, e.g. write, write-quit.

Goto mode

Accessed by typing g in normal mode.

Key	Description	Command
g	Go to beginning of file	helix-go-beginning-buffer
e	Go to end of file	helix-go-end-buffer
l	Go to end of line	helix-go-end-line
h	Go to beginning of line	helix-go-beginning-line

Window mode

Accessed by typing C-w in normal mode.

Key	Description	Command
w	Switch to next window	N/A
v	Vertical right split	N/A
s	Horizontal bottom split	N/A
h	Move to left split	N/A
j	Move to split below	N/A
k	Move to split above	N/A
l	Move to right split	N/A
q	Close current window	N/A
o	Only keep current window	N/A

Space mode

Accessed by typing space in normal mode.

Key	Description	Command
f	Find file at project root	N/A
b	Switch to project buffer	N/A
j	Switch project	N/A
/	Search within project	N/A

License

Licensed under GPLv3.