Should Use Tabs for Makefiles by Default

[enkvadrat]

Summary

Helix currently inserts spaces instead of tabs when editing Makefile files. This causes errors with make, as it requires commands to be indented with tabs.

Reproduction Steps

1. Open a Makefile in Helix and add:

   all:
      echo "Hello"  # Indented with spaces by default

2. Save and check indentation using:

   cat -T Makefile

   • Tabs show as ^I, spaces are invisible.
3. Run make:

   make

   Observe the error:

   Makefile:2: *** missing separator.  Stop.

Helix log

No response

Platform

Linux

Terminal Emulator

st

Installation Method

pacman

Helix Version

helix 24.7

[enkvadrat]

12109 is maybe related

[RoloEdits]

when I have

all:echo "Hello"

and then put my cursor before echo and press return I get the expected tab.

all:
    echo "Hello"

When I initially tried to replicate I also got the expected tab.

[pascalkuthe]

Helix autodetects indentation when opening an existing file so most likely you opened a makefile that already had spaces in it