Windows · macOS · core is free, no account
A multi-gigabyte file opens instantly and with almost no memory. The native C++23 core does not depend on the interface, and every format — from CSV to EPUB — is a plugin on top of it.
It is not about the gigabytes. It is about an editor that does not argue with your file.
who it is for
Most editors are either fast but code-only, or omnivorous but heavy. The aims at the intersection.
.clangd is generated automatically.| ts | shard | op | rows | ms | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 994,112 | 21:14:02.118 | 07 | flush | 2,048 | 18.4 |
| 994,113 | 21:14:02.140 | 08 | flush | 2,048 | 17.1 |
| 994,114 | 21:14:02.166 | 08 | queue | 8,412 | — |
| 994,115 | 21:14:02.201 | 03 | rebalance | 2,048 | 57.0 |
| 994,116 | 21:14:02.244 | 03 | checksum | 44,907 | 0.4 |
| 994,117 | 21:14:02.288 | 03 | retry | 44,907 | 42.6 |
| 994,118 | 21:14:02.301 | 03 | flush | 2,048 | 19.8 |
| 994,119 | 21:14:02.334 | 04 | flush | 2,048 | 16.9 |
| 994,120 | 21:14:02.360 | 04 | checkpoint | — | 3.2 |
| 994,121 | 21:14:02.377 | 05 | flush | 2,048 | 16.4 |
We are used to thinking that the growth of a system is bounded by the resources put into it. In practice the boundary is set less by the amount of a resource than by the speed at which the system can redistribute it.
From this follows a rule that is inconvenient for planning: the bottleneck is almost never located where the most expensive node sits.
how it works
From opening to commit to plugin. Scroll — the editor window on the right follows the text.
Files from 100 MB are memory-mapped: pages are faulted in on access and the original is never copied. The line index is built in the background, so jumping to a line and the cursor position are instant while the interface never stalls.
mmap · background line index · normal / largetext / hugeslice modes
Large-file modes →The buffer is a persistent Piece Table: text is not rewritten, it is assembled from pieces. Hence multiple carets and column selection without lag, and a practically free undo history — instant, and almost free in memory.
piece table · undo/redo snapshots · soft wrap with lazy layout
Editing features →Highlighting is tree-sitter with incremental parsing: an edit re-parses only the affected region. Semantics come over LSP — C/C++ diagnostics via clangd, enabled on demand. Search and replace run on RE2, including project-wide search.
tree-sitter · lsp / clangd · re2 · unreal engine
Why we do not reinvent engines →Change markers next to line numbers, a Source Control panel with commits and per-hunk staging, side-by-side diff and an inline peek at the HEAD version. All on libgit2, with no trip to the terminal.
libgit2 · per-hunk staging · side-by-side diff · inline peek
Working with changes →The core is small and GUI-independent; everything else attaches through an API in plain C ABI. A plugin stays compatible across compilers and can be written in something other than C++. Version 0.4.x ships eight of them.
c abi · sdk and plugin template · no core rebuild
SDK and plugin template →formats
Every format is a plugin on top of the core. Nothing is “converted to text”: a table stays a table, a book stays a book.
Multi-gigabyte files: mmap, background indexing, honest modes.
Table mode, rainbow columns, pinned header.
Markdown preview with Mermaid diagrams.
tree-sitter highlighting, C/C++ diagnostics via clangd.
WYSIWYG reading and layout: sheet, contents, serif typography.
Rich documents: headings, lists, links, images.
Viewing with page thumbnails and text-layer extraction.
Built-in image viewer with correct SVG rendering.
output
Not a feature list, but files you can hand to another person. Every format is open and export is always available.
details
reliability
No cloud, no account, no sync: The works with files on disk. Saving is atomic — a crash or a power cut during a write will not leave a torn file; the disk holds either the whole old version or the whole new one.
Crash-safe writes: the file is replaced whole rather than overwritten in place.
An open file will not be silently damaged by a second window or a second process.
If the file changed on disk, the editor says so and leaves the choice to you.
Nothing proprietary: everything you make is readable by other programs.
for plugin authors
The plugin API is plain C ABI, so an extension stays compatible across compiler builds and can be written in something other than C++. The core knows nothing about the GUI.
No requirements on compiler or runtime. Rust, C, C++ — your choice.
A ready plugin skeleton: format, highlighting, theme or tool.
A plugin attaches to a shipped build of The and is switched on with a toggle.
plaintext, markdown, csv, json, cpp, clangd, ripgrep, git — as reference.
honest status
The current line is 0.4.x. Everything described above works today. Below is what is planned after the public release — with no dates and no prices, because there are none yet.
what changed
dates and build numbers will be filled in from the repository at publication
Full change list →questions
The core and the eight bundled plugins are free, with no account and no registration. Paid options — a Pro model, a plugin store — are planned for later: there are no prices or dates yet, and we will not name them before release.
Yes, and the editor shows you why: the file is memory-mapped, the line index is built in the background, and for large files an explicit mode kicks in — LargeText or HugeSlice — in which some heavy features are deliberately switched off. The editor states this in the status bar instead of quietly slowing down.
The is a native application in C++23 and Qt 6, with no web layer at its base. The core is fully GUI-independent and built around a persistent Piece Table, mmap and a snapshot model — that is what makes it fast on very large files. We do not reinvent proven components: highlighting is tree-sitter, semantics are LSP, regular expressions are RE2, git is libgit2.
No. The editor works with files on disk: no cloud, no sync, no mandatory account. All formats are open and export is always available — if you leave, your files remain readable in other programs.
Windows and macOS are supported today. The core does not depend on platform GUI, so there is no technical obstacle, but no public Linux build exists in 0.4.x — and we will not promise a date.
Yes, the 0.4.x line is moving — the change list is public and every version is dated. We separate what is done from what is planned: anything that does not work yet lives under “planned”, not under “features”.
0.5.0 · Windows and macOS
installer for Windows · .dmg for macOS · no account