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    "shortDescription": "Modal terminal editor built around multiple selections.",
    "answer": "Helix is a modal terminal editor written in Rust whose central idea is borrowed from Kakoune: selections come first, and commands act on them. You select what you want, then act, and because multiple selections are a core primitive rather than a feature, the same command applies to every selection at once. Around that it ships the things editors usually make you configure — tree-sitter parsing for highlighting, indentation and navigation, and language-server support for completion, go-to-definition and diagnostics, all without additional setup. It is MPL-2.0 licensed, runs in a plain terminal or over ssh, and publishes separate Apple Silicon and Intel macOS builds. Note that no release has been tagged since 25.07.1 in July 2025, even though commits continue.",
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    "documentation": "https://docs.helix-editor.com/",
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      "Selection-then-action ordering, inherited from Kakoune, rather than acting first and selecting after",
      "Tree-sitter parsing for syntax highlighting, indent calculation and code navigation",
      "Language-server support with no additional configuration: completion, go-to-definition, documentation and diagnostics",
      "Syntax-aware motions and text objects that select functions, classes and comments as tree nodes",
      "Built-in fuzzy finder for jumping to files and symbols",
      "Project-wide search built in",
      "Auto-closing bracket pairs and surround integration",
      "Written in Rust and runs in a terminal, so there is no Electron, no VimScript and no JavaScript",
      "Usable over ssh and inside tmux like any terminal program",
      "Configured in TOML rather than through a scripting language",
      "Ships an aarch64-macos archive alongside an x86_64-macos one for every release"
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      "Getting language-server completion and diagnostics without assembling a plugin stack",
      "Working in a terminal-only environment with tmux"
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        "text": "Multiple selections are a core primitive, so editing many places at once is the normal way to work rather than a special mode.",
        "status": "verified",
        "source": "official",
        "verifiedAt": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z"
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      {
        "text": "Language-server support works with no additional configuration — completion, go-to-definition, documentation and diagnostics all come on by default.",
        "status": "verified",
        "source": "official",
        "verifiedAt": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z"
      },
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        "text": "Tree-sitter parsing gives syntax-aware selection of functions, classes and comments as tree nodes.",
        "status": "verified",
        "source": "official",
        "verifiedAt": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z"
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        "text": "Separate macOS builds are published for Apple Silicon and Intel.",
        "status": "verified",
        "source": "repository",
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      },
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        "text": "Runs in a plain terminal, so it works over ssh and inside tmux with no display server.",
        "status": "verified",
        "source": "official",
        "verifiedAt": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z"
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    "cons": [
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        "text": "No tagged release since 25.07.1 in July 2025, even though development continues.",
        "status": "verified",
        "source": "repository",
        "verifiedAt": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z"
      },
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        "text": "No plugin system, so extending it means waiting for the feature to be built in.",
        "status": "editorially-reviewed",
        "verifiedAt": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z"
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        "text": "Modal editing with no modeless fallback, which is a hard barrier for some users.",
        "status": "editorially-reviewed",
        "verifiedAt": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z"
      },
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        "source": "official",
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      "Developers who like modal editing but want the newer selection-first model",
      "Anyone who works over ssh or in tmux and needs a full editor in a terminal",
      "Users who want an editor that works well before any configuration"
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      "Users who expect frequent releases; no version has been tagged since July 2025",
      "People who want a graphical editor, since this runs in the terminal"
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      "No plugin system: extensibility is limited to what the editor ships with and TOML configuration",
      "The project publishes no minimum macOS version",
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      "Modal editing is a prerequisite; there is no modeless mode for users coming from a conventional editor"
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        "value": "Download the aarch64-macos or x86_64-macos archive from the GitHub releases page and unpack it, or install it with Homebrew. It provides the hx binary and a runtime directory of grammars and themes.",
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      "firstLaunch": {
        "value": "Run hx on a file. It opens in normal mode; select before you act, since selection-then-action is the model. The documentation site covers the keymap and the syntax-aware motions.",
        "status": "verified",
        "source": "official",
        "verifiedAt": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z"
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        "value": "A terminal program, so it composes with ssh, tmux and any shell. Configuration lives in a TOML file rather than in a scripting language.",
        "status": "verified",
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        "verifiedAt": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z"
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        "version": "25.07.1",
        "date": "2025-07-18",
        "summary": "Most recent tagged release. Development continues in the repository but no later version has been tagged.",
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    "faq": [
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        "question": "Is Helix free?",
        "answer": "Yes. It is open source under the MPL-2.0, with no paid tier, account or licence key.",
        "status": "verified",
        "source": "repository",
        "verifiedAt": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "question": "How is Helix different from Vim or Neovim?",
        "answer": "The ordering is reversed and it is built in Rust. Helix follows Kakoune's model — you select first, then act — and multiple selections are a core primitive rather than an add-on. Its own site puts it as 'No Electron. No VimScript. No JavaScript.'",
        "status": "verified",
        "source": "official",
        "verifiedAt": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z"
      },
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        "question": "Does Helix run natively on Apple Silicon?",
        "answer": "Yes. The project publishes aarch64-macos and x86_64-macos archives for each release, so there is a native build for both architectures.",
        "status": "verified",
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        "verifiedAt": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z"
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        "question": "Does Helix have plugins?",
        "answer": "No. It is configured in TOML and ships its features built in — language-server support, a fuzzy finder, project-wide search and surround among them — rather than through a plugin API.",
        "status": "verified",
        "source": "official",
        "verifiedAt": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z"
      },
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        "question": "Is Helix still developed?",
        "answer": "Yes, but releases are infrequent. The repository was receiving commits as recently as September 2026, yet the most recent tagged release is 25.07.1 from 18 July 2025.",
        "status": "verified",
        "source": "repository",
        "verifiedAt": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z"
      },
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        "question": "Which macOS version does Helix need?",
        "answer": "Not stated. The project publishes no minimum macOS version, so none is recorded here.",
        "status": "verified",
        "source": "official",
        "verifiedAt": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z"
      }
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        "target": "neovim",
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        "verifiedAt": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z"
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        "target": "vim",
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        "reason": "Both are modal terminal text editors, but Helix is a Rust rewrite with a different selection model where Vim is the original the category is named after.",
        "verifiedAt": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z"
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        "target": "visual-studio-code",
        "type": "alternative",
        "reason": "Both aim to give full IDE-grade editing with little setup, but VS Code is a graphical Electron app with an extension marketplace while Helix is a terminal binary with everything built in.",
        "verifiedAt": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z"
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}