:Command reference¶

Press : in normal mode in Helix mode to enter a command. In VS Code mode, you can do the same from the command palette (F1).

Files and buffers¶

Command	Aliases	Action
`:w [path]`	`:write`	Save. With a path, save to that path
`:wa`	`:write-all`	Save all
`:q`	`:quit` `:qa`	Quit. Stops if there are unsaved files
`:q!`	`:quit!` `:qa!`	Quit without saving
`:wq`	`:x`	Save and quit
`:wqa`	`:xa`	Save all and quit
`:o <path>`	`:open` `:e` `:edit`	Open a file
`:n`	`:new`	New file
`:bc`	`:bclose` `:buffer-close`	Close the buffer
`:bc!`	`:bclose!` `:buffer-close!`	Close the buffer without saving
`:reload`	`:rl`	Reload from disk
`:<line number>`	—	Go to that line

Command	Aliases	Action
`:fmt`	`:format`	Format
`:lsp-restart`	—	Restart the language server

Command	Aliases	Action
`:grep [-x exclude] [-i include] <text>`	`:rg`	Open the search / replace window (puts the text in the search field)
`:replace [-x exclude] [-i include] <text> => <replacement>`	`:rep`	Open the search / replace window (puts the values in the search and replace fields)

Command	Aliases	Action
`:preview`	`:md`	Cycle the Markdown preview (side by side, full width, closed)
`:tree`	`:explorer`	Move to the file tree
`:sh [command]`	`:run` `:!`	Run a command in the terminal. Without an argument, toggle the terminal

Command	Action
`:gitdiff [on\\|off\\|split\\|unified]` (`:gd` `:review`)	Toggle diff mode (base `HEAD`), toggle split / unified
`:pr [number]`	Compare with the base of a pull request in diff mode. Without a number, choose from a list

Command	Aliases	Action
`:browser forward <target port> [listen port]`	—	Start port forwarding
`:browser list`	—	List port forwards
`:browser stop <listen port>`	—	Stop port forwarding
`:open-url [URL]`	`:browse`	Open in an external browser. Without an argument, the URL under the cursor

Command	Action
`:agent`	Go to / close the suggestions panel
`:agent cancel`	Cancel the agent's work
`:agent stop`	Stop the agent

Command	Action
`:theme [name]`	Switch the theme. Without a name, show the list
`:keymap [helix\\|vscode]`	Switch the editing style
`:config-reload`	Reload the configuration files