Kayls

Terminal Studio Code — A terminal-based IDE.

Kayls is a lightweight, fast terminal-based IDE written in Rust. It runs in any terminal.

Status

Kayls-v1.0.10 — Progressive search with 10k-line scanning for instant feedback, search logic refactored into search.rs, release script now creates PR, and installer strict checksum mode.

See docs/ROADMAP.md for feature progress and docs/VERSIONING.md for versioning.

Features

• Editor — syntax highlighting via tree-sitter, undo/redo, copy/paste, code folding.
• Auto-pair & Auto-indent — brackets and quotes auto-close.
• File tree — recursive, lazy-loaded, with dynamic theme-aware gradient colors.
• Keybinding Modes — Easy Mode (VS Code-style) and Command Mode (Vim-inspired) via Esc then m.
• File Picker — Fuzzy search popup (Ctrl+P) to open files quickly.
• Search — In-file search with Ctrl+F.
• Read Mode — Ctrl+R to scroll freely without cursor interference.
• Themes — Vesper (default), Gruvbox, Dracula, Nord.
• Welcome Screen — native ASCII mascot, centered and themed.

Install

Quick Install (Linux, macOS, Android/Termux)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/iyjaa/Kayls/main/install.sh | sh

Debian / Ubuntu / Linux Mint / Raspberry Pi OS (APT)

sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://iyjaa.github.io/Kayls-repo/apt-key.asc | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/kayls.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/kayls.gpg] https://iyjaa.github.io/Kayls-repo stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kayls.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt install kayls

Android — Proot-Distro (Ubuntu/Debian)

apt update && apt install -y curl gnupg
mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://iyjaa.github.io/Kayls-repo/apt-key.asc | gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/kayls.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/kayls.gpg] https://iyjaa.github.io/Kayls-repo stable main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kayls.list
apt update && apt install -y kayls

Configuration

Kayls reads settings from ~/.config/kayls/config.toml. The file is created automatically when you change the theme or keybinding mode.

The easiest way to edit: Press Ctrl+P, type config.toml, press Enter, edit, then Ctrl+S. No terminal needed.

[editor]
theme = "vesper"
show_explorer = true
keybinding = "vim" # or "easy"
mouse_capture = false # set to true for desktop mouse support

Keybindings & Modes

Kayls supports two distinct modes, switchable via Esc then m:

1. Easy Mode (VS Code-style): Direct shortcuts like Ctrl+S, Ctrl+O, Ctrl+Q.
2. Command Mode (Vim-inspired): Press Esc to enter a command menu, then press a single key.

Note: This is not a 1:1 clone of Vim Normal Mode; it is a simplified command palette.

For a complete list, see KEYBINDS.md.

Documentation

• Roadmap — Feature progress.
• Versioning — Version scheme.
• Keybindings — Complete shortcut list.
• AI Context — Context pack for AI assistants.
• Contributing — Branching and integration contract.

License

MIT