Yazelix v13.2

Preview

v8: yazelix_v8_demo

v13: yazelix_v13_example

Overview

Yazelix integrates Yazi, Zellij, and Helix (hence the name!), with first-class support for Neovim too.

Yazelix now uses the devenv-based shell (devenv.nix) and yazelix.toml. The legacy flake interface (flake.nix, yazelix.nix) has been removed.
Use your preferred shell: Bash, Fish, Zsh, or Nushell - Yazelix works with all of them
Zellij orchestrates everything, with Yazi as a sidebar and your chosen editor (Helix by default)
Toggle focus between the sidebar and editor with Ctrl y, and toggle the sidebar itself with Alt y
Every keybinding from Zellij that conflicts with Helix is remapped see here
When you hit Enter on a file/folder in the "sidebar":
- With Helix or Neovim: Targets the managed editor pane through the Yazelix Zellij plugin. If that pane exists in the current tab, the file opens there. If not, Yazelix launches a new editor pane titled editor.
- With other editors: Opens the file in a new pane with your configured editor
- It automatically renames the Zellij tab to the file's underlying Git repo or directory name
Features include:
- "Reveal file in sidebar" (bind reveal_in_yazi.nu to any editor-local shortcut you prefer in Helix/Neovim, and use Ctrl y to jump between the editor and sidebar, see Keybindings)
- A Yazi plugin to enhance the status bar in the sidebar pane, making it uncluttered, colorful, and showing file permissions
- A Git plugin showing file changes in the Yazi sidebar
- Dynamic column updates in Yazi (parent, current, preview) via the auto-layout plugin, perfect for sidebar use
- Modular editor support: Helix and Neovim have full integration features, or use any other editor via the editor_command setting
This project includes config files for Zellij, Yazi, terminal emulators, Nushell scripts, Lua plugins, and a lot of love

Why Yazelix

Yazelix is a reproducible terminal IDE that integrates Yazi + Zellij + Helix. It delivers a consistent, fast “superterminal” locally or over SSH with zero manual setup: smart pane/layout orchestration, sidebar reveal/open flows, curated packs, and sane defaults. It also solves helix/zellij keybinding conflicts (no need to ever lock zellij), auto‑configures great tools like starship, zoxide, carapace (that normally require editing shell config files), and includes many tools from the Yazelix Collection, like lazygit

It already comes with cool zellij and yazi plugins, some of which I maintain myself

It has features like reveal in Yazi (from Helix or Neovim) and opening files from Yazi in your configured editor

Supports top terminals (Ghostty, WezTerm, Kitty, Alacritty) and popular shells (Bash, Zsh, Fish, Nushell). Easy to configure via yazelix.toml, with devenv.nix providing the environment

Get everything running in less than 10 minutes. No extra dependencies, only Nix

Install once, get the same environment everywhere

Vision

Using the terminal should be easy, beautiful, practical and reproducible
Good defaults over customization. Have both when possible
Yazelix is always on the edge of project versions
Yazelix is always evolving, it's a living being
What is even Yazelix?
Yazelix lets you say I use Yazelix btw
Boy, do we Nix
Integration, integration, integration
Made with love.

Acknowledgments

See Yazelix Collection for a full list of all projects, tools, and plugins Yazelix integrates, including links to each project and their homepages.

Improvements in v13.2

Workspace Hardening - New-tab workspace defaults, tab-local workspace routing, and the Alt+m / Alt+p workspace flows were tightened so Yazelix behaves more predictably across tabs
Zellij Integration Hardening - The pane orchestrator and layout/config generation were further hardened to reduce stale state, helper-pane traps, and workspace drift
Keybinding Model Polish - yzx keys and the README/docs now describe the current workspace actions more clearly, especially around Alt+m, Alt+p, and editor/sidebar movement

Improvements in v13.1

Cross-Tab Yazi Cwd Isolation - yzx cwd and related sidebar sync flows now resolve the current tab's managed Yazi pane instead of guessing from session-global state, fixing the cross-tab cwd leak that could show up when every tab starts with Yazi
Stronger Workspace Cwd Routing - The yzx cwd flow now has better tab retargeting, managed-editor cwd sync, cleaner tab naming, and tighter Yazi workspace keybinding alignment
Better Workspace Diagnostics and Controls - yzx doctor can diagnose Zellij plugin health, yzx keys exposes the current keymap surface more clearly, and Zellij default mode handling is now configurable
Agent and Update Flow Polish - Yazelix now ships the justcode command, added pi-agent support before later removing the unstable local pi_rust packaging, and further hardened the canary/update path

Improvements in v13

The Biggest Pain Points Are Fixed – v13 replaces fragile pane-scanning flows with a real Zellij plugin that tracks the managed editor and sidebar panes and routes workspace actions directly instead of relying on shell heuristics
The Sidebar Can Always Find the Editor – The sidebar can now always find the managed editor pane and open files in it reliably, and it is much faster because Yazelix no longer has to walk through panes or rely on pane-scanning heuristics
Sidebar and Layout Controls Are Finally Separate – Sidebar open/close now has its own Alt+y binding instead of being entangled with layout-family switching on Alt+[ and Alt+]
Deterministic Workspace Navigation – Ctrl+y toggles focus between the managed editor and sidebar, while Alt+[ and Alt+] switch predictably between the single, vertical split, and bottom terminal layouts
Cleaner Keybinding Model – Editor/sidebar navigation is unified, editor-local reveal bindings are documented explicitly, and the temporary wrapper-pane transport was replaced with direct plugin messages
Runtime Plugin Reliability – The pane orchestrator now ships through a content-hashed runtime wasm path, avoiding stale-plugin cache confusion during development and restart flows
Launch Robustness – yzx restart now forces a fresh devenv entry path instead of reusing stale terminal state
Better Config Inspection – yzx config is much more useful now, with focused section views for hx, yazi, and zellij, plus yzx config open
Simpler Update and Testing Commands – yzx update and yzx dev test were simplified into clearer defaults that are easier to remember and safer to use
Clearer Refresh and Environment Feedback – yzx env now shows rebuild activity more clearly, launch paths skip noisy shell-hook welcomes, and Yazelix warns when runtime versions drift
Command Palette – yzx menu gives you a searchable command palette for the main Yazelix actions, including a popup mode inside Zellij on Alt+Shift+m
Refresh Workflow – yzx refresh makes it easier to rebuild the Yazelix environment without launching the UI, while yzx restart cleanly switches the current window onto the refreshed profile

Full version history: Version History

Experiments

Nixless (System) Mode – Experimental work lives on the nixless-system-mode branch and might never land in main.

Compatibility

Platform: Works on Linux and macOS
Terminal: Ghostty (via Homebrew on macOS), Kitty, WezTerm, Alacritty; Foot on Linux only
Editor: Any editor works. Helix and Neovim have first-class support (reveal in sidebar, open buffer in a running instance, managed editor-pane targeting). Configure via editor_command in yazelix.toml
Shell: Bash, Fish, Zsh, or Nushell - use whichever you prefer
See the version compatibility table here (generated dynamically!)

Installation

📖 Complete Installation Guide → - Detailed step-by-step setup instructions

Helix Integration

Helix supports optional reveal_in_yazi.nu integration through Alt+r. Yazelix now reserves Alt+r globally: in the managed editor it forwards Alt+r into Helix for reveal, and outside the editor it falls back to the editor/sidebar focus flow. Ctrl+y and Alt+y remain the dedicated workspace navigation keys.

📖 Complete Helix Keybindings Guide → - Recommended keybindings for enhanced editing experience

Neovim Integration

For Neovim-Yazi integration, bind reveal_in_yazi.nu to any editor-local shortcut that does not conflict with your terminal or Zellij bindings. A good default is <M-r>:

-- Yazelix sidebar integration - reveal current file in Yazi sidebar
vim.keymap.set('n', '<M-r>', function()
  local buffer_path = vim.fn.expand('%:p')
  if buffer_path ~= '' then
    vim.fn.system('nu ~/.config/yazelix/nushell/scripts/integrations/reveal_in_yazi.nu "' .. buffer_path .. '"')
  end
end, { desc = 'Reveal in Yazi sidebar' })

📖 Complete Neovim Keybindings Guide → - Setup instructions and workflow tips

Version Check

Check installed tool versions:

nu nushell/scripts/utils/version_info.nu

Editor Pane Orchestration

When opening files from Yazi, Yazelix will:

Ask the Yazelix pane orchestrator plugin for the m

Yazelix

Install / Use

README