Ferrite

getferrite.dev — Official website with downloads, features, and documentation

A fast, lightweight text editor for Markdown, JSON, YAML, and TOML files. Built with Rust and egui for a native, responsive experience.

⚠️Platform Note: Ferrite is developed and tested on Windows and Linux. macOS support is experimental. If you encounter issues, please report them.

🛡️ Code Signing & Antivirus

Starting with v0.2.6.1, all Windows releases are digitally signed with a certificate from SignPath Foundation. This means:

Windows SmartScreen recognizes the publisher — no more "Unknown publisher" warnings
Antivirus false positives are significantly reduced thanks to the trusted code signature
Integrity verification — you can verify that the binary hasn't been tampered with

Previous False Positives

Older unsigned builds may still trigger antivirus detections. This was caused by:

Live Pipeline feature: Uses cmd.exe /C on Windows for shell commands, which ML-based detection can misidentify
Rust compilation patterns: Rust binaries can trigger heuristic detections due to unique characteristics

We've addressed this through code signing, build profile adjustments (disabled symbol stripping, speed optimization), and reporting to Microsoft's Security Intelligence portal.

If You're Still Affected

If Windows Defender quarantines Ferrite:

Upgrade: Download the latest signed release from GitHub Releases
Verify the signature: Right-click ferrite.exe → Properties → Digital Signatures → should show "SignPath Foundation"
Check VirusTotal: Upload the file to VirusTotal — signed builds should show clean results

Ferrite does NOT access passwords, browser data, or make network connections. The application is fully offline and only accesses files you explicitly open.

🤖 AI-Assisted Development

This project is 100% AI-generated code. All Rust code, documentation, and configuration was written by Claude (Anthropic) via Cursor with MCP tools.

About the AI workflow

My Role

Product direction — Deciding what to build and why
Testing — Running the app, finding bugs, verifying features
Review — Reading generated code, understanding what it does
Orchestration — Managing the AI workflow effectively

The Workflow

Idea refinement — Discuss concepts with multiple AIs (Claude, Perplexity, Gemini Pro)
PRD creation — Generate requirements using Task Master
Task execution — Claude Opus handles implementation (preferring larger tasks over many subtasks)
Session handover — Structured prompts maintain context between sessions
Human review — Every handover is reviewed; direction adjustments made as needed

📖 Full details:AI Development Workflow

Open Process

The actual prompts and documents used to build Ferrite are public:

Document	Purpose
`current-handover-prompt.md`	Active session context
`ai-workflow/`	Full workflow docs, PRDs, historical handovers
`handover/`	Reusable handover templates

This transparency is intentional — I want others to learn from (and improve upon) this approach.

Screenshots

Raw Editor	Split View	Zen Mode

✨ v0.2.6.1 Released: First code-signed release! Integrated Terminal Workspace with tiling, splitting, and layout persistence. Productivity Hub panel. Major app.rs refactoring into ~15 modules. 8+ bug fixes including duplicate line, smart paste, and drag-drop positioning. CJK memory optimization (-80MB). See CHANGELOG.md for full details.

📦 v0.2.6 Highlights: New Custom Editor Engine with virtual scrolling (80MB file uses ~80MB RAM), Multi-Cursor Editing, Code Folding, IME/CJK input improvements.

Features

Core Editing

WYSIWYG Markdown Editing - Edit markdown with live preview, click-to-edit formatting, and syntax highlighting
Multi-Format Support - Native support for Markdown, JSON, CSV, YAML, and TOML files
Multi-Encoding Support - Auto-detect and preserve file encodings (UTF-8, Latin-1, Shift-JIS, Windows-1252, GBK, and more)
Tree Viewer - Hierarchical view for JSON/YAML/TOML with inline editing, expand/collapse, and path copying
Find & Replace - Search with regex support and match highlighting
Go to Line (Ctrl+G) - Quick navigation to specific line number
Undo/Redo - Full undo/redo support per tab

View Modes

Split View - Side-by-side raw editor and rendered preview with resizable divider; both panes are fully editable
Zen Mode - Distraction-free writing with centered text column

Editor Features

Syntax Highlighting - Full-file syntax highlighting for 100+ languages (Rust, Python, JavaScript, Go, TypeScript, PowerShell, and more)
Code Folding - Fold/unfold regions with gutter indicators (▶/▼) for headings, code blocks, and lists; collapsed content is hidden
Semantic Minimap - Navigation panel with clickable header labels, content type indicators, and text density bars (switchable to VS Code-style pixel view)
Multi-Cursor Editing - Ctrl+Click to add multiple cursors; type, delete, and navigate at all positions simultaneously
Bracket Matching - Highlight matching brackets ()[]{}<> and emphasis pairs **__
Auto-close Brackets & Quotes - Type (, [, {, ", or ' to get matching pair; selection wrapping supported
Duplicate Line (Ctrl+Shift+D) - Duplicate current line or selection
Move Line Up/Down (Alt+↑/↓) - Rearrange lines without cut/paste
Smart Paste for Links - Select text then paste URL to create [text](url) markdown link
Drag & Drop Images - Drop images into editor to auto-save to ./assets/ and insert markdown link
Table of Contents - Generate/update TOC from headings with  block (Ctrl+Shift+U)
Snippets - Text expansions like ;date → current date, ;time → current time, plus custom snippets
Auto-Save - Configurable auto-save with temp-file safety
Line Numbers - Optional line number gutter
Configurable Line Width - Limit text width for readability (80/100/120 or custom)
Custom Font Selection - Choose preferred fonts for editor and UI; important for CJK regional glyph preferences
Keyboard Shortcut Customization - Rebind shortcuts via settings panel

MermaidJS Diagrams

Native rendering of 11 diagram types directly in the preview:

Flowchart, Sequence, Pie, State, Mindmap
Class, ER, Git Graph, Gantt, Timeline, User Journey

v0.2.5 Mermaid Update: Native Mermaid rendering now supports YAML frontmatter, parallel edges (A --> B & C), classDef/linkStyle styling, improved subgraphs, and more. Complex diagrams may still have rendering differences from mermaid.js. See ROADMAP.md for planned improvements.

CSV/TSV Viewer

Native Table View - View CSV and TSV files in a formatted table with fixed-width column alignment
Rainbow Column Coloring - Alternating column colors for improved readability
Delimiter Detection - Auto-detect comma, tab, semicolon, and pipe separators
Header Row Detection - Intelligent detection and highlighting of header rows

Workspace Features

Workspace Mode - Open folders with file tree, quick switcher (Ctrl+P), and search-in-files (Ctrl+Shift+F)
Git Integration - Visual status indicators (modified, added, untracked, ignored) with auto-refresh on save, focus, and file changes
Session Persistence - Restore open tabs, cursor positions, and scroll offsets on restart

Terminal Workspace

Integrated Terminal - Multiple instances with shell selection (PowerShell, CMD, WSL, bash)
Tiling & Splitting - Create complex 2D grids with horizontal and vertical splits
Smart Maximize - Temporarily maximize any pane to focus on work (Ctrl+Shift+M)
Layout Persistence - Save and load your favorite terminal arrangements to JSON files
Theming & Transparency - Custom color schemes (Dracula, etc.) and background opacity
Drag-and-Drop Tabs - Reorder terminals with visual feedback
AI-Ready - Visual "breathing" indicator when terminal is waiting for input (perfect for AI agents)

Additional Features

Light & Dark Themes - Beautiful themes with runtime switching
Document Outline & Statistics - Navigate with outline panel; tabbed statistics showing word count, reading time, heading/link/image counts
Export Options - Export to HTML with themed styling, or copy as HTML
Formatting Toolbar - Quick access to bold, italic, headings, lists, links, and more
Live Pipeline - Pipe JSON/YAML content through shell commands (for developers)
Custom Window - Borderless window with custom title bar and resize handles
Recent Files & Folders - Click filename in status bar to access recently opened files and workspace folders
CJK Paragraph Indentation - First-line indentation options for Chinese (2 chars) and Japanese (1 char) writing conventions

Installation

Pre-built Binaries

Download the latest release for your platform from GitHub Releases.

Platform	Download	Notes
Windows	`ferrite-windows-x64.msi`	Recommended - full installer with Start Menu
Windows	`ferrite-portable-windows-x64.zip`	Portable - extract anywhere, run from USB
Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)	`ferrite-editor_amd64.deb`	For Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, Pop!_OS
Linux (Fedora/RHEL)	`ferrite-editor.x86_64.rpm`	For Fedora, RHEL, CentOS, Rocky
Linux	`ferrite-linux-x64.tar.gz`	Universal - works on any distro
macOS (Apple Silicon)	`ferrite-macos-arm64.tar.gz`	For M1/M2/M3 Macs
macOS (Intel)	`ferrite-macos-x64.tar.gz`	For Intel Macs

Windows Installation

MSI Installer (Recommended)

Download ferrite-windows-x64.msi and run it. This will:

Install Ferrite to C:\Program Files\Ferrite
Add Start Menu shortcut with icon
Enable easy uninstall via Windows Settings
Store settings in %APPDATA%\ferrite\

Portable (ZIP)

Download ferrite-portable-windows-x64.zip and extract anywhere. The zip includes:

ferrite.exe - the application
portable/ - folder for all your settings
README.txt - quick start guide

True portable mode: All configuration, sessions, and data are stored in the portable folder next to the executable. Nothing is written to %APPDATA% or the Windows registry. Perfect for USB drives or trying Ferrite without installation.

Linux Installation

Debian/Ubuntu/Mint (.deb)

# Download the .deb file, then install with:
sudo apt install ./ferrite-editor_amd64.deb
# Or using dpkg:
sudo dpkg -i ferrite-editor_amd64.deb

Fedora/RHEL/CentOS (.rpm)

# Download the .rpm file, then install with:
sudo dnf install ./ferrite-editor.x86_64.rpm
# Or using rpm:
sudo rpm -i ferrite-editor.x86_64.rpm

Both .deb and .rpm packages will:

Install Ferrite to /usr/bin/ferrite
Add desktop entry (appears in your app menu)
Register file associations for .md, .json, .yaml, .toml files
Install icons for the system

Arch Linux (AUR)

Ferrite is available on the AUR:

Ferrite (release package)
Ferrite-bin (binary package)

# Release packageyay -Sy ferrite
# Binary packageyay -Sy ferrite-bin

Other Linux (tar.gz)

tar -xzf ferrite-linux-x64.tar.gz
./ferrite

Build from Source

Prerequisites

Rust 1.70+ - Install from rustup.rs
Platform-specific dependencies:

Windows:

Visual Studio Build Tools 2019+ with C++ workload

Linux:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install build-essential pkg-config libgtk-3-dev libxcb-shape0-dev libxcb-xfixes0-dev
# Fedora
sudo dnf install gcc pkg-config gtk3-devel libxcb-devel
# Arch
sudo pacman -S base-devel pkg-config gtk3 libxcb

macOS:

xcode-select --install

Build

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/OlaProeis/Ferrite.git
cd Ferrite
# Build release version (optimized)
cargo build --release
# The binary will be at:# Windows: target/release/ferrite.exe# Linux/macOS: target/release/ferrite# macOS: Create .app bundle (optional)
cargo install cargo-bundle
cargo bundle --release
# Bundle will be at: target/release/bundle/osx/Ferrite.app

macOS "Open With" Limitation: The app bundle includes file type associations, so Ferrite appears in Finder's "Open With" menu. However, opening files this way (or by dragging files onto the app icon) is not yet supported due to eframe/winit limitations. Workaround: Open files via Terminal: open -a Ferrite path/to/file.md or use File > Open within the app.

Development Builds: Building from the main branch gives you the latest features before they're officially released. These builds are untested and may contain bugs. For stable versions, download from GitHub Releases.

Usage

# Open a file
ferrite path/to/file.md
# Open a folder as workspace
ferrite path/to/folder/

More CLI options

# Run from source
cargo run --release
# Or run the binary directly
./target/release/ferrite
# Open multiple files as tabs
./target/release/ferrite file1.md file2.md
# Show version
./target/release/ferrite --version
# Show help
./target/release/ferrite --help

See docs/cli.md for full CLI documentation.

View Modes

Ferrite supports three view modes for Markdown files:

Raw - Plain text editing with syntax highlighting
Rendered - WYSIWYG editing with rendered markdown
Split - Side-by-side raw editor and live preview

Toggle between modes using the toolbar buttons or keyboard shortcuts.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+N`	New file
`Ctrl+O`	Open file
`Ctrl+S`	Save file
`Ctrl+W`	Close tab
`Ctrl+P`	Quick file switcher
`Ctrl+F`	Find
`Ctrl+G`	Go to line
`Ctrl+,`	Open settings

All Keyboard Shortcuts

File Operations

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+N`	New file
`Ctrl+O`	Open file
`Ctrl+S`	Save file
`Ctrl+Shift+S`	Save as
`Ctrl+W`	Close tab

Navigation

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+Tab`	Next tab
`Ctrl+Shift+Tab`	Previous tab
`Ctrl+P`	Quick file switcher (workspace)
`Ctrl+Shift+F`	Search in files (workspace)

Editing

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+Z`	Undo
`Ctrl+Y` / `Ctrl+Shift+Z`	Redo
`Ctrl+F`	Find
`Ctrl+H`	Find and replace
`Ctrl+G`	Go to line
`Ctrl+Shift+D`	Duplicate line
`Alt+↑`	Move line up
`Alt+↓`	Move line down
`Ctrl+B`	Bold
`Ctrl+I`	Italic
`Ctrl+K`	Insert link

View

Shortcut	Action
`F11`	Toggle fullscreen
`Ctrl+,`	Open settings
`Ctrl+Shift+[`	Fold all
`Ctrl+Shift+]`	Unfold all

Terminal Workspace

Terminal shortcuts are context-aware; they work when the terminal panel is focused.

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+Tab` / `Ctrl+Shift+Tab`	Cycle through terminal tabs
`Ctrl+1-9`	Switch to specific terminal tab
`Ctrl+Arrow Keys`	Move focus between split panes
`Ctrl+Shift+M`	Toggle Maximize Pane (Zoom)
`Ctrl+L`	Clear terminal screen
`Ctrl+Shift+C`	Copy selection / screen
`Ctrl+Shift+V`	Paste to terminal
`Ctrl+W` / `Ctrl+F4`	Close focused pane (auto-collapses splits)
`Double-click Tab`	Rename terminal

Configuration

Access settings via Ctrl+, or the gear icon. Configure appearance, editor behavior, and file handling.

Configuration details

Settings are stored in platform-specific locations:

Windows:%APPDATA%\ferrite\
Windows Portable:portable\ folder next to ferrite.exe
Linux:~/.config/ferrite/
macOS:~/Library/Application Support/ferrite/

Portable Mode (Windows): If a portable folder exists next to the executable, Ferrite automatically uses it for all configuration instead of %APPDATA%. This makes Ferrite fully self-contained - perfect for USB drives.

Workspace settings are stored in .ferrite/ within the workspace folder.

Settings Panel

Appearance: Theme, font family, font size, default view mode
Editor: Word wrap, line numbers, minimap, bracket matching, code folding, syntax highlighting, auto-close brackets, line width
Files: Auto-save, recent files history

Roadmap

See ROADMAP.md for planned features and known issues.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Help Translate

Ferrite is being translated into multiple languages with help from the community.

Help translate Ferrite on Weblate - no coding required!

Quick Start for Contributors

# Fork and clone
git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/Ferrite.git
cd Ferrite
# Create a feature branch
git checkout -b feature/your-feature
# Make changes, then verify
cargo fmt
cargo clippy
cargo test
cargo build
# Commit and push
git commit -m "feat: your feature description"
git push origin feature/your-feature

Tech Stack

Built with Rust 1.70+, egui/eframe for GUI, comrak for Markdown parsing, ropey for rope-based text editing, and syntect for syntax highlighting.

Full tech stack

Component	Technology
Language	Rust 1.70+
GUI Framework	egui 0.28 + eframe 0.28
Text Buffer	ropey 1.6 (rope data structure)
Markdown Parser	comrak 0.22
Syntax Highlighting	syntect 5.1 + two-face 0.5
Git Integration	git2 0.19
Terminal PTY	portable-pty 0.8
Terminal ANSI Parser	vte 0.13
Encoding Detection	encoding_rs 0.8 + chardetng 0.1
Internationalization	rust-i18n 3 + sys-locale 0.3
CLI Parsing	clap 4
File Dialogs	rfd 0.14
Clipboard	arboard 3
File Watching	notify 6
Fuzzy Matching	fuzzy-matcher 0.3
HTTP Client	ureq 2 (update checker)
Hashing	blake3 1.5 (Mermaid caching)
Date/Time	chrono 0.4
CSV Parsing	csv 1.3
Color Palette	palette 0.7
Font Enumeration	font-kit 0.14
Allocator (Windows)	mimalloc 0.1
Allocator (Unix)	tikv-jemallocator 0.6

License

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

Acknowledgments

Libraries & Tools

Libraries

egui - Immediate mode GUI library for Rust
comrak - CommonMark + GFM compatible Markdown parser
syntect - Syntax highlighting library
git2 - libgit2 bindings for Rust
Inter and JetBrains Mono fonts

Development Tools

Claude (Anthropic) - AI assistant that wrote the code
Cursor - AI-powered code editor
Task Master - AI task management for development workflows

Contributors

@wolverin0 — Integrated Terminal Workspace & Productivity Hub (PR #74) 🎉
@abcd-ca — Delete Line, Move Line, macOS file associations (PR #29, #30)
@SteelCrab — CJK character rendering (PR #8)

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
.github		.github
.planning		.planning
.signpath		.signpath
assets		assets
docs		docs
locales		locales
scripts		scripts
src		src
test_md		test_md
wix		wix
.gitignore		.gitignore
CHANGELOG.md		CHANGELOG.md
CONTRIBUTING.md		CONTRIBUTING.md
Cargo.lock		Cargo.lock
Cargo.toml		Cargo.toml
LICENSE		LICENSE
Makefile		Makefile
README.md		README.md
ROADMAP.md		ROADMAP.md
build.rs		build.rs

Latest commit

History

Folders and files

Repository files navigation

Ferrite

Previous False Positives

If You're Still Affected

🤖 AI-Assisted Development

My Role

The Workflow

Open Process

Screenshots

Features

Core Editing

View Modes

Editor Features

MermaidJS Diagrams

CSV/TSV Viewer

Workspace Features

Terminal Workspace

Additional Features

Installation

Pre-built Binaries

MSI Installer (Recommended)

Portable (ZIP)

Debian/Ubuntu/Mint (.deb)

Fedora/RHEL/CentOS (.rpm)

Arch Linux (AUR)

Other Linux (tar.gz)

Prerequisites

Build

Usage

View Modes

Keyboard Shortcuts

File Operations

Navigation

Editing

View

Terminal Workspace

Configuration

Settings Panel

Roadmap

Contributing

Help Translate

Tech Stack

License

Acknowledgments

Libraries

Development Tools

Contributors

Sponsors

About

Resources

Contributing

Stars

Watchers

Forks

Releases

Packages

Contributors

Languages