Syntax highlighting — all Hella keywords, operators, literals,
strings (including raw r"...", multiline """...""", and
interpolation { expr }), attributes, comments, and TODO/FIXME
highlighting (TextMate grammar ported from syntax/hella.vim).
LSP integration — connects to the Hella language server
(hella lsp) for diagnostics, hover, goto-definition, completions,
and document symbols.
Formatting — runs the canonical formatter (hella fmt) on the
current file, with format-on-save enabled by default. Formatting goes
through the CLI, not LSP: the language server does not advertise
documentFormattingProvider.
Auto-close blocks — pressing Enter below a line ending in do or
has inserts the matching end (endwise-style, no dependencies).
File extensions: .hll (canonical), .hlt and .holt (legacy aliases).
In VS Code: open the Extensions view (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+X),
search for Hella, and click Install.
Or from the command line:
code --install-extension hella-lang.hella-lang
Requirements
The hella CLI on your PATH (provides the lsp and fmt
subcommands this extension uses).
# From a checkout of the Hella toolchain repository
cargo install --path crates/hella-cli
hella setup # install the standard library to ~/.hella/lib
Commands
Command
Equivalent (nvim)
Hella: Format Document (hella fmt)
:HellaFormat
Hella: Check Formatting (hella fmt --check)
:HellaFormatCheck
Hella: Restart Language Server
require("hella").restart()
Extension Settings
Setting
Default
Description
hella.server.path
"hella"
Path to the Hella binary (cmd in nvim).
hella.server.args
["lsp"]
Language server arguments (LSP over stdio).
hella.format.enabled
true
Enable hella fmt formatting (format.enabled).
hella.format.command
[]
Override formatter command; empty derives it from the server command by swapping lsp → fmt (format.cmd = nil).
hella.format.onSave
true
Format on save (format.on_save, BufWritePre equivalent).
hella.endwise.enabled
true
Auto-close do/has with end on Enter (endwise.enabled).
hella.notifications.enabled
false
Info notifications (notify).
Notes
Formatting stages dirty buffers through a temporary .hll file,
exactly like hella.nvim (the CLI only collects .hll sources,
while the extension also edits .hlt/.holt).
endwise skips strings, // comments, partial words (mendo),
and blocks that already have an end below the cursor.
