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.
- zero_shift
I'm not going to criticise you for using Claude to build this. Honestly, for me as a consumer, it is a neutral thing provided the software is high quality
What I would ask is this: why should I use your software when I could generate my own?
For a relatively low cost in tokens, I could use Cursor & Fable 5.1 to generate a decent text editor of my own, if I constrained it to use high quality dependencies
So this is kind of the real quandary of OSS development: is there really any point creating tools for developers any more?
- _ix
While they play up the keyboard-driven functionality, they showcase a pointer-driven workflow in the demonstration gif. Curious choice, no?
- __fst__
Since going through the hassle of learning vim I can't use anything else anymore.
And for the use case of
"I built txt because I spend most of my time in the terminal, and switching to a different tool just to make a quick edit always felt like friction I did not want. 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."
it's literally only a handful of vim commands and shortcuts you need.
- 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.”
- rckt
I can understand startups relying on AI tools to test out the ideas. But personal/hobby projects? Feels weird. This is not the place to go fast. Take your time, enjoy the process, learn/make things.