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GitHub - abstractlyZach/reZIDE: a comfy custom IDE where you can feel right at home

a comfy custom IDE where you can feel right at home 🏡

Use simple, declarative configuration files to create complex IDEs with a single command!

screencap (Click to go to Youtube)

What's it like?

Think of it like any available IDE, except:

  • You can read and write your configurations easily in TOML format
  • You can use any program that you prefer without waiting for anyone else to add a plugin/integration. If you can run it on your command line, you can run it in reZIDE! Editors, linters, autoformatters, typecheckers, ASCII movies, distracting videos, etc...
  • You can share your configurations with others
  • You can copy/learn from others' configurations

Or think of it like tmux, except:

  • You don't need to learn new movement commands (use the commands that you already use for your window manager)
  • You aren't restricted to applications with a Terminal User Interface (you can open web browsers, pdf previews, video players, etc.)

Who's it for?

You'll probably like this if you:

  • use a tiling window manager or are interested in tiling window managers
  • enjoy the Unix philosophy ("have a lot of tools in your toolbox that each do one job well and play nicely with others")

This probably isn't the thing you're looking for if you:

  • want something that "just works". Having lots of tools means you have to do some amount of learning about each tool before you can use them. A lot of that burden is mitigated by copying other people's config files, but in general, tiling window managers have a bit of a learning curve so I would say that this project may not the best fit for people that are looking for a "just works" type of product.

What's it stand for?

⬅️⬅️(Zach's)
⬇️   really
⬇️   enjoyable
➡️➡️ Z
     Integrated
     Development
     Environment

Because that's how acronyms work.

Credits to @hyangda for brainstorming this great name with me 😄

Requirements

One of these tiling window managers:

  • sway
  • i3 (it should work out of the box, but I'm too lazy to install i3 just to test this. if you can confirm on my behalf, please check this box and submit a PR!)

At least 1 configuration file

See examples.

Installation

I recommend using pipx for environment isolation:

You can also use pip if you don't mind modifying your system Python environment:

How to use

Quickstart

  1. copy examples to ~/.rezide 
    git clone https://github.com/abstractlyZach/reZIDE
cp -r reZIDE/examples "${HOME}/.rezide"
  2. Update the config file to match your system's needs. Adjustment instructions can be found inside the file that we're going to edit 
    # open config with vi. use whatever editor you prefer
vi ~/.rezide/rice/config.toml
  3. spawn windows 
    # spawn windows for the "rice" layout
rzd open rice

Detailed instructions

Run this command for documentation on how to use reZIDE:

Motivation

Tiling window managers are powerful and flexible and I love using them. However, I kept finding myself running into one issue: I'm lazy.

Whenever I sit down to work, I usually want to open a group of 2+ windows. Each window takes 5s-30s to get to a useful state. That's way too much effort. I couldn't be bothered.

Here are some groups of windows (AKA layouts) that I commonly use:

python mode

  • editor for source code
  • editor for tests
  • browser for documentation/tickets
  • terminal for arbitrary commands like linting, running tests, and installing packages

web dev mode

  • editor for source code
  • editor for tests
  • small terminal running linter
  • small terminal using a filewatcher to run tests
  • small terminal running the typescript compiler
  • medium terminal for running arbitrary commands

documentation mode

  • editor for document
  • browser/pager for source material
  • terminal for compiling document into pdf
  • pdf viewer for viewing compiled pdf

It usually takes at least 10 keystrokes to run a command (even with tab-completion and fuzzy-finding) and then another 5-15 keystrokes to resize the window so that it's as big or small as I want. Here's an example:

Spawning and resizing a single window

  • <super-enter> to open a terminal
  • cdd to cd but with fuzzy-finding
  • type rez to get ~/workspace/abstractlyZach/reZIDE/ to show up as the first result
  • <enter>
  • fd | entr make typecheck<enter> to automatically run my typechecker whenever files change
  • <super-r> to enter "resize" mode
  • left x5 to make the window smaller
  • <esc> to exit "resize" mode

And then I have to do that like 5 more times; that's too much work! 😤 I'm losing seconds of productivity every day just opening, commanding, and resizing windows!

Goals

  • use only i3/sway to manage windows
  • create a DIY IDE with a single command
  • allow different IDEs to be defined through a readable file (like TOML)
  • run arbitrary commands (not just shells and TUIs!)

Defining an IDE in TOML

Basic Python IDE

This Python IDE has a relatively basic TOML file. Here's what the final product looks like:

python IDE

# python IDE
[python]

# tells reZIDE that this is a layout and it should construct a tree out of it and its descendants
is_layout = true

# this is what % of the screen each child should take up
# in this case, it's a 50-50 split
sizes = [50, 50]

# tells reZIDE the names of the Windows and Sections that belong in the "python" Section
# reZIDE will look up these Window and Section definitions elsewhere in this file and
#   build them appropriately
# so here, we have terminals on the left side and documentation on the right side
children = ['terminals', 'documentation']

# the screen should be split horizontally so that the children are to the left and right
#   of each other
split = "horizontal"


[terminals]
sizes = [50, 50]
children = ['python-editor', 'python-gutter']
split = 'vertical'

# our first Window definition
[python-gutter]

# run this command to:
# * spawn an alacritty window
# * set the working directory to ~/workspace/python-ide/
# * print some ascii art onto the terminal
# * start a zsh interactive shell
command = """
    alacritty \
        --working-directory ~/workspace/python-ide/ \
        -e sh -c 'cat python.logo.colored.asciiart; zsh'
"""

# mark this window in the window manager as 'python-gutter'
mark = 'python-gutter'


[python-editor]
command = """
    alacritty \
        --working-directory ~/workspace/python-ide/ \
        -e sh -c 'cp script_template.py script.py; kak script.py; zsh'
"""
mark = 'python-editor'

[documentation]
command = "brave --new-window https://docs.python.org/3/"
mark = 'documentation'

A complexer IDE

This IDE gives us everything we need to have a smooth development session when working on the reZIDE project.

Try opening the screenshot in another tab/window and see if you can match all of the Window/Section definitions in the TOML file to their corresponding areas on the screenshot!

rezide_ide

# more-complicated IDE for developing the reZIDE source code
[rezide-ide]
is_layout = true
split = "horizontal"
children = ['linters', 'main', 'tests']
sizes = [20, 60, 20]

# 1st level
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[linters]
split = "vertical"
sizes = [50, 50]
children = ['formatting', 'typechecking']

[main]
split = "vertical"
children = ['editors', 'gutter']
sizes = [70, 30]

[tests]
command = """
    alacritty \
        --working-directory ~/workspace/abstractlyZach/reZIDE/ \
        -e sh -c 'fd | entr make test; zsh'
"""
mark = "tests"

# 2nd level
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[formatting]
command = """
    alacritty \
        --working-directory ~/workspace/abstractlyZach/reZIDE/ \
        -e sh -c \
            'fd | entr sh -c \"echo && make format && make lint && echo_success\"; zsh'
"""
mark = "formatting"

[typechecking]
command = """
    alacritty \
        --working-directory ~/workspace/abstractlyZach/reZIDE/ \
        -e sh -c 'fd | entr make typecheck; zsh'
"""
mark = "typechecking"

[editors]
sizes = [50, 50]
children = ['left-editor', 'right-editor']
split = "horizontal"

[gutter]
command = """
    alacritty \
        --working-directory ~/workspace/abstractlyZach/reZIDE/ \
        -e sh -c 'neofetch; zsh'
"""
mark = "gutter"

# 3rd level
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[left-editor]
command = """
    alacritty \
        --working-directory ~/workspace/abstractlyZach/reZIDE/ \
        -e sh -c 'kak src/rezide/rezide.py'
"""
mark = "left-editor"

[right-editor]
command = """
    alacritty \
        --working-directory ~/workspace/abstractlyZach/reZIDE/ \
        -e sh -c 'kak README.md'
"""
mark = "right-editor"

Shell Completion

Setting up completion for your shell

Alternatives

  • tmux
  • anything by jetbrains lul