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# Installing Helix
-The typical way to install Helix is via [your operating system's package manager](./package-managers.md).
+<!--toc:start-->
+- [Pre-built binaries](#pre-built-binaries)
+- [Linux, macOS, Windows and OpenBSD packaging status](#linux-macos-windows-and-openbsd-packaging-status)
+- [Linux](#linux)
+ - [Ubuntu](#ubuntu)
+ - [Fedora/RHEL](#fedorarhel)
+ - [Arch Linux extra](#arch-linux-extra)
+ - [NixOS](#nixos)
+ - [Flatpak](#flatpak)
+ - [Snap](#snap)
+ - [AppImage](#appimage)
+- [macOS](#macos)
+ - [Homebrew Core](#homebrew-core)
+ - [MacPorts](#macports)
+- [Windows](#windows)
+ - [Winget](#winget)
+ - [Scoop](#scoop)
+ - [Chocolatey](#chocolatey)
+ - [MSYS2](#msys2)
+- [Building from source](#building-from-source)
+ - [Configuring Helix's runtime files](#configuring-helixs-runtime-files)
+ - [Linux and macOS](#linux-and-macos)
+ - [Windows](#windows)
+ - [Multiple runtime directories](#multiple-runtime-directories)
+ - [Validating the installation](#validating-the-installation)
+ - [Configure the desktop shortcut](#configure-the-desktop-shortcut)
+<!--toc:end-->
+To install Helix, follow the instructions specific to your operating system.
Note that:
- To get the latest nightly version of Helix, you need to
- [build from source](./building-from-source.md).
+ [build from source](#building-from-source).
- To take full advantage of Helix, install the language servers for your
preferred programming languages. See the
- [wiki](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/wiki/Language-Server-Configurations)
+ [wiki](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/wiki/How-to-install-the-default-language-servers)
for instructions.
## Pre-built binaries
-Download pre-built binaries from the [GitHub Releases page](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/releases).
-The tarball contents include an `hx` binary and a `runtime` directory.
-To set up Helix:
+Download pre-built binaries from the
+[GitHub Releases page](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/releases). Add the binary to your system's `$PATH` to use it from the command
+line.
-1. Add the `hx` binary to your system's `$PATH` to allow it to be used from the command line.
-2. Copy the `runtime` directory to a location that `hx` searches for runtime files. A typical location on Linux/macOS is `~/.config/helix/runtime`.
+## Linux, macOS, Windows and OpenBSD packaging status
-To see the runtime directories that `hx` searches, run `hx --health`. If necessary, you can override the default runtime location by setting the `HELIX_RUNTIME` environment variable.
+[![Packaging status](https://repology.org/badge/vertical-allrepos/helix.svg)](https://repology.org/project/helix/versions)
+
+## Linux
+
+The following third party repositories are available:
+
+### Ubuntu
+
+Add the `PPA` for Helix:
+
+```sh
+sudo add-apt-repository ppa:maveonair/helix-editor
+sudo apt update
+sudo apt install helix
+```
+
+### Fedora/RHEL
+
+```sh
+sudo dnf install helix
+```
+
+### Arch Linux extra
+
+Releases are available in the `extra` repository:
+
+```sh
+sudo pacman -S helix
+```
+Additionally, a [helix-git](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/helix-git/) package is available
+in the AUR, which builds the master branch.
+
+### NixOS
+
+Helix is available in [nixpkgs](https://github.com/nixos/nixpkgs) through the `helix` attribute,
+the unstable channel usually carries the latest release.
+
+Helix is also available as a [flake](https://nixos.wiki/wiki/Flakes) in the project
+root. Use `nix develop` to spin up a reproducible development shell. Outputs are
+cached for each push to master using [Cachix](https://www.cachix.org/). The
+flake is configured to automatically make use of this cache assuming the user
+accepts the new settings on first use.
+
+If you are using a version of Nix without flakes enabled,
+[install Cachix CLI](https://docs.cachix.org/installation) and use
+`cachix use helix` to configure Nix to use cached outputs when possible.
+
+### Flatpak
+
+Helix is available on [Flathub](https://flathub.org/en-GB/apps/com.helix_editor.Helix):
+
+```sh
+flatpak install flathub com.helix_editor.Helix
+flatpak run com.helix_editor.Helix
+```
+
+### Snap
+
+Helix is available on [Snapcraft](https://snapcraft.io/helix) and can be installed with:
+
+```sh
+snap install --classic helix
+```
+
+This will install Helix as both `/snap/bin/helix` and `/snap/bin/hx`, so make sure `/snap/bin` is in your `PATH`.
+
+### AppImage
+
+Install Helix using the Linux [AppImage](https://appimage.org/) format.
+Download the official Helix AppImage from the [latest releases](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/releases/latest) page.
+
+```sh
+chmod +x helix-*.AppImage # change permission for executable mode
+./helix-*.AppImage # run helix
+```
+
+## macOS
+
+### Homebrew Core
+
+```sh
+brew install helix
+```
+
+### MacPorts
+
+```sh
+port install helix
+```
+
+## Windows
+
+Install on Windows using [Winget](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/package-manager/winget/), [Scoop](https://scoop.sh/), [Chocolatey](https://chocolatey.org/)
+or [MSYS2](https://msys2.org/).
+
+### Winget
+Windows Package Manager winget command-line tool is by default available on Windows 11 and modern versions of Windows 10 as a part of the App Installer.
+You can get [App Installer from the Microsoft Store](https://www.microsoft.com/p/app-installer/9nblggh4nns1#activetab=pivot:overviewtab). If it's already installed, make sure it is updated with the latest version.
+
+```sh
+winget install Helix.Helix
+```
+
+### Scoop
+
+```sh
+scoop install helix
+```
+
+### Chocolatey
+
+```sh
+choco install helix
+```
+
+### MSYS2
+
+For 64-bit Windows 8.1 or above:
+
+```sh
+pacman -S mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-helix
+```
+
+## Building from source
+
+Requirements:
+
+Clone the Helix GitHub repository into a directory of your choice. The
+examples in this documentation assume installation into either `~/src/` on
+Linux and macOS, or `%userprofile%\src\` on Windows.
+
+- The [Rust toolchain](https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install)
+- The [Git version control system](https://git-scm.com/)
+- A C++14 compatible compiler to build the tree-sitter grammars, for example GCC or Clang
+
+If you are using the `musl-libc` standard library instead of `glibc` the following environment variable must be set during the build to ensure tree-sitter grammars can be loaded correctly:
+
+```sh
+RUSTFLAGS="-C target-feature=-crt-static"
+```
+
+1. Clone the repository:
+
+ ```sh
+ git clone https://github.com/helix-editor/helix
+ cd helix
+ ```
+
+2. Compile from source:
+
+ ```sh
+ cargo install --path helix-term --locked
+ ```
+
+ This command will create the `hx` executable and construct the tree-sitter
+ grammars in the local `runtime` folder.
+
+> 💡 If you do not want to fetch or build grammars, set an environment variable `HELIX_DISABLE_AUTO_GRAMMAR_BUILD`
+
+> 💡 Tree-sitter grammars can be fetched and compiled if not pre-packaged. Fetch
+> grammars with `hx --grammar fetch` and compile them with
+> `hx --grammar build`. This will install them in
+> the `runtime` directory within the user's helix config directory (more
+> [details below](#multiple-runtime-directories)).
+
+### Configuring Helix's runtime files
+
+#### Linux and macOS
+
+The **runtime** directory is one below the Helix source, so either export a
+`HELIX_RUNTIME` environment variable to point to that directory and add it to
+your `~/.bashrc` or equivalent:
+
+```sh
+export HELIX_RUNTIME=~/src/helix/runtime
+```
+
+Or, create a symbolic link:
+
+```sh
+ln -Ts $PWD/runtime ~/.config/helix/runtime
+```
+
+If the above command fails to create a symbolic link because the file exists either move `~/.config/helix/runtime` to a new location or delete it, then run the symlink command above again.
+
+#### Windows
+
+Either set the `HELIX_RUNTIME` environment variable to point to the runtime files using the Windows setting (search for
+`Edit environment variables for your account`) or use the `setx` command in
+Cmd:
+
+```sh
+setx HELIX_RUNTIME "%userprofile%\source\repos\helix\runtime"
+```
+
+> 💡 `%userprofile%` resolves to your user directory like
+> `C:\Users\Your-Name\` for example.
+
+Or, create a symlink in `%appdata%\helix\` that links to the source code directory:
+
+| Method | Command |
+| ---------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| PowerShell | `New-Item -ItemType Junction -Target "runtime" -Path "$Env:AppData\helix\runtime"` |
+| Cmd | `cd %appdata%\helix` <br/> `mklink /D runtime "%userprofile%\src\helix\runtime"` |
+
+> 💡 On Windows, creating a symbolic link may require running PowerShell or
+> Cmd as an administrator.
+
+#### Multiple runtime directories
+
+When Helix finds multiple runtime directories it will search through them for files in the
+following order:
+
+1. `runtime/` sibling directory to `$CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR` directory (this is intended for
+ developing and testing helix only).
+2. `runtime/` subdirectory of OS-dependent helix user config directory.
+3. `$HELIX_RUNTIME`
+4. Distribution-specific fallback directory (set at compile time—not run time—
+ with the `HELIX_DEFAULT_RUNTIME` environment variable)
+5. `runtime/` subdirectory of path to Helix executable.
+
+This order also sets the priority for selecting which file will be used if multiple runtime
+directories have files with the same name.
+
+#### Note to packagers
+
+If you are making a package of Helix for end users, to provide a good out of
+the box experience, you should set the `HELIX_DEFAULT_RUNTIME` environment
+variable at build time (before invoking `cargo build`) to a directory which
+will store the final runtime files after installation. For example, say you want
+to package the runtime into `/usr/lib/helix/runtime`. The rough steps a build
+script could follow are:
+
+1. `export HELIX_DEFAULT_RUNTIME=/usr/lib/helix/runtime`
+1. `cargo build --profile opt --locked --path helix-term`
+1. `cp -r runtime $BUILD_DIR/usr/lib/helix/`
+1. `cp target/opt/hx $BUILD_DIR/usr/bin/hx`
+
+This way the resulting `hx` binary will always look for its runtime directory in
+`/usr/lib/helix/runtime` if the user has no custom runtime in `~/.config/helix`
+or `HELIX_RUNTIME`.
+
+### Validating the installation
+
+To make sure everything is set up as expected you should run the Helix health
+check:
+
+```sh
+hx --health
+```
+
+For more information on the health check results refer to
+[Health check](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/wiki/Healthcheck).
+
+### Configure the desktop shortcut
+
+If your desktop environment supports the
+[XDG desktop menu](https://specifications.freedesktop.org/menu-spec/menu-spec-latest.html)
+you can configure Helix to show up in the application menu by copying the
+provided `.desktop` and icon files to their correct folders:
+
+```sh
+cp contrib/Helix.desktop ~/.local/share/applications
+cp contrib/helix.png ~/.icons # or ~/.local/share/icons
+```
+
+To use another terminal than the system default, you can modify the `.desktop`
+file. For example, to use `kitty`:
+
+```sh
+sed -i "s|Exec=hx %F|Exec=kitty hx %F|g" ~/.local/share/applications/Helix.desktop
+sed -i "s|Terminal=true|Terminal=false|g" ~/.local/share/applications/Helix.desktop
+```