{"slug": "helix", "name": "Helix", "category": "editors", "category_name": "Editors and IDEs", "description": "Modal terminal text editor written in Rust with built-in LSP support and multiple cursors.", "recommenders": 16, "commenters": 26, "warners": 1, "score": 15.263, "rising": -1.58, "first": "2025-11-02", "latest": "2026-10-20", "why": "Liked as a fast, batteries-included terminal editor with sane defaults, selection-first editing and multiple cursors.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 18, "neutral": 4, "compare": 5, "warn": 1}, "spark": [1, 0, 2, 1, 4, 4, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 3], "listed": true, "loved": ["Terminal workflow", "Speed"], "caveat": "Vim muscle memory", "short_quote": "I've used Helix as my main editor over the past few years, I love it", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": "github.com/helix-editor/helix", "official_url": "https://helix-editor.com", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["Helix"], "verdict": [{"text": "Liked as a fast, batteries-included terminal editor with sane defaults", "cites": [{"id": 744181280, "item_id": 46511330, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46511330", "by": "dejw", "date": "2026-01-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For writing the code by hand I recommend Helix, batteries included, fast and efficient.", "excerpt": "Zed, VSCode, Antigravity, Sublime Text... They all have the same workflow. For writing the code by hand I recommend Helix, batteries included, fast and efficient. For AI-assisted development it doesn't matter and you'd have to switch the app every 4 months if you want to choose the best one.", "context": "", "use_case": "hand-writing code", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched from VSCode to Zed"}, {"id": 757984512, "item_id": 47374032, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47374032", "by": "szopa", "date": "2026-03-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It has all the things I was jealous about vim, BUT it has sane defaults ootb.", "excerpt": "I have been a die hard emacs user for 20 years, and I have a very nice emacs setup (if a little bit idiosyncratic, but all emacs configs are idiosyncratic). However, recently I realized that I read code, but almost never write it. What is more, I spend a lot of time doing it in tmux, over mosh, from my phone. Emacs ergonomy is just not great if all you have is a horrible phone keyboard (and no swiping, because tmux r", "context": "die hard emacs user for 20 years", "use_case": "reading code over tmux from phone", "switched_from": "Emacs", "story": "Emacs and Vim in the Age of AI"}, {"id": 755274784, "item_id": 47204674, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47204674", "by": "benrutter", "date": "2026-02-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Helix as an editor which has a steeper learning curve than, say, VSCode, but is way faster once you're up and running with it.", "excerpt": "I really like this take! A couple years ago I wrote a throwaway blog about learning curves in user design[0] but the thought has stayed with me a lot since then. It's especially tricky because things are contextual. I use Helix as an editor which has a steeper learning curve than, say, VSCode, but is way faster once you're up and running with it. But by contrast, I also really like LazyGit, which is a lot quicker to ", "context": "", "use_case": "code editor", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Windows 95 user interface: A case study in usability engineering (1996)"}]}, {"text": ", selection-first editing and multiple cursors.", "cites": [{"id": 781751472, "item_id": 48859467, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48859467", "by": "latexr", "date": "2026-07-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "ever since switching to Helix I reach for its multiple cursors all the time", "excerpt": "Agreed. I used to enjoy vim macros, but ever since switching to Helix I reach for its multiple cursors all the time and barely use its macros. But that doesn\u2019t mean multiple cursors don\u2019t have a learning curve, I still need to think of he method to place the cursors in the right places.", "context": "", "use_case": "text editing with multiple cursors", "switched_from": "Vim", "story": "Good Tools Are Invisible"}, {"id": 756576656, "item_id": 47286041, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47286041", "by": "rgoulter", "date": "2026-03-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Helix is a really nice editor. I use it as my go-to for when I'm in the terminal environment.", "excerpt": "Helix is a really nice editor. I use it as my go-to for when I'm in the terminal environment. For sufficiently complex manipulations, I find the \"selection-action\" (\"motion-action\") to be more intuitive than \"action-motion\". Even with vim, I'd often like making use of visual mode. I think the main limitation to this that I believe is it's probably a bit slower for quick + frequent edits compared to vim.", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Helix: A post-modern text editor"}]}, {"text": " The most common complaint is the learning curve and keybindings that clash with Vim muscle memory", "cites": [{"id": 756613296, "item_id": 47288331, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47288331", "by": "jqbd", "date": "2026-03-07", "stance": "compare", "quote": "I want to like it, it's much snappier than vim", "excerpt": "I want to like it, it's much snappier than vim, but: I hate selecting lines up. Down xxx is fine. But to go up I have to do x alt; v k. This would be shift+v k in vim. I often use } { to navigate the file in vim. In hx it's ] p which is very awkward for the fingers. The auto selection makes it hard to read once I use ] p. Pasting does not behave like vim, often have to click o first then p. I have to often press ; to", "context": "", "use_case": "text editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Helix: A post-modern text editor"}, {"id": 756614080, "item_id": 47288380, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47288380", "by": "irusensei", "date": "2026-03-07", "stance": "compare", "quote": "I love it but the search and replace sequences are too complicated", "excerpt": "I love it but the search and replace sequences are too complicated and then I have no idea how to unselect multiple lines without specifying a line. My vim muscle memory is too strong and stubborn.", "context": "", "use_case": "text editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Helix: A post-modern text editor"}, {"id": 755274784, "item_id": 47204674, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47204674", "by": "benrutter", "date": "2026-02-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Helix as an editor which has a steeper learning curve than, say, VSCode, but is way faster once you're up and running with it.", "excerpt": "I really like this take! A couple years ago I wrote a throwaway blog about learning curves in user design[0] but the thought has stayed with me a lot since then. It's especially tricky because things are contextual. I use Helix as an editor which has a steeper learning curve than, say, VSCode, but is way faster once you're up and running with it. But by contrast, I also really like LazyGit, which is a lot quicker to ", "context": "", "use_case": "code editor", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Windows 95 user interface: A case study in usability engineering (1996)"}]}, {"text": ", plus missing features like code folding and a plugin system.", "cites": [{"id": 796310000, "item_id": 49769375, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49769375", "by": "jauco", "date": "2026-09-19", "stance": "warn", "quote": "The thing that keeps me from using it is lack of code folding", "excerpt": "Given that the author mentions both using helix and zig encouraging larger files with more content I\u2019d be curious to know how they navigate these files in helix. The thing that keeps me from using it is lack of code folding, which I notice I use a lot when navigating larger files to zoom out.", "context": "", "use_case": "navigating large files", "switched_from": "", "story": "What Zig felt like, coming from Rust"}, {"id": 756619680, "item_id": 47288730, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47288730", "by": "level87", "date": "2026-03-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've used Helix as my main editor over the past few years, I love it", "excerpt": "I've used Helix as my main editor over the past few years, I love it, but the speed of development is quite slow. Would love to see some AI related plug-ins when the plug-in system is finally released.", "context": "", "use_case": "main editor", "switched_from": "", "story": "Helix: A post-modern text editor"}, {"id": 732668384, "item_id": 45791774, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45791774", "by": "linsomniac", "date": "2025-11-02", "stance": "compare", "quote": "That is going to be a deal-breaker for me.  One reason I use vim over many other options", "excerpt": "Does Helix have no way to go back to the last editing position when re-opening a file? Similar to: '\" in vim? That is going to be a deal-breaker for me. One reason I use vim over many other options is that I jump in and out of files a lot, having to find my last position in many cases is a chore.", "context": "", "use_case": "text editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Beginner-friendly, unofficial documentation for Helix text editor"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Terminal workflow", "summary": "Commenters use it as their main terminal editor, often paired with tmux, Zellij or AI agents.", "quotes": [{"id": 756576656, "item_id": 47286041, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47286041", "by": "rgoulter", "date": "2026-03-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Helix is a really nice editor. I use it as my go-to for when I'm in the terminal environment.", "excerpt": "Helix is a really nice editor. I use it as my go-to for when I'm in the terminal environment. For sufficiently complex manipulations, I find the \"selection-action\" (\"motion-action\") to be more intuitive than \"action-motion\". Even with vim, I'd often like making use of visual mode. I think the main limitation to this that I believe is it's probably a bit slower for quick + frequent edits compared to vim.", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Helix: A post-modern text editor"}, {"id": 761973346, "item_id": 47623334, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47623334", "by": "level87", "date": "2026-04-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "much prefer Claude code with helix in the terminal", "excerpt": "The main reason we pay for cursor is for bugbot, that alone pays for itself 10x over. Personally I never use the actual IDE, and much prefer Claude code with helix in the terminal.", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal editor", "switched_from": "", "story": "Cursor 3"}, {"id": 743997376, "item_id": 46499836, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46499836", "by": "bargainbin", "date": "2026-01-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Combined it becomes a very powerful setup!", "excerpt": "I switched to Helix and ZelliJ, ZelliJ really allows you to setup some IDE features and helix is like the surface layer of Vi. Combined it becomes a very powerful setup!", "context": "", "use_case": "code editing", "switched_from": "VS Code", "story": "I switched from VSCode to Zed"}]}, {"label": "Speed", "summary": "Described as fast, snappy and lightweight once learned.", "quotes": [{"id": 755274784, "item_id": 47204674, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47204674", "by": "benrutter", "date": "2026-02-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Helix as an editor which has a steeper learning curve than, say, VSCode, but is way faster once you're up and running with it.", "excerpt": "I really like this take! A couple years ago I wrote a throwaway blog about learning curves in user design[0] but the thought has stayed with me a lot since then. It's especially tricky because things are contextual. I use Helix as an editor which has a steeper learning curve than, say, VSCode, but is way faster once you're up and running with it. But by contrast, I also really like LazyGit, which is a lot quicker to ", "context": "", "use_case": "code editor", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Windows 95 user interface: A case study in usability engineering (1996)"}, {"id": 744181280, "item_id": 46511330, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46511330", "by": "dejw", "date": "2026-01-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For writing the code by hand I recommend Helix, batteries included, fast and efficient.", "excerpt": "Zed, VSCode, Antigravity, Sublime Text... They all have the same workflow. For writing the code by hand I recommend Helix, batteries included, fast and efficient. For AI-assisted development it doesn't matter and you'd have to switch the app every 4 months if you want to choose the best one.", "context": "", "use_case": "hand-writing code", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched from VSCode to Zed"}, {"id": 756613296, "item_id": 47288331, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47288331", "by": "jqbd", "date": "2026-03-07", "stance": "compare", "quote": "I want to like it, it's much snappier than vim", "excerpt": "I want to like it, it's much snappier than vim, but: I hate selecting lines up. Down xxx is fine. But to go up I have to do x alt; v k. This would be shift+v k in vim. I often use } { to navigate the file in vim. In hx it's ] p which is very awkward for the fingers. The auto selection makes it hard to read once I use ] p. Pasting does not behave like vim, often have to click o first then p. I have to often press ; to", "context": "", "use_case": "text editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Helix: A post-modern text editor"}]}, {"label": "Sane defaults", "summary": "Works out of the box without heavy configuration and doesn't break on updates.", "quotes": [{"id": 757984512, "item_id": 47374032, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47374032", "by": "szopa", "date": "2026-03-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It has all the things I was jealous about vim, BUT it has sane defaults ootb.", "excerpt": "I have been a die hard emacs user for 20 years, and I have a very nice emacs setup (if a little bit idiosyncratic, but all emacs configs are idiosyncratic). However, recently I realized that I read code, but almost never write it. What is more, I spend a lot of time doing it in tmux, over mosh, from my phone. Emacs ergonomy is just not great if all you have is a horrible phone keyboard (and no swiping, because tmux r", "context": "die hard emacs user for 20 years", "use_case": "reading code over tmux from phone", "switched_from": "Emacs", "story": "Emacs and Vim in the Age of AI"}, {"id": 744181280, "item_id": 46511330, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46511330", "by": "dejw", "date": "2026-01-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For writing the code by hand I recommend Helix, batteries included, fast and efficient.", "excerpt": "Zed, VSCode, Antigravity, Sublime Text... They all have the same workflow. For writing the code by hand I recommend Helix, batteries included, fast and efficient. For AI-assisted development it doesn't matter and you'd have to switch the app every 4 months if you want to choose the best one.", "context": "", "use_case": "hand-writing code", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched from VSCode to Zed"}, {"id": 756653264, "item_id": 47290829, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47290829", "by": "debois", "date": "2026-03-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Helix does what it does, no fuzz. Never breaks.", "excerpt": "I switched from neovim because plugins and updates kept breaking it, and I never really did feel like I was in control of it anyway. Helix does what it does, no fuzz. Never breaks. You do start to think \u201ccan I get helix keybindings in my shell\u201d, though.", "context": "", "use_case": "text editor", "switched_from": "Neovim", "story": "Helix: A post-modern text editor"}]}, {"label": "Selection-first editing", "summary": "Multiple cursors and selection-then-action editing feel intuitive for complex edits.", "quotes": [{"id": 781751472, "item_id": 48859467, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48859467", "by": "latexr", "date": "2026-07-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "ever since switching to Helix I reach for its multiple cursors all the time", "excerpt": "Agreed. I used to enjoy vim macros, but ever since switching to Helix I reach for its multiple cursors all the time and barely use its macros. But that doesn\u2019t mean multiple cursors don\u2019t have a learning curve, I still need to think of he method to place the cursors in the right places.", "context": "", "use_case": "text editing with multiple cursors", "switched_from": "Vim", "story": "Good Tools Are Invisible"}, {"id": 756576656, "item_id": 47286041, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47286041", "by": "rgoulter", "date": "2026-03-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Helix is a really nice editor. I use it as my go-to for when I'm in the terminal environment.", "excerpt": "Helix is a really nice editor. I use it as my go-to for when I'm in the terminal environment. For sufficiently complex manipulations, I find the \"selection-action\" (\"motion-action\") to be more intuitive than \"action-motion\". Even with vim, I'd often like making use of visual mode. I think the main limitation to this that I believe is it's probably a bit slower for quick + frequent edits compared to vim.", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Helix: A post-modern text editor"}]}, {"label": "LSP navigation", "summary": "Built-in language server support enables go-to-definition and fast jumping, even for Markdown notes.", "quotes": [{"id": 802299200, "item_id": 50143700, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50143700", "by": "benrutter", "date": "2026-10-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'd really miss go-to-definition, and being able to jump between sections of text quickly.", "excerpt": "Really? What did you not like about Helix that you get from Nano? (No judgement, I'm just curious!) I don't have anything against Nano, but for something I use every day, I'd really miss go-to-definition, and being able to jump between sections of text quickly.", "context": "", "use_case": "daily text editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Mitos editor is a fork of Helix"}, {"id": 770890224, "item_id": 48180639, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48180639", "by": "backscratches", "date": "2026-05-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use .MD files, helix terminal editor with a markdown LSP called markdown-oxide", "excerpt": "I use .MD files, helix terminal editor with a markdown LSP called markdown-oxide that replicates the obsidian feature set (like bidirectional links, tags, making new notes automatically, two keys get you from a in-line footnote to the definition and back again, etc), and rumdl which is a super efficient and customizable markdown linter and formatter (semantic line breaks far the win!) . Since it is all helix I can ju", "context": "", "use_case": "note-taking in markdown", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Files.md \u2013 open-source alternative to Obsidian"}, {"id": 776573121, "item_id": 48535820, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48535820", "by": "techman001", "date": "2026-06-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "it works fine with helix editor", "excerpt": "I'm just starting the design of a cmsis-svd-lsp Language Server application that can be used with any LSP capable editor to provide legal CMSIS names for their STM32xx MCU registers and bitfields during coding, simply by using the SVD file for their model. MIT licensed. It will include the correct name, absolute address, bit offset and width plus a bitfield description. This is needed for bare metal coding (in any la", "context": "", "use_case": "editor for LSP testing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are you working on? (June 2026)"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Vim muscle memory", "summary": "Vim users find search-and-replace, pasting and line selection awkward.", "quotes": [{"id": 756613296, "item_id": 47288331, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47288331", "by": "jqbd", "date": "2026-03-07", "stance": "compare", "quote": "I want to like it, it's much snappier than vim", "excerpt": "I want to like it, it's much snappier than vim, but: I hate selecting lines up. Down xxx is fine. But to go up I have to do x alt; v k. This would be shift+v k in vim. I often use } { to navigate the file in vim. In hx it's ] p which is very awkward for the fingers. The auto selection makes it hard to read once I use ] p. Pasting does not behave like vim, often have to click o first then p. I have to often press ; to", "context": "", "use_case": "text editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Helix: A post-modern text editor"}, {"id": 756614080, "item_id": 47288380, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47288380", "by": "irusensei", "date": "2026-03-07", "stance": "compare", "quote": "I love it but the search and replace sequences are too complicated", "excerpt": "I love it but the search and replace sequences are too complicated and then I have no idea how to unselect multiple lines without specifying a line. My vim muscle memory is too strong and stubborn.", "context": "", "use_case": "text editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Helix: A post-modern text editor"}, {"id": 732655696, "item_id": 45790981, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45790981", "by": "bitcrshr", "date": "2025-11-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Helix has been my daily driver for a few years now", "excerpt": "There\u2019s also a fork called evil helix that uses more VIM-like bindings: https://github.com/usagi-flow/evil-helix Helix has been my daily driver for a few years now, and it\u2019s extremely familiar if you\u2019re coming from the LazyVim setup for NeoVim. I make a few mistakes here and there if I have to use tools with just basic VI binds, but you learn to juggle them both. The config is very well documented and it would be sim", "context": "", "use_case": "text editor", "switched_from": "LazyVim", "story": "Beginner-friendly, unofficial documentation for Helix text editor"}]}, {"label": "Learning curve", "summary": "Steeper to learn than VS Code, and multiple cursors take thought.", "quotes": [{"id": 755274784, "item_id": 47204674, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47204674", "by": "benrutter", "date": "2026-02-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Helix as an editor which has a steeper learning curve than, say, VSCode, but is way faster once you're up and running with it.", "excerpt": "I really like this take! A couple years ago I wrote a throwaway blog about learning curves in user design[0] but the thought has stayed with me a lot since then. It's especially tricky because things are contextual. I use Helix as an editor which has a steeper learning curve than, say, VSCode, but is way faster once you're up and running with it. But by contrast, I also really like LazyGit, which is a lot quicker to ", "context": "", "use_case": "code editor", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Windows 95 user interface: A case study in usability engineering (1996)"}, {"id": 781751472, "item_id": 48859467, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48859467", "by": "latexr", "date": "2026-07-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "ever since switching to Helix I reach for its multiple cursors all the time", "excerpt": "Agreed. I used to enjoy vim macros, but ever since switching to Helix I reach for its multiple cursors all the time and barely use its macros. But that doesn\u2019t mean multiple cursors don\u2019t have a learning curve, I still need to think of he method to place the cursors in the right places.", "context": "", "use_case": "text editing with multiple cursors", "switched_from": "Vim", "story": "Good Tools Are Invisible"}]}, {"label": "Missing features", "summary": "Lacks code folding, returning to the last edit position, and file creation in the explorer.", "quotes": [{"id": 796310000, "item_id": 49769375, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49769375", "by": "jauco", "date": "2026-09-19", "stance": "warn", "quote": "The thing that keeps me from using it is lack of code folding", "excerpt": "Given that the author mentions both using helix and zig encouraging larger files with more content I\u2019d be curious to know how they navigate these files in helix. The thing that keeps me from using it is lack of code folding, which I notice I use a lot when navigating larger files to zoom out.", "context": "", "use_case": "navigating large files", "switched_from": "", "story": "What Zig felt like, coming from Rust"}, {"id": 732668384, "item_id": 45791774, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45791774", "by": "linsomniac", "date": "2025-11-02", "stance": "compare", "quote": "That is going to be a deal-breaker for me.  One reason I use vim over many other options", "excerpt": "Does Helix have no way to go back to the last editing position when re-opening a file? Similar to: '\" in vim? That is going to be a deal-breaker for me. One reason I use vim over many other options is that I jump in and out of files a lot, having to find my last position in many cases is a chore.", "context": "", "use_case": "text editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Beginner-friendly, unofficial documentation for Helix text editor"}, {"id": 756613296, "item_id": 47288331, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47288331", "by": "jqbd", "date": "2026-03-07", "stance": "compare", "quote": "I want to like it, it's much snappier than vim", "excerpt": "I want to like it, it's much snappier than vim, but: I hate selecting lines up. Down xxx is fine. But to go up I have to do x alt; v k. This would be shift+v k in vim. I often use } { to navigate the file in vim. In hx it's ] p which is very awkward for the fingers. The auto selection makes it hard to read once I use ] p. Pasting does not behave like vim, often have to click o first then p. I have to often press ; to", "context": "", "use_case": "text editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Helix: A post-modern text editor"}]}, {"label": "No plugins yet", "summary": "Development is slow and the plugin system hasn't shipped.", "quotes": [{"id": 756619680, "item_id": 47288730, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47288730", "by": "level87", "date": "2026-03-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've used Helix as my main editor over the past few years, I love it", "excerpt": "I've used Helix as my main editor over the past few years, I love it, but the speed of development is quite slow. Would love to see some AI related plug-ins when the plug-in system is finally released.", "context": "", "use_case": "main editor", "switched_from": "", "story": "Helix: A post-modern text editor"}]}, {"label": "No GUI tools", "summary": "A switcher from JetBrains sometimes misses the GUI and debugger.", "quotes": [{"id": 761892448, "item_id": 47618278, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47618278", "by": "nazarewk", "date": "2026-04-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I have switched to Helix inside Zellij + Jujutsu instead of git and not really looking back after.", "excerpt": "I was running JetBrains suite since ~2010, but late 2025 I have switched to Helix inside Zellij + Jujutsu instead of git and not really looking back after. Took some getting used to, sometimes I miss the GUI, debugger and some of the more advanced tools, but I generally feel a lot more productive (especially in Nix/Go) with added responsiveness, can easily work on a much bulkier machine over SSH and have a real chanc", "context": "JetBrains user since ~2010, works in Nix/Go", "use_case": "code editing", "switched_from": "JetBrains", "story": "Ask HN: What is your dev set up like?"}]}], "who": [{"by": "mrsssnake", "context": "daily Helix user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50157121", "date": "2026-10-19"}, {"by": "techman001", "context": "embedded programmer", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48458942", "date": "2026-06-09"}, {"by": "backscratches", "context": "literature student, non-developer", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48182503", "date": "2026-05-18"}, {"by": "nazarewk", "context": "JetBrains user since ~2010, works in Nix/Go", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47618278", "date": "2026-04-02"}, {"by": "szopa", "context": "die hard emacs user for 20 years", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47374032", "date": "2026-03-13"}], "tags": ["for terminal users", "for Vim switchers", "for remote work over SSH", "for Markdown writing", "alongside AI agents"], "use_cases": ["text editing", "text editor", "daily text editing", "terminal editor", "code editing", "editing files with syntax highlighting"], "compared": [{"slug": "vim", "name": "Vim", "co": 10, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "neovim", "name": "Neovim", "co": 7, "switched_from": 2, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "visual-studio-code", "name": "Visual Studio Code", "co": 6, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "emacs", "name": "Emacs", "co": 3, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "tmux", "name": "tmux", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "lazyvim", "name": "LazyVim", "co": 1, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "jetbrains", "name": "JetBrains", "co": 1, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "claude-code", "name": "Claude Code", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47282701", "title": "Helix: A post-modern text editor", "mentions": 5}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50143132", "title": "Mitos editor is a fork of Helix", "mentions": 4}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48179677", "title": "Show HN: Files.md \u2013 open-source alternative to Obsidian", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46498735", "title": "I switched from VSCode to Zed", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45784596", "title": "Beginner-friendly, unofficial documentation for Helix text editor", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50161254", "title": "Ask HN: What's your SSH terminal workflow like?", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1, "compare": 1}, "2025-12": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-03": {"recommend": 4, "compare": 2}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 4}, "2026-05": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-06": {"neutral": 2}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-08": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-09": {"warn": 1}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 3, "compare": 2}}, "quotes": [{"id": 802580803, "item_id": 50161300, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50161300", "by": "SurfingAlpaca", "date": "2026-10-20", "stance": "compare", "quote": "I switch to nvim/helix (still evaluating both. Don\u2019t know what to pick)", "excerpt": "Back in the day I used to do ssh, tmux, vim for most of my work on the server and sshfs for stuff where I needed my IDE. In the last 10 years I think the only thing thats changed is adding agents to the mix (and no longer needing sshfs). Some files kinda open slow on vim or screw up the syntax highlighting so I switch to nvim/helix (still evaluating both. Don\u2019t know what to pick)", "context": "", "use_case": "editing files with syntax highlighting", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What's your SSH terminal workflow like?"}, {"id": 802513936, "item_id": 50157121, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50157121", "by": "mrsssnake", "date": "2026-10-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Helix", "excerpt": "I can only imagine this being said from someone not really using these editors daily, I use Helix, so: \"xdjp\" becomes \"move this line two lines down\", \"mic\" becomes \"replace text in current quotes with\", \"A\" becomes \"at the and of the line add\", no thanks.", "context": "daily Helix user", "use_case": "daily text editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Mitos editor is a fork of Helix"}, {"id": 802306273, "item_id": 50144142, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50144142", "by": "jon128", "date": "2026-10-18", "stance": "compare", "quote": "why an existing user of Helix might consider to use Mitos instead (or not)", "excerpt": "An articulated rationale for why a fork would go a long way for awareness of why an existing user of Helix might consider to use Mitos instead (or not) really needs to be the first thing we see on the front page of the site for Mitos. One thing that really sticks out to me and gives me a feeling I won't consider to use Mitos, is the presentation further down on Mitos' front page of rendering of image files inside the", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal editor", "switched_from": "", "story": "Mitos editor is a fork of Helix"}, {"id": 802303249, "item_id": 50143953, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50143953", "by": "joefreeman", "date": "2026-10-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "borrowing some of the features I enjoyed in Helix and other editors", "excerpt": "I've been building my own personal editor, borrowing some of the features I enjoyed in Helix and other editors - https://github.com/joefreeman/aether - being able to deeply customise has been satisfying.", "context": "", "use_case": "text editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Mitos editor is a fork of Helix"}, {"id": 802299200, "item_id": 50143700, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50143700", "by": "benrutter", "date": "2026-10-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'd really miss go-to-definition, and being able to jump between sections of text quickly.", "excerpt": "Really? What did you not like about Helix that you get from Nano? (No judgement, I'm just curious!) I don't have anything against Nano, but for something I use every day, I'd really miss go-to-definition, and being able to jump between sections of text quickly.", "context": "", "use_case": "daily text editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Mitos editor is a fork of Helix"}, {"id": 796310000, "item_id": 49769375, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49769375", "by": "jauco", "date": "2026-09-19", "stance": "warn", "quote": "The thing that keeps me from using it is lack of code folding", "excerpt": "Given that the author mentions both using helix and zig encouraging larger files with more content I\u2019d be curious to know how they navigate these files in helix. The thing that keeps me from using it is lack of code folding, which I notice I use a lot when navigating larger files to zoom out.", "context": "", "use_case": "navigating large files", "switched_from": "", "story": "What Zig felt like, coming from Rust"}, {"id": 790543936, "item_id": 49408996, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49408996", "by": "dickiedyce", "date": "2026-08-23", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Layout-wise, I went with Workman. Makes Helix interesting, but it's muscle-memory now.", "excerpt": "Daily driver is a Svalboard. Before that, there was a Rolio, Corne-ish Zen, Moonlander, Ergodox EZ. All were great. I tried to make the MoErgo Glove 80 and a Characorder Master Forge work, but without sufficient success. For 'thinking not typing' Svalboard takes the biscuit. I use tap-dance, with 1 extra momentary layer for macros. Layout-wise, I went with Workman. Makes Helix interesting, but it's muscle-memory now.", "context": "", "use_case": "text editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What's your daily driver keyboard?"}, {"id": 781751472, "item_id": 48859467, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48859467", "by": "latexr", "date": "2026-07-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "ever since switching to Helix I reach for its multiple cursors all the time", "excerpt": "Agreed. I used to enjoy vim macros, but ever since switching to Helix I reach for its multiple cursors all the time and barely use its macros. But that doesn\u2019t mean multiple cursors don\u2019t have a learning curve, I still need to think of he method to place the cursors in the right places.", "context": "", "use_case": "text editing with multiple cursors", "switched_from": "Vim", "story": "Good Tools Are Invisible"}, {"id": 777634928, "item_id": 48602183, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48602183", "by": "fyrn_", "date": "2026-06-19", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "More of a helix user these days.", "excerpt": "More of a helix user these days. I will look into it though. Thanks for sokol btw, we use it at work for some things. Mainly gfx and the dds encoder", "context": "", "use_case": "text editor", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ported my C game to WASM, here's everybug that I hit"}, {"id": 776573121, "item_id": 48535820, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48535820", "by": "techman001", "date": "2026-06-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "it works fine with helix editor", "excerpt": "I'm just starting the design of a cmsis-svd-lsp Language Server application that can be used with any LSP capable editor to provide legal CMSIS names for their STM32xx MCU registers and bitfields during coding, simply by using the SVD file for their model. MIT licensed. It will include the correct name, absolute address, bit offset and width plus a bitfield description. This is needed for bare metal coding (in any la", "context": "", "use_case": "editor for LSP testing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are you working on? (June 2026)"}, {"id": 775343072, "item_id": 48458942, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48458942", "by": "techman001", "date": "2026-06-09", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "A Mecrisp-Stellaris Forth LSP for the Helix editor", "excerpt": "I vibe coded two apps, I program but not in the languages used in the apps. I'm utterly clueless about Lua and Python. Both apps work fine and I use them all the time myself. 1. A Mecrisp-Stellaris Forth LSP for the Helix editor (Python) 2. A CMSIS-SVD Sqlite3 search and paste pop-up window for Neovim when editing STM32xx embedded Forth programs. (Lua) https://mecrisp-stellaris-folkdoc.sourceforge.io/", "context": "embedded programmer", "use_case": "editing Forth", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are tools you have made for yourself since the advent of AI"}, {"id": 770977360, "item_id": 48186085, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48186085", "by": "kjuulh", "date": "2026-05-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "because of a more lightweight editor helix, it doesn't feel like a slog", "excerpt": "When I started my professional work, Visual Studio was the recommended editor where I was, it was terrible, the Laptops we had were incredibly shit. My phone scored better on benchmarks than it, as such Visual Studio was not a good experience, I convinced my boss to let us try Rider, it was incredible, I no longer had to sit for 10s of minutes for a project to load, it was relatively snappy. My next job I started usi", "context": "", "use_case": "daily coding", "switched_from": "Neovim", "story": "No More JetBrains Products for Me"}, {"id": 770920048, "item_id": 48182503, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48182503", "by": "backscratches", "date": "2026-05-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I study literatureand I use a modal editor for all my writing.", "excerpt": "Being a better version of something is an invitation, not an imposition! I'm not a developer and never have been, I study literatureand I use a modal editor for all my writing. If you've ever used Ctrl+C to copy, you've already done something harder than the core concept of modal editing. Modal editing is simpler: you press a single key, and you switch to one (of two) modes. That's it. That's the thing people find in", "context": "literature student, non-developer", "use_case": "writing notes", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Files.md \u2013 open-source alternative to Obsidian"}, {"id": 770890224, "item_id": 48180639, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48180639", "by": "backscratches", "date": "2026-05-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use .MD files, helix terminal editor with a markdown LSP called markdown-oxide", "excerpt": "I use .MD files, helix terminal editor with a markdown LSP called markdown-oxide that replicates the obsidian feature set (like bidirectional links, tags, making new notes automatically, two keys get you from a in-line footnote to the definition and back again, etc), and rumdl which is a super efficient and customizable markdown linter and formatter (semantic line breaks far the win!) . Since it is all helix I can ju", "context": "", "use_case": "note-taking in markdown", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Files.md \u2013 open-source alternative to Obsidian"}, {"id": 767328000, "item_id": 47958000, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47958000", "by": "jeena", "date": "2026-04-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use helix for normal editing", "excerpt": "What I do is to have two things, a simple editor, I use helix for normal editing. And in a second terminal a docker container solution where I put opencode or claude in https://git.jeena.net/jeena/agent-container", "context": "", "use_case": "normal editing", "switched_from": "", "story": null}, {"id": 762176275, "item_id": 47636017, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47636017", "by": "Curiositry", "date": "2026-04-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Fish, zoxide, tmux, helix, ripgrep, fd-find, htop. There are many more, but these are the ones that I enjoy using.", "excerpt": "Fish, zoxide, tmux, helix, ripgrep, fd-find, htop. There are many more, but these are the ones that I enjoy using. (Other than tmux.)", "context": "", "use_case": "text editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Which CLI tools do you use daily?"}, {"id": 761973346, "item_id": 47623334, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47623334", "by": "level87", "date": "2026-04-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "much prefer Claude code with helix in the terminal", "excerpt": "The main reason we pay for cursor is for bugbot, that alone pays for itself 10x over. Personally I never use the actual IDE, and much prefer Claude code with helix in the terminal.", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal editor", "switched_from": "", "story": "Cursor 3"}, {"id": 761892448, "item_id": 47618278, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47618278", "by": "nazarewk", "date": "2026-04-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I have switched to Helix inside Zellij + Jujutsu instead of git and not really looking back after.", "excerpt": "I was running JetBrains suite since ~2010, but late 2025 I have switched to Helix inside Zellij + Jujutsu instead of git and not really looking back after. Took some getting used to, sometimes I miss the GUI, debugger and some of the more advanced tools, but I generally feel a lot more productive (especially in Nix/Go) with added responsiveness, can easily work on a much bulkier machine over SSH and have a real chanc", "context": "JetBrains user since ~2010, works in Nix/Go", "use_case": "code editing", "switched_from": "JetBrains", "story": "Ask HN: What is your dev set up like?"}, {"id": 757984512, "item_id": 47374032, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47374032", "by": "szopa", "date": "2026-03-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It has all the things I was jealous about vim, BUT it has sane defaults ootb.", "excerpt": "I have been a die hard emacs user for 20 years, and I have a very nice emacs setup (if a little bit idiosyncratic, but all emacs configs are idiosyncratic). However, recently I realized that I read code, but almost never write it. What is more, I spend a lot of time doing it in tmux, over mosh, from my phone. Emacs ergonomy is just not great if all you have is a horrible phone keyboard (and no swiping, because tmux r", "context": "die hard emacs user for 20 years", "use_case": "reading code over tmux from phone", "switched_from": "Emacs", "story": "Emacs and Vim in the Age of AI"}, {"id": 756653264, "item_id": 47290829, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47290829", "by": "debois", "date": "2026-03-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Helix does what it does, no fuzz. Never breaks.", "excerpt": "I switched from neovim because plugins and updates kept breaking it, and I never really did feel like I was in control of it anyway. Helix does what it does, no fuzz. Never breaks. You do start to think \u201ccan I get helix keybindings in my shell\u201d, though.", "context": "", "use_case": "text editor", "switched_from": "Neovim", "story": "Helix: A post-modern text editor"}, {"id": 756619680, "item_id": 47288730, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47288730", "by": "level87", "date": "2026-03-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've used Helix as my main editor over the past few years, I love it", "excerpt": "I've used Helix as my main editor over the past few years, I love it, but the speed of development is quite slow. Would love to see some AI related plug-ins when the plug-in system is finally released.", "context": "", "use_case": "main editor", "switched_from": "", "story": "Helix: A post-modern text editor"}, {"id": 756614080, "item_id": 47288380, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47288380", "by": "irusensei", "date": "2026-03-07", "stance": "compare", "quote": "I love it but the search and replace sequences are too complicated", "excerpt": "I love it but the search and replace sequences are too complicated and then I have no idea how to unselect multiple lines without specifying a line. My vim muscle memory is too strong and stubborn.", "context": "", "use_case": "text editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Helix: A post-modern text editor"}, {"id": 756613296, "item_id": 47288331, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47288331", "by": "jqbd", "date": "2026-03-07", "stance": "compare", "quote": "I want to like it, it's much snappier than vim", "excerpt": "I want to like it, it's much snappier than vim, but: I hate selecting lines up. Down xxx is fine. But to go up I have to do x alt; v k. This would be shift+v k in vim. I often use } { to navigate the file in vim. In hx it's ] p which is very awkward for the fingers. The auto selection makes it hard to read once I use ] p. Pasting does not behave like vim, often have to click o first then p. I have to often press ; to", "context": "", "use_case": "text editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Helix: A post-modern text editor"}, {"id": 756576656, "item_id": 47286041, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47286041", "by": "rgoulter", "date": "2026-03-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Helix is a really nice editor. I use it as my go-to for when I'm in the terminal environment.", "excerpt": "Helix is a really nice editor. I use it as my go-to for when I'm in the terminal environment. For sufficiently complex manipulations, I find the \"selection-action\" (\"motion-action\") to be more intuitive than \"action-motion\". Even with vim, I'd often like making use of visual mode. I think the main limitation to this that I believe is it's probably a bit slower for quick + frequent edits compared to vim.", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Helix: A post-modern text editor"}, {"id": 755274784, "item_id": 47204674, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47204674", "by": "benrutter", "date": "2026-02-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Helix as an editor which has a steeper learning curve than, say, VSCode, but is way faster once you're up and running with it.", "excerpt": "I really like this take! A couple years ago I wrote a throwaway blog about learning curves in user design[0] but the thought has stayed with me a lot since then. It's especially tricky because things are contextual. I use Helix as an editor which has a steeper learning curve than, say, VSCode, but is way faster once you're up and running with it. But by contrast, I also really like LazyGit, which is a lot quicker to ", "context": "", "use_case": "code editor", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Windows 95 user interface: A case study in usability engineering (1996)"}, {"id": 744181280, "item_id": 46511330, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46511330", "by": "dejw", "date": "2026-01-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For writing the code by hand I recommend Helix, batteries included, fast and efficient.", "excerpt": "Zed, VSCode, Antigravity, Sublime Text... They all have the same workflow. For writing the code by hand I recommend Helix, batteries included, fast and efficient. For AI-assisted development it doesn't matter and you'd have to switch the app every 4 months if you want to choose the best one.", "context": "", "use_case": "hand-writing code", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched from VSCode to Zed"}, {"id": 743997376, "item_id": 46499836, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46499836", "by": "bargainbin", "date": "2026-01-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Combined it becomes a very powerful setup!", "excerpt": "I switched to Helix and ZelliJ, ZelliJ really allows you to setup some IDE features and helix is like the surface layer of Vi. Combined it becomes a very powerful setup!", "context": "", "use_case": "code editing", "switched_from": "VS Code", "story": "I switched from VSCode to Zed"}, {"id": 738788804, "item_id": 46174300, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46174300", "by": "goekhanski", "date": "2025-12-06", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I mostly work with Firefox, kubectl, k9s, helix", "excerpt": "I've been using this for roughly a year on my work machine. I love the automatic updates: flatpak, brew and the system image get updated automatically. Usually once a week I get the stable update. I don't have to care because it's just a reboot (same for major updates, e.g. Fedora 42 -> 43). I love this. I had to do some workarounds, but not too much. I mostly work with Firefox, kubectl, k9s, helix and occasionally V", "context": "", "use_case": "editing code", "switched_from": "", "story": "Aurora: The Linux-based ultimate workstation"}, {"id": 732668384, "item_id": 45791774, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45791774", "by": "linsomniac", "date": "2025-11-02", "stance": "compare", "quote": "That is going to be a deal-breaker for me.  One reason I use vim over many other options", "excerpt": "Does Helix have no way to go back to the last editing position when re-opening a file? Similar to: '\" in vim? That is going to be a deal-breaker for me. One reason I use vim over many other options is that I jump in and out of files a lot, having to find my last position in many cases is a chore.", "context": "", "use_case": "text editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Beginner-friendly, unofficial documentation for Helix text editor"}, {"id": 732655696, "item_id": 45790981, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45790981", "by": "bitcrshr", "date": "2025-11-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Helix has been my daily driver for a few years now", "excerpt": "There\u2019s also a fork called evil helix that uses more VIM-like bindings: https://github.com/usagi-flow/evil-helix Helix has been my daily driver for a few years now, and it\u2019s extremely familiar if you\u2019re coming from the LazyVim setup for NeoVim. I make a few mistakes here and there if I have to use tools with just basic VI binds, but you learn to juggle them both. The config is very well documented and it would be sim", "context": "", "use_case": "text editor", "switched_from": "LazyVim", "story": "Beginner-friendly, unofficial documentation for Helix text editor"}]}