Helix — AI Code Editor

A Cursor-inspired, AI-powered code editor built with Electron, Monaco Editor, and Google Gemini 2.0 Flash.

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Download

Platform	Installer
Windows	Helix-Setup-x.x.x.exe
macOS	Helix-x.x.x.dmg (Intel + Apple Silicon)
Linux	Helix-x.x.x.AppImage

First launch: You'll be asked for a Gemini API key. Get one free at aistudio.google.com/apikey.

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Features

• Monaco Editor — Full VS Code editor engine with syntax highlighting for 50+ languages
• AI Chat Panel — Conversational AI powered by Gemini 2.0 Flash with streaming responses
• Inline AI Completions — Ghost-text completions as you type (like Copilot)
• File Explorer — Browse, open, create, rename, and delete files and folders
• Integrated Terminal — Real PTY terminal via node-pty with multiple tabs
• Git Integration — View diffs, stage files, commit, and see branch status
• Diff Editor — Side-by-side diff view when AI suggests code changes
• Command Palette — Fuzzy search for all commands and files (Ctrl+Shift+P / Ctrl+P)
• Resizable Panels — Drag to resize sidebar, AI panel, and terminal
• Persistent Settings — Font, theme, tab size, word wrap saved across sessions
• Multi-platform — Windows, macOS (Intel + Apple Silicon), Linux

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Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+S	Save file
Ctrl+P	Quick open file
Ctrl+Shift+P	Command palette
Ctrl+`` ``	Toggle terminal
Ctrl+B	Toggle sidebar
Ctrl+L	Toggle AI panel
Ctrl+W	Close tab
Ctrl+Tab	Next tab
Ctrl+Shift+Tab	Previous tab
Ctrl+Shift+G	Source control
Ctrl+Shift+E	Explorer
Ctrl+H	Find & Replace
Shift+Alt+F	Format document
Alt+Z	Toggle word wrap
Ctrl+,	Open settings

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Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Shell	Electron 28
Renderer	React 18 + Vite 5
Editor	Monaco Editor (VS Code engine)
State	Zustand 4
AI	Google Gemini 2.0 Flash (@google/generative-ai)
Terminal	xterm.js v5 + node-pty
Git	simple-git
Persistence	electron-store
Packaging	electron-builder (NSIS / DMG / AppImage)

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Building from Source

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• Python 3.11+ (for node-pty native build)
• Windows: Visual Studio Build Tools with "Desktop development with C++"
• macOS: Xcode Command Line Tools (xcode-select --install)
• Linux: build-essential, libx11-dev

Steps

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/pun33th45/helix.git
cd helix

# Install dependencies and rebuild native modules
npm install
npm run rebuild        # rebuilds node-pty for your Electron version

# Generate app icons (requires sharp)
npm run icons

# Development mode
npm run dev            # starts Vite + Electron in watch mode

# Production build
npm run dist           # packages for your current platform

Environment

Create a .env file for development (never commit this):

VITE_GEMINI_API_KEY=your_key_here

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Project Structure

helix/
├── electron/
│   ├── main.js          # Electron main process
│   └── preload.js       # Context bridge (IPC API surface)
├── src/
│   ├── components/
│   │   ├── ActivityBar/
│   │   ├── AIPanel/     # AI chat, streaming, model picker
│   │   ├── CommandPalette/
│   │   ├── Editor/      # Monaco + diff editor + inline completions
│   │   ├── Onboarding/  # First-launch API key modal
│   │   ├── Settings/
│   │   ├── Sidebar/     # File tree + Git panel
│   │   ├── StatusBar/
│   │   └── Terminal/    # xterm.js multi-tab terminal
│   ├── hooks/
│   │   └── useKeyBindings.js
│   └── store/
│       ├── aiStore.js
│       ├── editorStore.js
│       └── uiStore.js
├── scripts/
│   ├── generate-icons.js
│   └── create-ico.js
├── assets/
│   ├── icon.svg
│   ├── icon.ico         # generated
│   └── icon_*.png       # generated
├── electron-builder.json
└── vite.config.js

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Author

Built by @pun33th45

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License

MIT — see LICENSE for details.