🌊 Tide - A Terminal Editor in Go

Tide is a modern, extensible terminal-based text editor written purely in Go. It features efficient syntax highlighting powered by Tree-sitter and is built with a focus on clean, modular code for stability and future growth.

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Features

• Fast, Async Syntax Highlighting: Uses Tree-sitter for accurate, performant highlighting that updates dynamically via debounced, incremental parsing.
• Theming Engine:
  • Load custom themes from TOML files in ~/.config/tide/themes/.
  • Set the active theme via ~/.config/tide/theme.toml.
  • Live theme switching with the :theme <name> command.
  • Supports True Color hex codes (#RRGGBB).
  • Includes a comfortable built-in default dark theme ("Dark comfort").
• Multi-Language Support: Built-in support for Go, Python, JavaScript, JSON, and Rust. Easily extensible for more languages.
• Core Editing:
  • Modal editing (Normal, Insert, Visual, Visual Line, Visual Block, Command, Find modes).
  • Count prefixes (3j, 5dd, 10l).
  • Dot repeat (. replays last insert changes).
  • Text insertion, deletion, word deletion (dw, db), line joining (J).
  • Undo/Redo stack with atomic transaction support.
  • Yank (Copy) / Paste (Internal register or optional System Clipboard).
  • Find (/, n, N, *, #) with match highlighting.
  • Replace (:s/pattern/replacement/[gi], :%s/..., :'<,'>s/...) with case-insensitive flag.
  • File navigation (gg, G).
  • Visual modes: character-wise (v), line-wise (V), block-wise (Ctrl+V).
  • Auto Indentation.
  • Line numbering.
  • Configurable tab width rendering.
• Configuration:
  • Load settings (editor, logger) from ~/.config/tide/config.toml.
  • Dynamic TOML keybindings under [keybindings].
  • Command-line flag overrides for key settings.
  • Advanced, filterable logging system (slog based).
• Plugin System:
  • Go plugins (e.g., Word Count, Auto Save, File Picker).
  • Lua scripting with full API (tide.* functions, event subscriptions).
  • Reusable UI Picker overlay.
  • Tree-sitter local-symbol autocomplete in insert mode.

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Getting Started

Installation

Ensure you have Go 1.21+ installed.

Option 1: Install with just (recommended)

git clone https://github.com/bethropolis/tide.git
cd tide
just install # builds and installs to ~/.local/bin

Option 2: go install

go install github.com/bethropolis/tide/cmd/tide@latest

Option 3: Build from source

git clone https://github.com/bethropolis/tide.git
cd tide
just build # or: go build -o ./bin/tide ./cmd/tide
./bin/tide --help

Make sure $GOPATH/bin (usually ~/go/bin) or ~/.local/bin is in your system's $PATH.

Basic Usage

# Open a file
tide path/to/your/file.go
# Start with an empty buffer
tide
# Use flags to override config (see details below)
tide --loglevel debug --config config.toml main.rs

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Configuration

Tide uses TOML files located in ~/.config/tide/.

1. Main Configuration (`config.toml`)

Controls editor behavior and logger settings. Placed at ~/.config/tide/config.toml.

# Example config.toml
[logger]
log_level = "info"# "debug", "info", "warn", "error"log_file_path = "tide.log"# Path relative to CWD, absolute path, "" for default (~/.config/tide/tide.log), or "-" for stderr# Filtering (optional - see logger docs/code for more):# enabled_tags = ["core", "find"]disabled_tags = ["theme", "highlight", "event"] # Hide noisy logs# enabled_packages = ["app", "core"]# disabled_packages = ["buffer"]
[editor]
tab_width = 4scroll_off = 3system_clipboard = false# Set true to use system clipboard# status_bar_height = 1 # Currently fixed at 1# Keybindings (optional)# Each section defines mode-specific key overrides.# Keys: "ctrl+s", "alt+x", "escape", "enter", etc.# Actions: see available action names below.
[keybindings.normal]
"ctrl+s" = "save""ctrl+q" = "quit"
[keybindings.insert]
"escape" = "enter_normal"

2. Active Theme (`theme.toml`)

Defines the currently active theme. Placed at ~/.config/tide/theme.toml. This file is overwritten when you use the :theme <name> command. If missing, the default built-in theme is saved here on first run.

3. Theme Files (`themes/*.toml`)

Place custom .toml theme files in ~/.config/tide/themes/. Tide scans this directory for available themes to be used with the :theme command.

Example Theme File (mytheme.toml):

name = "My Custom Theme"is_dark = true
[styles]
Default = { fg = "#CDD6F4", bg = "#1E1E2E" } # Base background/foregroundLineNumber = { fg = "#494D64", bg = "#1E1E2E" }
StatusBar = { fg = "#CDD6F4", bg = "#181825" }
StatusBarModified = { fg = "#F9E2AF" } # Inherits StatusBar BGSelection = { reverse = true }
SearchHighlight = { fg = "#1E1E2E", bg = "#F9E2AF" }
keyword = { fg = "#CBA6F7", bold = true }
string = { fg = "#A6E3A1" }
comment = { fg = "#6C7086", italic = true }
# ... etc ...

4. Command-Line Flags

Flags override settings from config.toml. Run tide --help for a full list.

• -config <path>: Specify config file path.
• -loglevel <level>: Set log level (debug, info, warn, error).
• -logfile <path>: Set log file path (- for stderr).
• -tabwidth <num>: Set tab width.
• -scrolloff <num>: Set scroll-off lines.
• -system-clipboard: Use system clipboard (sets to true).
• -debug-log: Enable verbose logging for the logger's filtering system.
• -[log-*] flags: Control detailed logger filtering (e.g., -log-disable-packages=theme,buffer).

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Keybindings (Default - Normal Mode)

Show Default Keybindings

Key(s)	Action	Description
Up	Move Up	Move cursor up one line
Down	Move Down	Move cursor down one line
Left	Move Left	Move cursor left one column/rune
Right	Move Right	Move cursor right one column/rune
PageUp	Page Up	Move viewport and cursor up one page
PageDown	Page Down	Move viewport and cursor down one page
Home	Home	Move cursor to beginning of line
End	End	Move cursor to end of line
gg	Go to File Start	Move cursor to first line
G	Go to File End	Move cursor to last line
w	Word Forward	Move to start of next word
b	Word Backward	Move to start of current/previous word
e	Word End	Move to end of current/next word
0	Hard Home	Move to column 0
i	Insert Mode	Enter insert mode at cursor
a	Append Mode	Enter insert mode after cursor
A	Append End	Enter insert mode at end of line
I	Insert Start	Enter insert mode at first non-blank
o	Open Below	Insert line below, enter insert mode
O	Open Above	Insert line above, enter insert mode
v	Visual Mode	Enter character-wise visual mode
V	Visual Line Mode	Enter line-wise visual mode
Ctrl+V	Visual Block Mode	Enter block-wise visual mode
x	Delete Char	Delete character under cursor
dw	Delete Word	Delete word forward
db	Delete Word Back	Delete word backward
dd	Delete Line	Delete current line (linewise)
J	Join Lines	Join current line with next
y	Yank (pending)	Start yank operator (yy = yank line)
p	Paste After	Paste after cursor
P	Paste Before	Paste before cursor
u	Undo	Undo last change
Ctrl+R	Redo	Redo last undone change
*	Search Word Forward	Search for word under cursor
#	Search Word Backward	Search backward for word under cursor
n	Find Next	Find next search match
N	Find Previous	Find previous search match
/	Find Mode	Start searching
:	Command Mode	Start entering a command
.	Dot Repeat	Replay last insert-mode changes
ESC, Ctrl+C	Quit / Clear Highlights	Quit if unmodified, else prompt/clear search
Ctrl+Q	Force Quit	Quit unconditionally
Ctrl+S	Save	Save the current buffer

Count Prefixes: Numbers before movements/operators repeat them (e.g., 3j moves down 5 lines, 5dd deletes 5 lines).

Pending Operators:d and y wait for a motion or text object (dw, db, dd, yy).

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Commands (in Command Mode :)

Show Commands

• :q - Quit if buffer is unmodified. Shows warning if modified.
• :q! - Force quit, discarding any unsaved changes.
• :w - Write buffer to current file.
• :w [filename] - Write buffer to [filename].
• :w! - Force write.
• :wq - Write buffer then quit.
• :x - Write buffer then quit (alias for :wq).
• :e [filename] - Open [filename] in a new buffer.
• :e! - Reload current file, discarding changes.
• :enew - Open a new empty buffer.
• :bn / :bnext - Next buffer.
• :bp / :bprev - Previous buffer.
• :bd / :bdelete - Close current buffer.
• :bd! - Force close current buffer.
• :buffers / :ls - List open buffers.
• :s/pattern/replacement/[g][i] - Replace on current line. g = all matches, i = case-insensitive.
• :%s/pattern/replacement/[g][i] - Replace across entire buffer.
• :'<,'>s/pattern/replacement/[g][i] - Replace within visual selection.
• :noh / :nohlsearch - Clear search highlights.
• :theme <name> - Switch to the specified theme.
• :themes - List available theme names.
• :pick - Open file picker overlay.
• :files [dir] - List files in directory.
• :wc - (WordCount plugin) Display line, word, and byte count.

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Lua Plugin API

Tide includes a Lua scripting engine. Place .lua files in plugins/lua/ or ~/.config/tide/plugins/lua/.

-- Example: register a commandtide.register_command("hello", function(args)
tide.set_status_message("Hello from Lua!")
end)
-- Example: subscribe to eventstide.subscribe("cursor_moved", function(event)
tide.set_status_message("Cursor: L" ..event.new_line.." C" ..event.new_col)
end)
-- Example: show a file pickertide.show_picker("Files", {
{ label="file1.go", value="file1.go" },
{ label="file2.go", value="file2.go" },
}, function(selected)
tide.open_file(selected)
end)

Available Lua APIs:tide.set_status_message, tide.register_command, tide.get_cursor, tide.set_cursor, tide.get_buffer_lines, tide.insert_text, tide.delete_range, tide.get_buffer_file_path, tide.open_file, tide.next_buffer, tide.prev_buffer, tide.close_buffer, tide.show_picker, tide.subscribe, tide.unsubscribe

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Development

Tide uses just as a command runner.

just build # Build ./bin/tide
just install # Build + install to ~/.local/bin
just test# Run all tests
just vet # Run go vet
just check # build + vet + test
just fmt # Format source
just clean # Remove build artifacts
just run file.go # Build and run with args
just coverage # Generate HTML coverage report
just --list # Show all recipes

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Known Limitations / Future Plans

• Performance: Untested on very large files (> 100MB).
• Visual Block Operations: Block insert/change not yet implemented (only delete/yank/paste).
• Text Objects:iw, aw, ip, ap not yet supported.
• Registers: Only unnamed register; named registers ("a-"z) not yet supported.
• Macros: Recording (qa) and playback (@a) not yet supported.
• Splits: Window splits (:sp, :vsp) not yet supported.
• Status Bar Styling: Segments like [Modified] aren't individually styled yet.

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.