A fast, minimal, keyboard-driven terminal text editor. Inspired by Vim, built with pure Python.

• Modal editing (Normal, Insert, Visual)
• Vim-style keybindings (i, dd, yy, p, u, v, etc.)
• Word navigation (w, b)
• Search with / and replace with :replace <search> <replace>
• Clipboard-style yank and paste (works across buffers)
• Undo / Redo
• Visual selection + deletion
• Line numbers + simple status bar (shows buffer, file, unsaved changes)
• Command mode (:) with:
  • :w to save
  • :q to quit
  • :wq to save & quit
  • :q! to quit without saving
  • :e <file> to open a new file in a buffer
  • :view <file> to open a file as read-only
  • :bn / :bp to switch buffers
  • :bx to close the current buffer
  • :bc to create a new empty buffer
  • :b1, :b2, ... to jump to a specific buffer
• Multiple buffers (tabs): open, switch, create, and close files
• File explorer sidebar (toggle with F2, open files with Enter)
• Syntax highlighting for Python and Markdown
• Auto indentation
• Configurable keybindings (see below)
• Persistent session restore (reopen files and positions on restart)
• Mouse support (click to move cursor or open files)
• Theme/color scheme support (dark/light)
• Minimap/overview gutter
• Jump to line (:goto <line>)
• Read-only mode (:view <file>)
• Integrated help system (:help or F1)
• Word wrap toggle (:wrap)
• External command integration (:!cmd)
• Bookmark/mark system (m[a-z], '[a-z])
• Sidebar navigation with arrow keys and Enter
• Search navigation with n/N
• Undo/redo history with :history
• Replace all with :replace <search> <replace>
• Run shell command with :!<cmd>
• Theme switching with :theme <t>
• Experimental split/unsplit with :split, :vsplit, :unsplit
• Exit confirmation if changes aren’t saved
• Runs in any real terminal (curses-based)
• Fully keyboard controlled
• No external dependencies

git clone https://github.com/s-ar2005/tedit
cd tedit
python3 main.py <filename1> <filename2> ...

• Each file will open in its own buffer/tab.

You can customize all keyboard shortcuts by creating a JSON file at ~/.config/tedit.json (preferred, global) or keybindings.json (local, project directory). If neither exists, built-in defaults are used.

You can also control auto-save with the autosave option (off by default):

{
  "insert": "i",
  "left": "h",
  "right": "l",
  "up": "k",
  "down": "j",
  "word_forward": "w",
  "word_backward": "b",
  "yank": "y",
  "delete": "d",
  "paste": "p",
  "undo": "u",
  "redo": "r",
  "search": "/",
  "visual": "v",
  "escape": 27,
  "toggle_sidebar": 266,
  "toggle_line_numbers": 267,
  "page_up": 339,
  "page_down": 338,
  "tab": 9,
  "f1": 265,
  "f2": 266,
  "f3": 267,
  "delete_key": 330,
  "autosave": false // auto-save every 10 seconds
}

If "autosave": true is set, Tedit will automatically save all open files every 10 seconds. If omitted or set to false, auto-save is disabled.

You can add your own syntax highlighting for any file extension by placing a Python file in ~/.config/tedit/ named after the extension. For example:

• py.py for Python files
• js.py for JavaScript files
• sh.py for shell scripts
• md.py for Markdown files

Each file should define a function:

def highlight_line(line, filetype):
    # return the highlighted line using \x01...\x02 for keywords, \x03...\x02 for comments, \x04...\x02 for strings
    return line

Custom Linting via Python Files

You can also provide a custom linter for a filetype by defining a function in the same file:

def lint_buffer(lines, filetype):
    # return a dictionary: { line_number: [(diagnostic_type, message), ...], ... }
    diagnostics = {}
    # example: mark line 0 as error
    diagnostics[0] = [("error", "Example error on first line")]
    return diagnostics

If lint_buffer is present, Tedit will use it for linting that filetype. Otherwise, it falls back to the built-in or external linter command.

The editor will use the highlighter and linter matching the file's extension. If no custom highlighter or linter is found, the built-in one is used.

• To run linter: :lint in command mode.
• Shows errors, warnings, infos and TODOs.
• Configurable in ~/.config/tedit.json:

{
  "linter_cmd": "pylint {file}",
  "diagnostic_symbols": {"error": "E", "warning": "W", "info": "I", "todo": "T"},
  "diagnostic_colors": {"error": 6, "warning": 7, "info": 8, "todo": 9}
}

• Linter output must be in the form: file:line:col: error|warning|info: message
• TODO/FIXME in comments are always shown as info/warning.
• If a custom linter is provided in the syntax highlighter Python file (see above), it will be used for that filetype.

• Configurable keybindings
• Syntax highlighting
• Plugin system
• Tabs/splits? (multi-buffer support)
• Linter support
• Written in C version someday?

MIT — do whatever you want with it.