hed

A small sized(<1MB), hackable terminal editor written in C.

Modal by default, but ships Emacs and VSCode keymaps you can swap to at runtime. Tree-sitter highlights, ripgrep / fzf integrations, window splits, tmux runner pane, OSC 52 clipboard, LSP. Every user-facing feature is a plugin you can rip out, fork, or replace.

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Install in 10 seconds

One line install:

curl -fsSL https://github.com/42dotmk/hed/releases/latest/download/install.sh | bash

and follow the prompts.

The installer asks two things:

1. Source or binary? Binary is faster (one download, ready to run). Source clones the repo into ~/.local/share/hed, builds it, and symlinks hed and tsi into ~/.local/bin — pick this if you want to hack on plugins (or the core editor itself).

2. Optional tools? Offers to download portable static fzf and ripgrep binaries into the same ~/.local/bin, then lets you pick tree-sitter grammars to install for syntax highlighting.

No sudo. No package manager. Everything ends up under ~/.local/.

After install, make sure ~/.local/bin is on your PATH:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

and

Then run hed and you're in.

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Build from source manually

If you want to skip the installer:

git clone --recursive https://github.com/42dotmk/hed.git

cd hed

make

The Makefile will:

• Compile the binary and place it in build/hed
• Download portable fzf and ripgrep into build/bin
• If you have cargo and node, it'll install plugins in plugins/ that need it (copilot-language-server for :copilot login, etc.)
• Symlink build/hed into ~/.local/bin (for convenience)

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Plugins

Every user-facing feature is a plugin in plugins/<name>/.

Plugin	What it does
aishell	Toggle a tmux pane running your AI assistant (Claude, Copilot, etc.) — configurable spawn command
auto_pair	Auto-insert matching brackets and quotes
autosave	Idle/timer autosave to per-cwd cache dir, with recovery prompt on reopen
clipboard	OSC 52 yank to system clipboard (works over SSH)
core	Default : command set (:q, :w, :e, :bn, :fzf, :rg, …)
copilot	GitHub Copilot ghost-text suggestions via copilot-language-server, with a [copilot] alternatives pane
ctags	Ctags integration for symbol navigation
dired	oil.nvim-style directory browser
emacs_keybinds	Modeless Emacs keymap (C-a/C-e, M-x, C-x cluster)
example	Starter template — copy and rename for your own
fmt	:fmt runs an external formatter on the buffer
git	Git integration
hed_themes	Theme management
keymap	:keymap and :keymap-toggle for runtime swap
lsp	LSP client (work in progress)
mail	Mail integration
mail_git_patch	Git patch mail integration
man	Manual pages viewer
markdown	Markdown rendering support
multicursor	Extra cursors that mirror every keypress (:mc_add_below, :mc_add_above)
open	File opening utilities
pickers	Fuzzy pickers
quickfix_preview	Live preview of the quickfix entry under the cursor
reload	:reload rebuilds and execs the new binary
scratch	:scratch ephemeral unnamed buffer
sed	:sed <expr> pipes the buffer through external sed
selectlist	Selection list functionality
session	Save / restore the open-buffer list per cwd
shell	:shell / ! prompt; capture tokens splice stdout into the buffer or yank register
smart_indent	Carry indent onto new lines
tags	Tags integration
tmux	Runner pane integration
translate	Translation support
treesitter	Syntax highlighting; grammars via dlopen
viewmd	Markdown live preview in the browser
vim_keybinds	Default modal Vim keymap
vscode_keybinds	Modeless VSCode keymap (Ctrl+S, shift-arrow selection)
whichkey	While a multi-key chord is in progress, list the candidate completions in a 1–4 column table
yazi	Launch the yazi file manager as a chooser; selected paths open as buffers

Adding your own plugin

1. cp -r plugins/example plugins/myplugin
2. Rename example → myplugin in the source files
3. Add plugin_load(&plugin_myplugin, 1) to src/config.c
4. Build with make

See plugins/example/README.md for the full recipe and the plugin contract.

Out-of-tree plugins

Keep your plugin set anywhere on disk and point the build at it:

make PLUGINS_DIR=$HOME/my-hed-plugins

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Quickstart

hed

A new buffer comes up.

• :e to open files
• :q to quit
• :w to save

Try :fzf to explore the project.

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Features

• Modal editing (Vim-style) by default, but also ships Emacs and VSCode keymaps you can swap to at runtime (use :keymap to switch)

• Tree-sitter syntax highlighting (with grammar via dlopen)

• Fzf integration for fuzzy file and command search

• Tmux runner pane (to test snippets, open REPLs, etc.)

• OSC 52 clipboard (to yank to system clipboard, works over SSH)

• LSP integration (work in progress)

• Split windows, reloads, sessions

• Git, mail, AI shell, file manager (Yazi)

• Auto-save, auto-recover, backup, undo/redo

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Why

Hed is for you if:

• You like to read documentation, not just code
• You want a single binary with no dependencies (except Tmux)
• You like to hack on your editor, not just use it
• You are a plugin developer or plugin consumer
• You want to reinvent the editor or tune your own

The editor was built for one thing: to be a framework and a template, not a feature-rich text editor.

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Files

plugins/             # all user-facing functionality (see catalogue above)

• main.c — Entry point
• editor.c — Core editor logic
• config.c — Initializer, plugins
• keybinds.c — Key mappings
• commands.c — Command handling
• buffer.c — Buffer operations
• hooks.c — Event system
• terminal.c — ANSI renderering, Tmux
• utils/ — Various helpers (search, fzf, etc.)

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Plugins Directory

plugins/
├── aishell/             # AI shell (like Claude, Copilot)
├── auto_pair/           # Auto-insert matching brackets and quotes
├── autosave/            # Idle/timer autosave
├── clipboard/           # OSC 52 yank to system clipboard
├── core/                # Default `:` commands
├── copilot/             # GitHub Copilot
├── ctags/               # Ctags integration
├── dired/               # oil.nvim-style directory browser
├── emacs_keybinds/      # Emacs keymap
├── example/             # Plugin template
├── fmt/                 # External formatter
├── git/                 # Git integration
├── hed_themes/          # Theme management
├── keymap/              # Runtime keymap swap
├── lsp/                 # LSP client (experimental)
├── mail/                # Mail integration
├── mail_git_patch/      # Git patch mail
├── man/                 # Manual page viewer
├── markdown/            # Markdown rendering
├── multicursor/         # Extra cursors
├── open/                # File opening utilities
├── pickers/             # Fuzzy pickers
├── quickfix_preview/    # Quickfix preview
├── reload/              # Reload binary
├── scratch/             # Scratch buffer
├── sed/                 # External sed
├── selectlist/          # Selection list
├── session/             # Session management
├── shell/               # Shell integration
├── smart_indent/        # Carry indent onto new lines
├── tags/                # Tags integration
├── tmux/                # Tmux runner pane
├── translate/           # Translation support
├── treesitter/          # Tree-sitter syntax highlighting
├── viewmd/              # Markdown preview
├── vim_keybinds/        # Vim keymap
├── vscode_keybinds/     # VSCode keymap
├── whichkey/            # Which-key tooltip
└── yazi/                # Yazi file manager

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Configuration

To customize, edit src/config.c:

void config_init() {
  plugin_load(&plugin_core,             1);
  plugin_load(&plugin_vim_keybinds,     1);
  plugin_load(&plugin_emacs_keybinds,   0);  // registered, swappable
  plugin_load(&plugin_vscode_keybinds,  0);
  plugin_load(&plugin_treesitter,       1);
  plugin_load(&plugin_clipboard,        1);
  plugin_load(&plugin_dired,            1);
  plugin_load(&plugin_tmux,             1);
  plugin_load(&plugin_aishell,          1);
  plugin_load(&plugin_copilot,          1);
  plugin_load(&plugin_example,          0);  // registered, swappable

  // Add your own plugins here.
  // plugin_load(&plugin_myplugin, 1);

  // Personal overrides — last-write-wins, beats plugin defaults.
  // cmapn(" ff", "fzf");  // override plugin keymap
  // cmapn(" q", "quit");  // override plugin keymap
}

Keybindings

All keybindings are user-overridable. Default is:

• :keymap to switch between Vim, Emacs, VSCode
• :plugins to list currently loaded plugins
• :reload to rebuild and exec the new binary

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FAQ

Can I use this with a LSP?

Yes. The LSP client is in plugins/lsp/ and is not yet enabled by default.

How do I override a keybinding?

In src/config.c, after plugin_load statements, use cmapn(" key", "command") to override or map keys.

How do I write my own plugin?

See the plugins/example/README.md to get started.

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Related Projects

• heds — A simple, hackable terminal web browser to complement hed
• heds — A web browser for the terminal to complement hed
• hed-fzf — Fzf integration for hed
• hed-shell — Shell integration for hed
• hed-tmux — Tmux integration for hed

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License

MIT