red

The modal editor for the agent era.

Fast, familiar editing with modern code intelligence and a safer way to work with agents. One self-contained Rust binary. No required configuration. Your files stay yours.

Website · Download · Getting started · Documentation · Community

The current documented release is v0.6.0.

Husk language

The source tree contains the extracted Husk embedding API, standalone CLI, local package resolver, and portable WebAssembly Component extension runtime. Start with the language and embedding guide. The research and implementation plan and card-by-card status explain the dynamic Rust-crate design, completed work, and remaining release-hardening tasks.

Install

Homebrew

brew install codersauce/tap/red

macOS and Linux

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -fsSL https://getred.dev/install.sh | sh

The installer selects the correct macOS or x86_64 glibc Linux archive, verifies its published SHA-256 checksum, installs to ~/.local/bin, and runs Red's built-in self-check.

Windows

irm https://getred.dev/install.ps1 | iex

The PowerShell installer verifies the release checksum, installs to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Red\bin, and adds that directory to your user PATH.

To pin a release or choose another directory:

RED_VERSION=0.6.0 RED_INSTALL_DIR="$HOME/bin" \
  sh -c "$(curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -fsSL https://getred.dev/install.sh)"

You can also download a prebuilt archive or build from source. Red's editor, default configuration, themes, and plugins are bundled into the executable.

Agent support is optional. It requires Codex CLI 0.144.1 or newer and a completed codex login.

Why Red

• Stay in flow. Vim-inspired modes, motions, text objects, splits, and pickers are paired with tree-sitter highlighting and asynchronous language tools.
• Find the signal. Jump to files, commands, symbols, definitions, references, diagnostics, or Git changes without leaving the keyboard.
• Make it yours. Embedded Husk plugins power the file tree, project search, Git workspace, and theme browser. Defaults work immediately; configuration remains optional.
• See the work happen. Red gives Codex editor context, including unsaved buffers, and follows each tool call by revealing the file and edit before it is applied and saved.
• Work reliably. Atomic recovery works across platforms, and Unix detach/attach sessions preserve buffers, plugins, LSP state, and running agents across terminal or SSH disconnects.

First five minutes

Open a file:

red path/to/file

The first interactive launch offers a guided tour, release highlights, and an immediate exit into the editor. The tour uses a disposable practice buffer and safe Git/agent demonstrations; reopen it with :welcome or :tutorial. Starter configuration remains optional: embedded defaults, plugins, and themes are enough to begin editing.

See Getting started for editing, navigation, configuration, language servers, Git, CLI, and troubleshooting guidance. The Vim compatibility matrix is the precise, versioned behavior contract.

A visible agent workflow

Agent edits happen through Red's editor transaction and save paths while you follow along in the active buffer.

1. Ask. Open the agent with Space A; Red includes a bounded selection or cursor excerpt, unsaved contents, and relevant diagnostics.
2. Follow. Red reveals the target file and cursor before each bounded tool call, then briefly pauses so the change is readable.
3. Continue. Revision-checked edits are attributed to the Codex session, applied to the visible buffer, and saved to disk through Red.

The integration uses the Codex app-server directly and supports persistent conversation, queued follow-ups, live tool progress, and explicit session controls. Ignored, out-of-workspace, binary, and common secret files are excluded from context. Read the agent workflow and safety contract for prerequisites, limits, commands, and failure behavior.

For a smaller blast radius, press Space i on a line or visual selection. Inline assist opens beside the target, gives an ephemeral Codex thread only the selected text and bounded surroundings, and accepts only one complete replacement. The result is an unsaved, agent-attributed editor transaction; keep it, undo it, refine it in the same popup, or escalate the changed range to the full Agent panel.

What Red ships today

The current release includes:

• Normal, Insert, Visual, Visual Line, Visual Block, and Command modes with expanding Vim motion and editing compatibility
• tree-sitter highlighting for Rust, Markdown, JavaScript, TypeScript/TSX, JSON, TOML, YAML, Bash, PowerShell, Lua, and Husk
• a first-party Husk language server plus built-in LSP defaults for Rust, TypeScript/JavaScript, Markdown, JSON, TOML, YAML, and Lua
• command and keymap discovery, fuzzy files, buffer navigation, symbols, references, project search, and diagnostics
• native Git gutter signs, hunk actions, and a full-screen workspace for staging, commits, branches, remotes, stashes, logs, and rebases
• an embedded Husk runtime with bundled file tree, search, Git, progress, inlay-hint, symbol, theme, and agent plugins
• a branded startup splash, the Red theme, accessible selection and cursor contrast, and optimized rendering hot paths
• atomic crash recovery on every platform and detachable sessions on macOS and Linux

See the latest release notes or the complete changelog for details.

After installing a new version, Red opens a themed What’s new panel once. Reopen it whenever you like with :whats-new, :changelog, or the command palette. Release notes are bundled for offline use and refreshed from the exact matching GitHub release in the background.

Configuration

Red layers your settings over embedded defaults, so a configuration file can contain only the values you want to change:

# ~/.config/red/config.toml
theme = "red.json"
scrolloff = 8
# Disable the automatic release panel or its optional GitHub refresh:
# show_whats_new = false
# fetch_release_notes = false

[search]
ignorecase = true
smartcase = true

[keys.normal]
"Ctrl-s" = "Save"

The commented default_config.toml documents every setting that ships with Red. Custom themes go in ~/.config/red/themes/, and custom Husk plugins go in ~/.config/red/plugins/. Run red --runtime-files to see every visible runtime asset and its source.

Add new highlighting, exact filenames, comment syntax, indentation, and language servers through a unified [languages.<id>] configuration or an installable language pack. Native Tree-sitter grammars require explicit digest-bound trust; :languages reload applies validated changes without restarting the editor. See the language extensions guide.

Plugins and themes

Bundled plugins and themes are embedded in the binary and upgrade with Red. They are parsed and typechecked against the versioned Husk host contract before activation; an incompatible plugin is quarantined without preventing editor startup.

You can disable bundled plugins, configure them in config.toml, or eject a copy for customization:

red --eject plugins/fidget.hk
red --eject themes/red.json

An ejected asset shadows the bundled copy until you delete it. See the plugin system guide, host API, and bundled plugin source for details and examples.

Sessions

On macOS and Linux:

red --detach path/to/file
red --detach=work path/to/project
red --attach work

Leave a detachable session with Ctrl-\. Read Detachable sessions and Session recovery for lifecycle, recovery, and platform details.

Docum