A fast, lightweight text editor for Markdown, JSON, YAML, and TOML files. Built with Rust and egui for a native, responsive experience.

⚠️ Platform Note: Ferrite is developed and tested on Windows and Linux. macOS support is experimental. If you encounter issues, please report them.

This project is 100% AI-generated code. All Rust code, documentation, and configuration was written by Claude (Anthropic) via Cursor with MCP tools.

Raw Editor	Split View	Zen Mode

✨ v0.2.6.1 Released: First code-signed release! Integrated Terminal Workspace with tiling, splitting, and layout persistence. Productivity Hub panel. Major app.rs refactoring into ~15 modules. 8+ bug fixes including duplicate line, smart paste, and drag-drop positioning. CJK memory optimization (-80MB). See CHANGELOG.md for full details.

📦 v0.2.6 Highlights: New Custom Editor Engine with virtual scrolling (80MB file uses ~80MB RAM), Multi-Cursor Editing, Code Folding, IME/CJK input improvements.

• WYSIWYG Markdown Editing - Edit markdown with live preview, click-to-edit formatting, and syntax highlighting
• Multi-Format Support - Native support for Markdown, JSON, CSV, YAML, and TOML files
• Multi-Encoding Support - Auto-detect and preserve file encodings (UTF-8, Latin-1, Shift-JIS, Windows-1252, GBK, and more)
• Tree Viewer - Hierarchical view for JSON/YAML/TOML with inline editing, expand/collapse, and path copying
• Find & Replace - Search with regex support and match highlighting
• Go to Line (Ctrl+G) - Quick navigation to specific line number
• Undo/Redo - Full undo/redo support per tab

• Split View - Side-by-side raw editor and rendered preview with resizable divider; both panes are fully editable
• Zen Mode - Distraction-free writing with centered text column

• Syntax Highlighting - Full-file syntax highlighting for 100+ languages (Rust, Python, JavaScript, Go, TypeScript, PowerShell, and more)
• Code Folding - Fold/unfold regions with gutter indicators (▶/▼) for headings, code blocks, and lists; collapsed content is hidden
• Semantic Minimap - Navigation panel with clickable header labels, content type indicators, and text density bars (switchable to VS Code-style pixel view)
• Multi-Cursor Editing - Ctrl+Click to add multiple cursors; type, delete, and navigate at all positions simultaneously
• Bracket Matching - Highlight matching brackets ()[]{}<> and emphasis pairs ** __
• Auto-close Brackets & Quotes - Type (, [, {, ", or ' to get matching pair; selection wrapping supported
• Duplicate Line (Ctrl+Shift+D) - Duplicate current line or selection
• Move Line Up/Down (Alt+↑/↓) - Rearrange lines without cut/paste
• Smart Paste for Links - Select text then paste URL to create [text](url) markdown link
• Drag & Drop Images - Drop images into editor to auto-save to ./assets/ and insert markdown link
• Table of Contents - Generate/update TOC from headings with <!-- TOC --> block (Ctrl+Shift+U)
• Snippets - Text expansions like ;date → current date, ;time → current time, plus custom snippets
• Auto-Save - Configurable auto-save with temp-file safety
• Line Numbers - Optional line number gutter
• Configurable Line Width - Limit text width for readability (80/100/120 or custom)
• Custom Font Selection - Choose preferred fonts for editor and UI; important for CJK regional glyph preferences
• Keyboard Shortcut Customization - Rebind shortcuts via settings panel

Native rendering of 11 diagram types directly in the preview:

• Flowchart, Sequence, Pie, State, Mindmap
• Class, ER, Git Graph, Gantt, Timeline, User Journey

v0.2.5 Mermaid Update: Native Mermaid rendering now supports YAML frontmatter, parallel edges (A --> B & C), classDef/linkStyle styling, improved subgraphs, and more. Complex diagrams may still have rendering differences from mermaid.js. See ROADMAP.md for planned improvements.

• Native Table View - View CSV and TSV files in a formatted table with fixed-width column alignment
• Rainbow Column Coloring - Alternating column colors for improved readability
• Delimiter Detection - Auto-detect comma, tab, semicolon, and pipe separators
• Header Row Detection - Intelligent detection and highlighting of header rows

• Workspace Mode - Open folders with file tree, quick switcher (Ctrl+P), and search-in-files (Ctrl+Shift+F)
• Git Integration - Visual status indicators (modified, added, untracked, ignored) with auto-refresh on save, focus, and file changes
• Session Persistence - Restore open tabs, cursor positions, and scroll offsets on restart

• Integrated Terminal - Multiple instances with shell selection (PowerShell, CMD, WSL, bash)
• Tiling & Splitting - Create complex 2D grids with horizontal and vertical splits
• Smart Maximize - Temporarily maximize any pane to focus on work (Ctrl+Shift+M)
• Layout Persistence - Save and load your favorite terminal arrangements to JSON files
• Theming & Transparency - Custom color schemes (Dracula, etc.) and background opacity
• Drag-and-Drop Tabs - Reorder terminals with visual feedback
• AI-Ready - Visual "breathing" indicator when terminal is waiting for input (perfect for AI agents)

• Light & Dark Themes - Beautiful themes with runtime switching
• Document Outline & Statistics - Navigate with outline panel; tabbed statistics showing word count, reading time, heading/link/image counts
• Export Options - Export to HTML with themed styling, or copy as HTML
• Formatting Toolbar - Quick access to bold, italic, headings, lists, links, and more
• Live Pipeline - Pipe JSON/YAML content through shell commands (for developers)
• Custom Window - Borderless window with custom title bar and resize handles
• Recent Files & Folders - Click filename in status bar to access recently opened files and workspace folders
• CJK Paragraph Indentation - First-line indentation options for Chinese (2 chars) and Japanese (1 char) writing conventions

Download the latest release for your platform from GitHub Releases.

# Download the .deb file, then install with:
sudo apt install ./ferrite-editor_amd64.deb

# Or using dpkg:
sudo dpkg -i ferrite-editor_amd64.deb

# Download the .rpm file, then install with:
sudo dnf install ./ferrite-editor.x86_64.rpm

# Or using rpm:
sudo rpm -i ferrite-editor.x86_64.rpm

# Release package
yay -Sy ferrite

# Binary package
yay -Sy ferrite-bin

tar -xzf ferrite-linux-x64.tar.gz
./ferrite

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install build-essential pkg-config libgtk-3-dev libxcb-shape0-dev libxcb-xfixes0-dev

# Fedora
sudo dnf install gcc pkg-config gtk3-devel libxcb-devel

# Arch
sudo pacman -S base-devel pkg-config gtk3 libxcb

xcode-select --install

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/OlaProeis/Ferrite.git
cd Ferrite

# Build release version (optimized)
cargo build --release

# The binary will be at:
# Windows: target/release/ferrite.exe
# Linux/macOS: target/release/ferrite

# macOS: Create .app bundle (optional)
cargo install cargo-bundle
cargo bundle --release
# Bundle will be at: target/release/bundle/osx/Ferrite.app

# Open a file
ferrite path/to/file.md

# Open a folder as workspace
ferrite path/to/folder/

# Run from source
cargo run --release

# Or run the binary directly
./target/release/ferrite

# Open multiple files as tabs
./target/release/ferrite file1.md file2.md

# Show version
./target/release/ferrite --version

# Show help
./target/release/ferrite --help

Ferrite supports three view modes for Markdown files:

• Raw - Plain text editing with syntax highlighting
• Rendered - WYSIWYG editing with rendered markdown
• Split - Side-by-side raw editor and live preview

Toggle between modes using the toolbar buttons or keyboard shortcuts.

Access settings via Ctrl+, or the gear icon. Configure appearance, editor behavior, and file handling.

See ROADMAP.md for planned features and known issues.

Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Ferrite is being translated into multiple languages with help from the community.

Help translate Ferrite on Weblate - no coding required!

# Fork and clone
git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/Ferrite.git
cd Ferrite

# Create a feature branch
git checkout -b feature/your-feature

# Make changes, then verify
cargo fmt
cargo clippy
cargo test
cargo build

# Commit and push
git commit -m "feat: your feature description"
git push origin feature/your-feature

Built with Rust 1.70+, egui/eframe for GUI, comrak for Markdown parsing, and syntect for syntax highlighting.

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Free code signing on Windows provided by SignPath.io, certificate by SignPath Foundation

_{If you find Ferrite useful, consider supporting its development.}