theylix

Scripts/configs for helix editor, zellij, and various other cli tools for a nice zen-mode terminal-based IDE

Dependencies

Assumptions / Setup

• This is going for a zen-mode experience with simple configs and a decently integrated feel between the various tools. There's others (yazelix, zide) that go for multi-pane layouts.

You can just drop this repo's files into your home directory (preserving the directory structure... plz don't overwrite your ~/.config and ~/.local/bin directories), but you'll need to make sure the following are true:

• .local/bin is in your $PATH
• the files in .local/bin are executable

However, you may want to modify the files in this repo for various reasons:

• Adding your own configs for Helix, etc.
• I'm only using Zellij for this, so these desisions work for me but might not for you:
  • All Zellij keybindings are disabled (except for quitting the Zellij session, mentioned below). Yazelix features Helix-friendly keybindings for Zellij, in case you want to interact directly with Zellij.
  • The theylix script calls zellij delete-all-sessions -y to prevent collisions with dead Zellij session names (see below for session name behaviors). I'll likely change this once Helix implements session persistence, but for now I don't see a reason to allow the Zellij sessions to be resurrected.
• Yazi file opener currently opens all files with helix. You probably want to add opener configs so that non-text mime types get opened with other software.
• I found the bottom line in Lazygit to be annoying, so I hid it. You can see keybindings via ?, but you still might want to reenable the bottom line.

Usage

Usage: theylix [OPTION] [ARGS]
Args: Arguments should be a list of filepaths.
 Existing files will be opened; otherwise, empty Helix buffers will be opened.
 If any options are provided, you must include at least one file argument.
 If no options are provided:
 - a new Theylix session will be created
 - if no arguments are provided, Helix will open to the current directory
 - you can provide a single directory argument instead of a list of filepaths,
 in which case Helix will open to that directory
Options: Only 1 option allowed; subsequent options will be interpreted as filenames.
 --help Display this helper text
 -a, --attach Open files in the current Theylix session
 -h, --hsplit Open files with a horizontal split in the current Theylix session
 -v, --vsplit Open files with a vertical split in the current Theylix session

Features

• Helix
  • new options in the space picker
    • e (short for "extras") opens a new picker window for accessing the cli tools, which open in floating Zellij panes
      • / opens Serpl (global find and replace)
      • g opens Lazygit
      • b opens git blame (via Tig)
      • s opens LazySQL
      • r opens Slumber (REST client)
      • t opens a terminal session
      • x opens Regex TUI
    • ; opens Yazi file explorer
    • w writes to file
    • W writes to file and closes buffer
    • q closes the current buffer
    • Q force closes the current buffer, ignoring any unsaved changes
  • ctrl + y opens Yazi file explorer in normal mode
  • ctrl + g opens Lazygit in normal mode
  • ctrl + t opens a terminal in normal mode
  • X selects the above line in normal and select modes
  • ctrl + ; runs the flip_selections command in normal/select modes
  • 0 goes to line start in normal/select modes
  • a few other configs that I like... statusline, esc behaviors, etc.
• Zellij
  • the Zellij session is named according to the following rules:
    • if file/directory arguments are provided to the theylix command, the session is named after the first argument's file/directory name
    • if no file/directory arguments are provided and the theylix command is run from a directory within a git repository, the session is named after the git repository
    • otherwise, the session is given a random name (Zellij's default behavior)
  • maps quit command to ctrl + shift + Q to prevent fat finger quitting the session
• Yazi (file explorer)
  • (requires helix 25.07+) opens to the file in the current buffer
  • can open multiple files at once
  • ctrl + h opens files in horizontal splits
  • ctrl + v opens files in vertical splits
  • you can still use Yazi outside of theylix to open files in a new theylix session
• Lazygit
  • o opens the selected file in a new Helix buffer
  • (requires helix 25.07+) opens to the repository of the current buffer
• Slumber (REST client)
  • REST collections for Slumber should be stored at ~/.config/slumber/collections.yml (or modify .local/bin/txde as needed)
• Serpl (global find and replace)
  • (requires helix 25.07+) if the current buffer is a file within a git repository, it searches within that repository... otherwise, it searches within the directory that the Helix session was opened from

Potential issues

• The Helix keybinding for ctrl + ; may give you some grief. Particularly, if you're using Wezterm, you'll need to add this config to your .wezterm.lua: config.enable_kitty_keyboard = true
• It's possible for floating Zellij panes (used for everything except Helix) to get hidden. If this happens, the pane might reappear as a result of certain actions like opening a file via the Yazi file explorer. I'm not aware of any broken functionality related to this, but if you run into any please create an issue.