TTT — Terminal Text Tool

A fully-featured code editor that lives in the terminal. Not a simplified terminal editor — a real alternative to VS Code, Zed, and Sublime that happens to run in your terminal. Single Go binary, zero config.

Installation

Prerequisites

Git — required for source control features
ripgrep (rg) — required for workspace search

Quick Install (Linux / macOS)

curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/eugenioenko/ttt/main/install.sh | sh

This downloads the latest release binary for your OS/architecture and installs it to /usr/local/bin. To install to a different directory:

INSTALL_DIR=~/.local/bin curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/eugenioenko/ttt/main/install.sh | sh

Homebrew (macOS / Linux)

Coming soon — a Homebrew tap is planned. In the meantime, use the install script or download a binary from Releases.

Download Binary

Pre-built binaries for Linux, macOS, and Windows are available on the Releases page. Download the one for your platform, make it executable, and put it in your PATH.

Go Install

Requires Go 1.18 or newer:

go install github.com/eugenioenko/ttt/cmd/ttt@latest

This installs the ttt binary to your $GOPATH/bin (or $HOME/go/bin by default). Make sure that directory is in your PATH.

From Source

git clone https://github.com/eugenioenko/ttt.git
cd ttt
make build

This produces an optimized binary at bin/ttt. Add it to your PATH or copy it somewhere convenient:

cp bin/ttt ~/.local/bin/

Features

Editor

Syntax highlighting via chroma — supports hundreds of languages with automatic detection
Bracket matching with highlighted pairs
Find and Replace — inline find bar (Ctrl+F) with match navigation, replace bar (Ctrl+H) with replace-one and replace-all
Go to Line (Ctrl+G)
Selection, copy/cut/paste (Ctrl+C/X/V) with system clipboard support
Undo/redo (Ctrl+Z/Y) via a command-pattern undo stack
.editorconfig support — indent size is picked up automatically per file
Indent detection — auto-detects indentation from file content; manual override via the status bar indent picker
Mouse support — click to position cursor, click tabs, drag sidebar/panel dividers, right-click context menus
Auto-completion — LSP-powered completions with live filtering, debounce, and auto-import support
Signature help — parameter hints shown automatically on ( and ,
Diagnostics — inline curly underline squiggles, problems panel, hover popup, and status bar counts
Document formatting — format document, format selection, and format-on-save via LSP (command palette)
Git blame — inline blame info for the current line shown in the status bar (author, relative time, summary)
Line numbers with current-line highlighting
Integrated terminal emulator via vt10x — multiple tabs with vertical inner tab bar, full VT escape sequence support
Bottom panel — tabbed panel with integrated terminal and problems list
Diff-based renderer for efficient terminal updates (double-buffered cell grid)

Multi-Folder Workspaces

Open multiple project directories in a single session. Each root appears as a collapsible group in the explorer, search, and changes panels.

ttt                             # opens the current directory
ttt /path/to/dir                # opens that directory as the workspace
ttt /path/to/file.go            # opens the file; workspace is the git repo root
                                # (falls back to the file's parent dir if not in a repo)
ttt dir1 dir2                   # opens multiple folders as a multi-root workspace
ttt --workspace project.ttt     # loads a saved workspace file

Workspace files use the .ttt extension and store a list of folders as relative paths:

{
  "folders": [
    { "path": "." },
    { "path": "../other-project" }
  ]
}

Save Workspace As... from the File menu to create a workspace file
Add Folder to Workspace and Remove Folder from Workspace via the command palette
The git branch in the status bar switches automatically based on which workspace folder the active file belongs to

File Explorer

Multi-root file tree in the sidebar (Ctrl+Shift+E). When multiple folders are open, each root is shown as a collapsible group.

Directories sorted before files, both alphabetically
Expand/collapse with Enter or arrow keys
Right-click context menu: New File, New Folder, Rename, Delete
Sidebar actions button for Refresh and New File

Search

Sidebar search panel (Ctrl+Shift+F) powered by ripgrep. Results are grouped by file with match counts.

Smart-case matching by default
Include/Exclude glob filters — click the toggle arrow to reveal filter inputs (e.g. *.go, vendor/**)
Tab between search, include, and exclude inputs
Searches across all workspace folders simultaneously
Click a result to jump to the file and line

Git Integration

Changes panel in the sidebar (Ctrl+Shift+G) with full staging workflow.

Staging:

Spacebar — toggle stage/unstage on the selected file
a — stage all unstaged files
u — unstage all staged files
+ button on the "Changes" section header — stage all files in that section
- button on the "Staged" section header — unstage all files in that section

Committing:

Inline commit message input at the top of each group
Type a message and press Enter to commit all staged files

Remote operations:

Pull, Push, Sync (pull then push) from the sidebar actions button
Per-repo actions via the group header menu button in multi-root workspaces

Diff view:

Select a changed file to open a diff with syntax highlighting layered on diff backgrounds
Untracked files open directly in the editor

Multi-root:

Changes are grouped by repository, each with its own collapsible Staged/Changes sections
Each group has a commit input and a menu button for pull/push/sync on that specific repo
File status badges: M (modified), A (added), D (deleted), R (renamed), U (untracked)

Command Palette

Ctrl+Shift+P — opens the command palette with all available commands
Ctrl+P — opens quick file open (searches all files across workspace folders)
Type > in quick-open mode to switch to command mode
Delete the > in command mode to switch to file mode
Menu shortcuts resolve dynamically from your keybindings

Bottom Panel

The bottom panel (Ctrl+J to toggle) contains the Terminal, Problems, and References tabs.

Problems tab — lists all LSP diagnostics (errors, warnings) grouped by file; click to jump to location
References tab — shows results from Find All References; click to jump to location
Terminal tab — integrated terminal emulator (see below)

Integrated Terminal

Built-in terminal emulator. Press Ctrl+` to toggle the terminal panel.

Ctrl+K T to spawn a new terminal tab
Multiple terminal tabs with a vertical inner tab bar on the left edge
Full VT escape sequence support via hinshun/vt10x and PTY management via creack/pty
True color (24-bit) and 256-color rendering
When the terminal is focused, all keys go to the PTY except Ctrl+` (to toggle the panel)
Terminal shell and scrollback are configurable in settings.json
Terminal ANSI colors are theme-configurable via the terminal field in theme.json
Close all terminals from the panel actions menu

LSP (Language Server Protocol)

TTT has built-in LSP support for language-aware editing features. Install a language server and TTT detects it automatically — zero configuration needed. If a server isn't installed, TTT shows a brief notification with a link to install instructions.

Built-in Language Support

Language	Server	Install
Go	gopls	`go install golang.org/x/tools/gopls@latest`
TypeScript / JavaScript	typescript-language-server	`npm i -g typescript typescript-language-server`
Python	pyright	`pip install pyright`
C / C++	clangd	`sudo apt install clangd`
Rust	rust-analyzer	`rustup component add rust-analyzer`
Vue	vue-language-server	`npm i -g @vue/language-server`
Svelte	svelteserver	`npm i -g svelte-language-server`
CSS / SCSS / Less	vscode-css-language-server	`npm i -g vscode-langservers-extracted`
HTML	vscode-html-language-server	`npm i -g vscode-langservers-extracted`
JSON	vscode-json-language-server	`npm i -g vscode-langservers-extracted`
YAML	yaml-language-server	`npm i -g yaml-language-server`
Bash	bash-language-server	`npm i -g bash-language-server`
Lua	lua-language-server	LuaLS releases
Zig	zls	ZLS releases
Kotlin	kotlin-language-server	Releases
Java	jdtls	Eclipse JDT.LS
Ruby	ruby-lsp	`gem install ruby-lsp`
Dart	dart language-server	Included with Dart SDK
Elixir	elixir-ls	Releases
PHP	phpactor	`composer global require phpactor/phpactor`
Terraform	terraform-ls	Releases
Markdown	marksman	Releases
Tailwind CSS	tailwindcss-language-server	`npm i -g @tailwindcss/language-server`
Docker	docker-langserver	`npm i -g dockerfile-language-server-nodejs`

You can also add custom servers or override built-in ones in ~/.config/ttt/settings.json. See the LSP docs for details.

To disable LSP entirely: "lsp": { "enabled": false } in settings.

Supported Features

Feature	Keybinding	Description
Autocomplete	Ctrl+U	Trigger completion at cursor position
Signature Help	(automatic)	Parameter hints shown on `(` and `,`
Go to Definition	F12	Jump to the definition of the symbol under the cursor
Go to Implementation	Shift+F12	Jump to the implementation of the symbol under the cursor
Go to Type Definition	(command palette)	Jump to the type definition of the symbol under the cursor
Find References	(command palette)	Find all references to the symbol under the cursor (results in bottom panel REFERENCES tab)
Rename Symbol	F2	Rename the symbol under the cursor across all files in the workspace
Hover	Ctrl+K I	Show type information and documentation for the symbol under the cursor
Format Document	(command palette)	Format the entire document using the language server
Format Selection	(command palette)	Format the selected range
Diagnostics	(automatic)	Error/warning squiggles inline, status bar summary, hover popup

Auto-Completion

Completions trigger automatically as you type with a configurable debounce (default 150ms, set autocomplete.debounce in settings.json). The completion list filters live as you continue typing, and supports completionItem/resolve for additional details and auto-imports.

Diagnostics

The LSP server publishes diagnostics (errors, warnings, hints) which are displayed as:

Inline squiggles — curly underlines on the affected range, colored by severity
Problems panel — a tab in the bottom panel listing all diagnostics grouped by file
Hover popup — hover over a squiggle to see the diagnostic message
Status bar — error/warning counts shown in the status bar

Formatting

Format Document — formats the entire file via the language server (available from the command palette)
Format Selection — formats only the selected range (available from the command palette)
Format on Save — enable formatOnSave in settings.json to auto-format when saving

References & Rename

Find All References — search for all usages of the symbol under the cursor; results appear in the bottom panel REFERENCES tab (available from the command palette)
Rename Symbol (F2) — rename the symbol under the cursor across all files in the workspace. Applies multi-file workspace edits automatically. Enable lsp.saveOnRename in settings.json to auto-save affected files after renaming.

Tabs

Tabs follow a pin-on-reclick model similar to VS Code:

Opening a file from the explorer or search replaces the current unpinned tab
Clicking on an already-open tab (or opening the same file again) pins it
Ctrl+W to close a tab, Ctrl+PgDn/PgUp to switch tabs
Right-click a tab for Close, Close Others, Close All
Tab bar actions button for Close All

Theming

TTT supports fully customizable themes via JSON files. You can change every color in the editor — from syntax highlighting and diff backgrounds to the sidebar, tabs, status bar, terminal ANSI colors, borders, and semantic colors (success, danger, warning).

Built-in Themes

10 themes ship in the sample-config/ directory:

Aurora
Bubblegum
Default Dark
Default Light
Hotline
Monokai
One Dark
Solarized Dark
Solarized Light
Virtru Dark

Switching Themes

Press Ctrl+K Ctrl+T (or use View > Switch Theme from the menu bar) to open the theme picker with a live preview.

Customizing

To create a custom theme, copy one of the built-in theme files to your config directory and edit it:

cp sample-config/theme.monokai.json ~/.config/ttt/theme.json

Restart TTT (or switch themes) to pick up changes.

To use your terminal's native colors instead of the theme's, set foreground/background to empty strings in your theme file.

Menu Bar

File, Edit, Selection, View, and Help menus accessible via the menu bar or keyboard shortcuts. Menus display resolved keybindings next to each command. Navigate between menus with left/right arrow keys.

Configuration

Config files are loaded from <exe-dir>/config/ (bundled defaults) or ~/.config/ttt/ (user overrides):

File	Purpose
`keybindings.json`	Custom keybindings (VS Code key format)
`settings.json`	Editor settings (tabSize, insertSpaces, wordWrap, lineNumbers, sidebarWidth, explorer, terminal, theme, lsp, formatOnSave, autocomplete)
`theme.json`	Colors and styles (or use `theme.<name>.json` for named themes)

Settings

Key	Type	Default	Description
`tabSize`	int	`4`	Number of spaces per indentation level
`insertSpaces`	bool	`true`	Use spaces instead of tabs for indentation
`wordWrap`	bool	`false`	Wrap long lines at the editor width
`lineNumbers`	bool	`true`	Show line numbers in the gutter
`sidebarVisible`	bool	`true`	Show the sidebar on startup
`sidebarWidth`	int	`30`	Width of the sidebar in columns
`cursorStyle`	string	`""`	Cursor style: `"block"`, `"underline"`, or `"bar"`
`theme`	string	`""`	Theme name (from `~/.config/ttt/themes/`)
`debugMode`	bool	`false`	Enable debug logging to `~/.config/ttt/debug.log`
`formatOnSave`	bool	`false`	Auto-format the document via LSP on save
`explorer.showHidden`	bool	`true`	Show hidden files (dot-prefixed) in the file explorer
`explorer.showGitIgnored`	bool	`true`	Show gitignored files in the file explorer
`terminal.shell`	string	`""`	Shell command for the integrated terminal (empty = system default)
`terminal.scrollback`	int	`1000`	Number of scrollback lines to retain in the terminal
`lsp.saveOnRename`	bool	`false`	Auto-save all files affected by a rename operation
`lsp.servers`	object	`{}`	Map of language ID to `{ "command": [...], "languages": {...} }` for LSP servers
`autocomplete.enabled`	bool	`true`	Enable LSP-powered autocompletion
`autocomplete.autoSuggest`	bool	`true`	Show completions automatically as you type
`autocomplete.debounce`	int	`150`	Milliseconds to wait after typing before requesting completions
`autocomplete.signatureHelp`	bool	`true`	Show function signature help on `(` and `,`

Example ~/.config/ttt/settings.json:

{
  "tabSize": 4,
  "insertSpaces": true,
  "wordWrap": false,
  "lineNumbers": true,
  "sidebarVisible": true,
  "sidebarWidth": 30,
  "theme": "default-dark",
  "formatOnSave": true,
  "explorer": {
    "showHidden": true,
    "showGitIgnored": true
  },
  "terminal": {
    "shell": "/bin/zsh",
    "scrollback": 1000
  },
  "lsp": {
    "saveOnRename": true,
    "servers": {
      "go": { "command": ["gopls"] },
      "typescript": {
        "command": ["typescript-language-server", "--stdio"],
        "languages": {
          ".ts": "typescript",
          ".tsx": "typescriptreact",
          ".js": "javascript",
          ".jsx": "javascriptreact"
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "autocomplete": {
    "enabled": true,
    "autoSuggest": true,
    "debounce": 150,
    "signatureHelp": true
  }
}

Settings and keybindings can also be opened from the command palette: Preferences: Open Settings and Preferences: Open Keyboard Shortcuts.

Keybindings

All keybindings are customizable via keybindings.json. Supports chord sequences (e.g. ctrl+k ctrl+t). These are the defaults:

Shortcut	Action
	General
Ctrl+Q	Quit
Ctrl+P	Command palette
Alt+P	Quick open file
Escape	Focus editor
	File
Ctrl+N	New file
Ctrl+S	Save
Ctrl+K S	Save as
	Editor
Ctrl+Z	Undo
Ctrl+Y	Redo
Ctrl+A	Select all
Ctrl+C	Copy
Ctrl+X	Cut
Ctrl+V	Paste
Ctrl+G	Go to line
	Search
Ctrl+F	Find
Ctrl+H	Find and replace
F3 / Shift+F3	Find next / previous
	View
Ctrl+B	Toggle sidebar
Ctrl+J	Toggle bottom panel
Ctrl+K E	Show file explorer
Ctrl+K F	Search across files
Ctrl+K C	Show changes
Ctrl+0	Focus sidebar
Ctrl+K Ctrl+T	Switch theme
	Tabs
Ctrl+PgDn / PgUp	Next / previous tab
Ctrl+W	Close tab
	LSP
Ctrl+U	Autocomplete
F12	Go to definition
Shift+F12	Go to implementation
F2	Rename symbol
Ctrl+K I	Hover info
	Terminal / Bottom Panel
Ctrl+`	Toggle terminal
Ctrl+J	Toggle bottom panel
Ctrl+K T	New terminal tab
	Changes Panel
Space	Toggle stage/unstage file
A	Stage all
U	Unstage all
R	Refresh
Enter	Open diff / activate
	Menu Bar
F10 / Alt+F	File menu
Alt+E / S / V / H	Edit / Selection / View / Help

Testing

TTT is tested at two levels to catch bugs across the entire stack — from core data structures to end-to-end user workflows.

Unit Tests (Go)

The core editor engine (internal/core/) is fully unit-testable in isolation with zero terminal dependencies. Buffer operations, cursor math, undo/redo commands, and syntax highlighting all have dedicated Go tests.

make test                            # run all unit tests
go test ./internal/core/buffer/      # test a single package

Functional Tests (vitest + tui-use)

Black-box tests that launch the real ttt binary in a real terminal, type keys, and assert on screen output and file contents. These catch integration issues that unit tests can't — keybinding wiring, rendering, file I/O round-trips, and cross-component interactions.

Built with vitest and tui-use (terminal automation for TUI apps). 44 tests across 16 files covering:

File operations — open, edit, save, Save As, new file, dirty indicator
Editing — undo/redo, select all + overwrite, line delete/move/duplicate, word delete
Unicode — accented characters, CJK, emoji
Find & Replace — search, match navigation, replace, save verification
Navigation — go to line, tab switching
UI panels — sidebar toggle, panel switching, terminal toggle, command palette
Tab management — multi-tab, close, unsaved changes dialog

cd tests/functional
pnpm install
pnpm test              # run all functional tests
pnpm test:watch        # watch mode
pnpm test:stress       # run 10 times to catch flaky tests

Functional tests run in CI on every push and pull request.

Architecture

The codebase follows a strict layered architecture: core -> view -> render -> term -> ui.

internal/core/ — UI-agnostic editor engine (buffer, cursor, undo, syntax highlighting, multi-buffer management)
internal/view/ — Viewport scrolling and status bar
internal/render/ — Diff-based double-buffered renderer for minimal terminal writes
internal/terminal/ — Integrated terminal emulator (vt10x + pty)
internal/term/ — Terminal abstraction via Screen interface (only package that imports tcell)
internal/ui/ — Window manager, pane system, and all widgets
internal/lsp/ — Language Server Protocol client (JSON-RPC 2.0 over stdio, per-language server management)
internal/workspace/ — Multi-folder workspace management with git detection
internal/git/ — Git operations (status, stage, unstage, commit, pull, push, diff, blame)
internal/config/ — Configuration loading (settings, themes, keybindings, editorconfig)

License

MIT

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 211 Commits
.github		.github
cmd/ttt		cmd/ttt
docs-web		docs-web
internal		internal
sample-config		sample-config
tests/functional		tests/functional
.editorconfig		.editorconfig
.gitignore		.gitignore
CLAUDE.md		CLAUDE.md
CLEANUP.md		CLEANUP.md
Makefile		Makefile
PROJECT.md		PROJECT.md
README.md		README.md
go.mod		go.mod
go.sum		go.sum
install.sh		install.sh
lsp.md		lsp.md
screenshot.png		screenshot.png

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TTT — Terminal Text Tool

Installation

Prerequisites

Quick Install (Linux / macOS)

Homebrew (macOS / Linux)

Download Binary

Go Install

From Source

Features

Editor

Multi-Folder Workspaces

File Explorer

Search

Git Integration

Command Palette

Bottom Panel

Integrated Terminal

LSP (Language Server Protocol)

Built-in Language Support

Supported Features

Auto-Completion

Diagnostics

Formatting

References & Rename

Tabs

Theming

Built-in Themes

Switching Themes

Customizing

Menu Bar

Configuration

Settings

Keybindings

Testing

Unit Tests (Go)

Functional Tests (vitest + tui-use)

Architecture

License

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