Notes on Switching to Helix from Vim

1. helix

   1 472 41,910 9.8 Rust

   A post-modern modal text editor.

   

   I tried to switch from neovim to helix for a couple weeks, but noted down the following things that were essential to me and not implemented yet:

   - Code actions on save, for example adding Go imports: https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/pull/6486

   - Fuzzy search with a filepicker like telescope+rg, seems to have been added earlier this year: https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/pull/11285

   - Automatically updating buffers when the files on disk change (claude, templ, sqlc, etc): https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/issues/1125

   - File tree in browser, which has been rejected in favor of a plugin system which has not materialized yet: https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/pull/5768

   There were a number of other things too, that I could have lived with. I guess I'll try again in a year or two.

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3. which-key.nvim

   2 118 6,788 6.6 Lua

   💥 Create key bindings that stick. WhichKey helps you remember your Neovim keymaps, by showing available keybindings in a popup as you type.

   

   > Exactly! Pity this basic contextual help isn't more widespread, every single app that uses a lot of keybind sequences could benefit from it, especially if it becomes a bit smarter and only shows a popup if you don't finish the sequence right away

   I've been using Vim/Neovim for 20 years, but still can't get enough of which-key[1] which I only installed ~6 months ago.

   1: https://github.com/folke/which-key.nvim

4. mini.nvim

   3 154 8,470 9.7 Lua

   Library of 40+ independent Lua modules improving Neovim experience with minimal effort

   

5. vim-lsp

   4 85 3,332 3.3 Vim Script

   async language server protocol plugin for vim and neovim

   

   I use a plugin[0] for LSP in vim and it's pretty easy to setup there too. Installing and configuring the lsp software itself take more time as I'm constantly moving between OS.

   Also, Emacs and Vim is very much about making the tool your own. I don't mind shaving the yak every now and then, because once an inconvenience is solved, it stay solved.

   [0]: https://github.com/prabirshrestha/vim-lsp

6. mini.clue

   5 1 86 7.1 Lua

   Show next key clues. Part of 'mini.nvim' library.

   

   mini.clue is another good option for this feature in neovim.

   https://github.com/nvim-mini/mini.clue

7. kickstart.nvim

   6 308 28,689 8.3 Lua

   A launch point for your personal nvim configuration

   

   The bloat of the neovim distributions are real and what I would suggest for anyone who is a long time vim user is to check out kickstart. https://github.com/nvim-lua/kickstart.nvim , specifically the modular fork https://github.com/dam9000/kickstart-modular.nvim which will give you a great (minimal) starting point

8. kickstart-modular.nvim

   7 1 921 7.4 Lua

   A launch point for your personal nvim configuration

   

   The bloat of the neovim distributions are real and what I would suggest for anyone who is a long time vim user is to check out kickstart. https://github.com/nvim-lua/kickstart.nvim , specifically the modular fork https://github.com/dam9000/kickstart-modular.nvim which will give you a great (minimal) starting point

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10. neovim

    8 1,447 95,013 10.0 Vim Script

    Vim-fork focused on extensibility and usability

    

    I'm trying to be careful to distinguish that this particular part seems odd to me, specifically because of Julia's other posts in which it seems their skill/knowledge is not much of a question.

    If someone is new to vim, I 100% agree that it's easier to get started with VSCode/Jetbrains/etc.

    But if someone has been using vim for a long time as their default editor, especially Neovim, and when LSP support came to Neovim about 4 years ago [0], it comes across as someone who isn't a power user. Which is fine, but the community has also started to build reasonable "batteries-included" distributions of Neovim (Lunarvim is a great example).

    It's one thing if someone just doesn't love the experience Neovim brings to them. That's reasonable, because it's subjective. But it is odd to use a tool for so long and not further investigate what it offers to fit your needs. Before LSP, there were libraries (CoC for example). And if it was never satisfactory, why not look at alternative editors which had their own flavors of indexing/code navigation?

    --

    [0]: (https://github.com/neovim/neovim/commit/a5ac2f45ff84a688a094...)

11. asyncomplete.vim

    9 5 970 3.0 Vim Script

    async completion in pure vim script for vim8 and neovim

    

12. asyncomplete-lsp.vim

    10 2 144 6.1 Vim Script

    

    " https://github.com/prabirshrestha/asyncomplete-lsp.vim

13. vim-sensible

    11 28 5,263 2.7 Vim Script

    sensible.vim: Defaults everyone can agree on

    

    There literally is a plugin [1] containing sensible defaults that everyone in the community agrees would be good as default but “backspace” and “incsearch” are the most obvious. “Backspace” allows you to delete with the backspace key beyond the point where you pressed “insert”. I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who thinks the vim default (not allowing this) is ergonomic.

    [1] https://github.com/tpope/vim-sensible

14. nvim

    12 1 10 8.7 Lua

    Neovim configuration rebuild 2025 (by wilkystyle)

    

15. oil.nvim

    13 28 6,021 8.2 Lua

    Neovim file explorer: edit your filesystem like a buffer

    

16. vim-fugitive

    14 118 21,524 6.0 Vim Script

    fugitive.vim: A Git wrapper so awesome, it should be illegal

    

    I tried helix a few months ago. Before that, I gave it a try several times. The editor is fine, but I always go back to vim and vscode for these reasons:

    - In vim, I can use vim-fugitive [1] to easily run git add and git commit. Not sure if helix has that level of integration with Git (I like the gutter, though).

    - I prefer vscode to code in Rust because of rust-analyzer [2]. That plugin gives me type type annotations along each variable. Helix can also provide some hints, but not that many as rust-analyzer.

    [1] https://github.com/tpope/vim-fugitive

    [2] https://rust-analyzer.github.io/book/vs_code.html

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