Spacelix

Spacelix is Spacemacs for Helix! This project consists of two Helix configurations:

spacemacs-compat.toml ports Spacemacs keybindings to Helix. It's useful for Spacemacs users who would like to try Helix and gradually learn new keybindings, rather than all at once.
spacelix.toml is a Helix configuration built with Spacemacs-style principles in mind, but it does not strive to emulate Spacemacs. It often has shorter key sequences than spacemacs-compat.toml.

The remainder of this README discusses spacelix.toml, AKA Spacelix.

The Spacelix keybindings are designed according to the following goals:

Mnemonic: Key bindings are organized using mnemonic prefixes like b for buffer, w for window, f for file, etc…
Consistent: Similar functionalities have the same key binding everywhere thanks to a clearly defined set of conventions.
Safe: Spacelix avoids modifier keys (shift, ctrl) to reduce the risk of RSI.

Bindings

Some of these bindings match Helix defaults, those are marked with "(default)".

SPC
- SPC SPC: Command palette
- SPC a: Code action (default)
- SPC b: Buffers
  - SPC b b: Buffer picker
  - SPC b d: Close buffer (mnemonic: "delete")
  - SPC b D: Force close buffer (:buffer-close!)
  - SPC b n: Next buffer
  - SPC b p: Previous buffer
  - SPC b r: Reload buffer (:reload)
  - SPC b s: Scratch buffer (:new)
  - SPC b y: Yank buffer (select_all, yank)
  - SPC b Y: Yank buffer to system clipboard (select_all, :clipboard-yank)
- SPC c: Case (select mode only)
  - SPC c c: Toggle case
  - SPC c u: Uppercase
  - SPC c l: Lowercase
- SPC d: Debug (default)
- SPC e: Errors
  - SPC e g: Go to first error
  - SPC e G: Go to last error
  - SPC e l: List errors (diagnostic picker)
  - SPC e n: Go to next error
  - SPC e p: Go to previous error
- SPC f: File picker
- SPC o: Reserved for user mappings
- SPC q: Quit
  - SPC q a: Quit all (:quit-all)
  - SPC q A: Force quit all (:quit-all!)
  - SPC q c: Quit with exit code (:cquit)
  - SPC q C: Force quit with exit code (:cquit!)
  - SPC q q: Quit (:quit)
  - SPC q Q: Force quit (:quit!)
  - SPC q w: Write and quit (:write-quit)
  - SPC q W: Force write and quit (:write-quit!)
- SPC g: Go to
  - SPC g f: Go to file
    - SPC g f a: Go to last accessed file
    - SPC g f f: Go to files in selection
    - SPC g f m: Go to last modified file
    - SPC g f h: Go to files in selection (horizontal split)
    - SPC g f v: Go to files in selection (vertical split)
  - SPC g d: Go to definition
  - SPC g g: Go to first line of file
  - SPC g G: Go to last line of file
  - SPC g h: Go to start of line
  - SPC g i: Go to implementation
  - SPC g l: Go to end of line
  - SPC g m: Go to last modification
  - SPC g t: Go to top of window
  - SPC g b: Go to bottom of window
  - SPC g c: Go to center of window
  - SPC g r: Go to references
  - SPC g s: Go to symbol definition (symbol picker)
  - SPC g w: Go to first non-whitespace character in line
  - SPC g y: Go to type definition
- SPC h: Global search
- SPC j: Jumplist
  - SPC j j: Open the jumplist picker
  - SPC j n: Jump forward in the jumplist (mnemonic: "next")
  - SPC j p: Jump backward in the jumplist (mnemonic: "previous")
  - SPC j s: Save current selection in the jumplist
- SPC s: Save (:write)
- SPC r: Rename symbol (default)
- SPC w: Windows
  - SPC w d: Close window (mnemonic: "delete")
  - SPC w h: Go to window (left) (default)
  - SPC w j: Go to window (down) (default)
  - SPC w k: Go to window (up) (default)
  - SPC w l: Go to window (right) (default)
  - SPC w o: Close windows other than current (default)
  - SPC w H: Swap window (left) (default)
  - SPC w J: Swap window (down) (default)
  - SPC w K: Swap window (up) (default)
  - SPC w L: Swap window (right) (default)
- SPC X: Helix
  - SPC X f: Open configuration file
  - SPC X l: Open the Helix log file
  - SPC X r: Reload configuration
  - SPC X t: Tutor

The following key bindings are for vi/Spacemacs-emulation purposes.

Normal mode:
- 0: Go to start of line
- $: Go to end of line
- H: Go to top of window
- L: Go to bottom of window
- M: Go to center of window
Select mode:
- 0: Go to start of line
- $: Go to end of line
- H: Select previous sibling

And the following are just for good measure:

Select mode:
- J: Shrink selection
- K: Expand selection
- L: Select next sibling
- M: Go to center of window

Installation

Back up your existing Helix configuration, then:

curl -L -o ~/.config/helix/config.toml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/langston-barrett/spacelix/main/src/spacelix.toml

Conventions and Mnemonics

n means "next", preferred over "forward"
p means "previous", preferred over "backward"