huqingye

Translator's note: Excerpted from my translated Helix Book, the full document can be found here .

Mappings marked as LSP require a language server for that file type.

Mappings marked as TS require tree-sitter syntax support for that file type.

Normal mode#

Cursor Movement#

Note: Unlike Vim, f, F, t, and T are not limited to the current line.

Text Modification#

Execute Shell Commands on Selection#

Select Text#

╭─────╮                ╭─────╮               ╭─────╮
│text1│ <── backward ──│text0│── forward ──> │text1│
╰─────╯                ╰─────╯               ╰─────╯

╭─────╮
│text1│
╰─────╯
   ↑
backward: selection moves up/backward/reverse
   |
╭─────╮
│text0│
╰─────╯
   |
forward: selection moves down/forward/positive
   ↓
╭─────╮
│text1│
╰─────╯
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Search Text#

By default, search commands operate on the / register. Use "<char> to operate on different registers.

Minor Modes#

These sub-modes can be accessed from normal mode and typically switch back to normal mode after the command ends.

View Mode#

View mode is used to scroll and manipulate the view without changing the selection.

This mode's sticky (press Z) nature is persistent: you must use the Esc key to return to normal mode. This is useful when you are just browsing text rather than actively editing it.

Goto Mode#

Press g to enter this mode to jump to different locations.

Match Mode#

Enter this mode by pressing m in normal mode. For explanations on surrounding and text objects, refer to the relevant sections in usage.

TODO: Mappings for selecting syntax nodes (superset of [).

Window Mode#

This part is similar to Vim key bindings since Kakoune does not support windows. Enter this mode by pressing <space>w or <Ctrl-w>.

Space Mode#

This part is a haphazard mapping primarily for picker. Enter this mode by pressing <space>.

Tip: Although global search uses command line input, it displays results in the fuzzy picker, so you can bring back the last search results after opening a file using <space>'.

Popup#

Display documentation for the item under the cursor.

Unimpaired#

Use vim-unimpaired style mappings for code navigation.

Insert Mode#

By default, the keys bound in insert mode are minimal to some extent. Helix is designed as a modal editor, which is reflected in the user experience and internal mechanisms.

For example, changes made to the text are only saved for undo when exiting insert mode to normal mode. For this reason, new users are strongly encouraged to learn modal editing paradigms for the smoothest experience.

These shortcuts are not recommended; they are provided just for users who are less familiar with modal editors.

If you wish to disable them while in insert mode for a more modal editing experience, use the following command in config.toml:

[keys.insert]
up = "no_op"
down = "no_op"
left = "no_op"
right = "no_op"
pageup = "no_op"
pagedown = "no_op"
home = "no_op"
end = "no_op"
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Select / Extend Mode#

Press v to enter and exit this mode, which is similar to normal mode but changes arbitrary movements to extend the selection instead of replacing it. Goto movements are also changed to extend; for example, vgl will extend the selection to the end of the line.

Search is also affected. By default, n and N will remove the current selection and select the next instance of the search term.

Switching to this mode before pressing n or N can keep the current selection. Opening and closing this mode during iterative searches allows you to selectively add search items to the selection.⁵

Picker#

Keys used in the picker. Currently, remapping of these keys is not supported.

Prompt#

Keys used in the prompt (for example, when pressing s to bring up the input location in the command line), currently remapping of these keys is not supported.

1. Translator's note: The difference between X and x is that when extending across lines, x always places the cursor at the end, while X senses the direction of the selection, which is called
   line-wise: If the cursor is in the downward direction of the selection, then the cursor will be at the end after the selection extends; if the cursor is in the upward direction of the selection, then the cursor will be at the end after the selection extends.
   For understanding the direction of the selection, you can refer to my understanding: ↩︎

2. gng is equivalent to ngg and nG, both used to jump to line n. ↩︎

3. gf treats the selected content as a file path (can be relative or absolute); when the path does not exist, it opens a buffer for that path, writing creates the file (not writing does not create). ↩︎