Kayls

Terminal Studio Code — A terminal-based IDE

Kayls is a terminal-based IDE with a VS Code-inspired layout. It runs in any terminal — desktop, SSH, Termux, or Acode — and uses a single lightweight Rust binary.

Status

Kayls-s1.0.3 — Added keybinding mode switcher (Vim/Easy) with themed popup. Smoother horizontal scroll, config file, theme persistence, auto-pair, auto-indent, and themes. Unstable, in development.

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

Features

• Editor — syntax highlighting via tree-sitter, undo/redo, copy/paste, code folding
• Auto-pair — brackets, quotes, and angle brackets auto-close
• Auto-indent — indentation follows code structure
• File tree — recursive, expand/collapse folders, colored by type, vertical & horizontal scroll
• File management — create file/folder, delete with confirmation
• Focus system — switch between editor and explorer
• Keybinding Modes — Toggle between Vim (modal) and Easy (VS Code) via Esc then m
• Themes — Vesper (default), Gruvbox, Dracula, Nord
• Theme-aware UI — tab bar, focus border, file tree, and popups follow the active theme
• Soft palette — comfortable for long coding sessions
• Config file — ~/.config/kayls/config.toml with theme and keybinding persistence
• Command mode — Vim-style commands (Esc then key)
• Multi-language — Rust, Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Go, C/C++, TOML, JSON, Markdown, HTML, CSS, Bash
• Lightweight — ~2.4 MB binary, fast startup
• Portable — runs on desktop, SSH, Termux, Acode

Install

Quick Install (Linux, macOS, Android/Termux, Proot)

The fastest way to install Kayls is using the automated install script:

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

This script auto-detects your platform and installs the appropriate binary.

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

The recommended way to install Kayls on Debian-based systems. The repository is automatically updated on every release.

# 1. Add the GPG key
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

# 2. Add the repository
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

# 3. Update and install
sudo apt update
sudo apt install kayls

Linux — Direct .deb (Manual Download)

# x86_64
curl -LO https://github.com/iyjaa/Kayls/releases/latest/download/kayls_1.0.3_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i kayls_1.0.3_amd64.deb

# ARM64
curl -LO https://github.com/iyjaa/Kayls/releases/latest/download/kayls_1.0.3_arm64.deb
sudo dpkg -i kayls_1.0.3_arm64.deb

macOS (Intel & Apple Silicon)

# Apple Silicon
curl -L https://github.com/iyjaa/Kayls/releases/latest/download/kayls-aarch64-apple-darwin.tar.gz -o kayls.tar.gz

# Intel Mac
curl -L https://github.com/iyjaa/Kayls/releases/latest/download/kayls-x86_64-apple-darwin.tar.gz -o kayls.tar.gz

tar xzf kayls.tar.gz
sudo mv kayls /usr/local/bin/
kayls --version

Android (Termux / Acode, ARM64)

curl -L https://github.com/iyjaa/Kayls/releases/latest/download/kayls-aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz -o kayls.tar.gz
tar xzf kayls.tar.gz
chmod +x kayls
mv kayls $PREFIX/bin/
kayls --version

Android — Proot-Distro (Ubuntu/Debian)

If you are using proot-distro inside Termux or Acode, you are already root inside the proot environment. Do not use sudo, as it is not installed by default.

# 1. Install prerequisites
apt update && apt install -y curl gnupg

# 2. Add the GPG key
mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://iyjaa.github.io/Kayls-repo/apt-key.asc | gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/kayls.gpg

# 3. Add the repository
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/kayls.gpg] https://iyjaa.github.io/Kayls-repo stable main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kayls.list

# 4. Update and install
apt update
apt install -y kayls

Build from source

Requirements: Rust 1.70+ and Git.

git clone https://github.com/iyjaa/Kayls
cd Kayls
cargo build --release
sudo cp target/release/kayls /usr/local/bin/

Note: Kayls uses a custom fork of ratatui-code-editor (with arboard removed for Android compatibility, plus auto-pair and auto-indent). The fork is pulled automatically via git-fetch-with-cli.

Usage

# Open a file
kayls Cargo.toml

# Open without a file
kayls

# Show version
kayls --version

# Show help
kayls --help

Configuration

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

[editor]
theme = "vesper"
show_explorer = true
keybinding = "vim" # or "easy"

Themes

Available themes:

Theme	Description
Vesper	Default — soft green, orange, purple
Gruvbox	Warm, retro — green, yellow, mint
Dracula	Dark, soft — green, pink, purple
Nord	Cool, minimal — green, blue, cyan

Switch theme with Esc then t. Theme is saved to the config file.

Keybindings

Kayls supports two keybinding modes:

1. Vim (Modal): Default. Press Esc to enter command mode.
2. Easy (VS Code): Direct Ctrl+S, Ctrl+O, Ctrl+Q, Ctrl+E shortcuts without Esc.

Switch mode with Esc then m. The selected mode is saved to the config file.

For a complete list of keybindings, see KEYBINDS.md.

Project Structure

Kayls is a Rust workspace with 4 crates:

Crate	Purpose
kayls-core	FileTree, Document, Config
kayls-tui	App state, UI rendering
kayls-editor	Forked editor widget
kayls	Main binary, CLI parsing

Documentation

• PRD — Product requirements
• Roadmap — Feature progress
• Versioning — Version scheme
• Keybindings — All shortcuts and clipboard alternatives
• Issues — Summary of GitHub issues
• Contributing — How to contribute

Contributing

Kayls is open for contributions. The workflow:

1. Discuss first — open an issue before coding
2. Get approval — wait for maintainer feedback
3. Fork & branch — feature/your-feature or fix/your-bug
4. Submit PR — reference the issue
5. Review — maintainer reviews and merges

See docs/CONTRIBUTING.md for details.

Areas that need help:

• Snippets (user custom)
• Multi-tabs
• Search in file
• Go to line
• Bug fixes and documentation

License

MIT