helix keybindings

[Alcampopiano]

Hi all,

Does Marimo support helix keybindings? I know it does for vim. I saw someone mention it online but couldn't find any docs.

Love to be able to take helix editing muscle memory into marimo.

Thanks!

[daveshenal]

Short answer: not currently, no. As of now, marimo's docs and settings only mention vim keybindings as a supported option (Settings -> Editor -> vim keybindings)... there's no Helix mode listed anywhere in the official configuration or editor features docs.

What you might have seen mentioned online is likely about something adjacent rather than marimo actually shipping it: marimo's cell editor is built on CodeMirror, and there are independent, third party CodeMirror extensions that implement Helix style keybindings (e.g. codemirror-helix, used by people adding Helix mode to other CodeMirror based apps like Obsidian). That's a real, existing building block - but it isn't wired into marimo itself right now. There was also a stray comment in marimo's "Roadmap to V1" discussion wishing for Helix/Kakoune style hotkey ergonomics, but that was about a hypothetical future terminal/TUI feature, not the notebook cell editor. So that's probably not what you saw either, unless you found something more specific.

Given marimo is already CodeMirror based and a Helix-keybindings CodeMirror extension already exists in the wild, this seems technically feasible to add.... worth opening a feature request on the repo if you don't find an existing open issue for it (search for "helix" in issues first, since I can't guarantee I found every closed/duplicate one). In the meantime, vim mode is your only built in modal option

[VectorPeak]

Not today. marimo’s editor setting is currently wired up for the CodeMirror vim keymap; there isn’t a Helix keybinding mode exposed in marimo.

The online mention may have been referring to modal editing in general, or to vim mode specifically. Proper Helix support would likely require a CodeMirror 6 Helix keymap/extension, then adding it as another editor keybinding option in marimo’s settings.