Claude
812cde090f
- Motion and delete commands read rows through RowsView (on-demand, version-cached) instead of Buffer::Rows(), which rebuilt every line of the file after each edit. On a 500k-line buffer after an edit: backspace/delete/motions 80-90 ms -> ~0.1 ms; C-u 3000 C-d 273 s -> 0.25 s. Whole-buffer search scans keep Rows() (cached between edits). - While a prompt is open only prompt-aware and view-only commands run. Others edited the buffer behind the prompt (bypassing the read-only check) or switched/closed buffers under a pending confirmation, which then acted on the wrong buffer. The ':' command path now applies the read-only check too. - Pasting into a prompt (ImGui) flattens line breaks to spaces instead of emitting Newline, which accepted the prompt and sent the rest of the paste to the buffer (or ran replace-all). - The mark region clamps both ends; a stale mark past the end of the buffer is treated as end of buffer. This fixes kill-region deleting the wrong text and leaving the cursor past end-of-line. - Kill-line with a count stops at end of buffer instead of killing lines above the cursor (regression from the D3 change). - Undo groups nest, so SmartNewline in visual-line mode is one step. - Word motions and word deletion treat non-ASCII bytes as word characters and so never split a UTF-8 character. - The universal-argument count saturates at 1,000,000 instead of overflowing int. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_015rcVQiiWyTzoNrsvLSaAfB
kte - Kyle's Text Editor
Vision
kte is a small, fast, and understandable text editor with a terminal-first UX and an optional ImGui GUI. It modernizes the original ke editor while preserving its familiar WordStar/VDE‑style command model and Emacs‑influenced ergonomics. The focus is on simplicity of design, excellent latency, and pragmatic features you can learn and keep in your head.
I am experimenting with using Jetbrains Junie to assist in development, largely as a way to learn the effective use of agentic coding. I worked with the agent by feeding it notes that I've been taking about text editors for the last few years, as well as the sources from the original ke editor that is all handwritten C.
Project Goals
- Keep the core minimal and readable; favor straightforward data structures (gap buffer, piece table) and incremental evolution.
- Round‑trip editing of large files with low latency in a terminal environment.
- Preserve ke keybindings and command semantics wherever sensible; smooth migration for ke users.
- Provide a clean separation between core model, input, and rendering so a GUI can grow independently of the TUI.
- Minimize dependencies; the GUI layer remains optional and isolated.
Keybindings
kte maintains ke’s command model while internals evolve. Highlights ( subject to refinement):
- K‑command prefix:
C-kenters k‑command mode; exit withESCorC-g. - Save/Exit:
C-k s(save),C-k xorC-k C-x(save and exit),C-k q(quit with confirm),C-k C-q(quit immediately). - Editing:
C-k d(kill to EOL),C-k C-d(kill line),C-w(kill region),C-y(yank),C-u(universal argument). - Navigation/Search:
C-s(incremental find),C-r(regex search),ESC f/b(word next/prev),ESC BACKSPACE(delete previous word). - Buffers/Files:
C-k e(open),C-k b/C-k p(switch),C-k c(close),C-k l(reload). - Misc:
C-l(refresh),C-g(cancel),C-k g(goto line).
See ke.md for the canonical ke reference retained for now.
Build and Run
Prerequisites: C++20 compiler, CMake, and ncurses development headers/libs.
Dependencies by platform
-
macOS (Homebrew)
- Terminal (default):
brew install ncurses
- Optional GUI (enable with
-DBUILD_GUI=ON):brew install sdl2 freetype- OpenGL is provided by the system framework on macOS; no package needed.
- Terminal (default):
-
Debian/Ubuntu
- Terminal (default):
sudo apt-get install -y libncurses5-dev libncursesw5-dev
-
Optional GUI (enable with
-DBUILD_GUI=ON):sudo apt-get install -y libsdl2-dev libfreetype6-dev mesa-common-dev- The
mesa-common-devpackage provides OpenGL headers/libs (libGL).
- The
- Terminal (default):
-
NixOS/Nix
- Terminal (default):
- Ad-hoc shell:
nix-shell -p cmake gcc ncurses
- Ad-hoc shell:
- Optional GUI (enable with
-DBUILD_GUI=ON):- Ad-hoc shell:
nix-shell -p cmake gcc ncurses SDL2 freetype libGL
- Ad-hoc shell:
- With flakes/devshell (example
flake.nixinputs not provided): includencursesfor TUI, andSDL2,freetype,libGLfor GUI in your devShell.
- Terminal (default):
Notes
- The GUI is OFF by default to keep SDL/OpenGL/Freetype optional. Enable
it by
configuring with
-DBUILD_GUI=ONand ensuring the GUI deps above are installed for your platform. - If you previously configured with GUI ON and want to disable it,
reconfigure
the build directory with
-DBUILD_GUI=OFF.
Example build:
cmake -S . -B cmake-build-debug -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug
cmake --build cmake-build-debug
Run:
./cmake-build-debug/kte [files]
If you configured the GUI, you can also run the GUI-first target (when
built as kge) or request the GUI from kte:
./cmake-build-debug/kte --gui [files]
# or if built/installed as a separate GUI target
./cmake-build-debug/kge [files]
GUI build example
To build with the optional GUI (after installing the GUI dependencies listed above):
cmake -S . -B cmake-build-debug -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug -DBUILD_GUI=ON
cmake --build cmake-build-debug
./cmake-build-debug/kte --gui [files]
Status
- This project is a hobby text editor meant to be my personal editor. I do not warrant its suitability for anyone else.