txt: A fast terminal text editor that opens instantly and skips the ceremony
Txt: A fast, keyboard-driven terminal text editor for engineers
txt is a new terminal editor built for engineers who want to edit files without leaving the terminal. It opens instantly, has no modal confusion or mandatory setup, and includes tree-sitter syntax highlighting, code folding, fuzzy file picking, multi-cursor editing, LSP support, Git integration, and keyboard macros. The design goal is simple: editing should feel like thought. Install via Homebrew, curl, or build from source with Rust 1.88+.
The design principle behind txt is simple: editing should feel like thought.
- eviks
> GUI editors are the opposite problem — they are powerful, but reaching for the mouse to edit a config file or fix a typo breaks your flow.
You don't need to reach for the mouse, are you not aware you can launch, switch apps, and type just with your keyboard?
But also, how is your demo using a mouse of your whole selling point is anti-mouse?
- sgarland
> The editors that live in the terminal either have steep learning curves built around modal paradigms, or they are too limited to be genuinely useful.
> txt is not trying to replace your main IDE. It is the editor you reach for when you just need to edit something
These two are in conflict. If you just want to edit something, and don’t know [n]vi[m] or emacs, then use nano. If you want line numbers, code folding, syntax highlighting, etc. then it sounds like you should spend the time to learn a more powerful editor.
Honestly, vi isn’t that hard to learn the absolute basics, and you should spend the 15 minutes to do so, because it’s practically guaranteed to be available everywhere. :wq and i are about all you need to “just edit something.”
- _ix
While they play up the keyboard-driven functionality, they showcase a pointer-driven workflow in the demonstration gif. Curious choice, no?