A modern, intuitive, terminal text editor.
Install
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && \
curl -fsSL \
https://github.com/joewalnes/zepto/releases/download/latest/zepto \
-o ~/.local/bin/zepto && \
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/zepto
Then: zepto myfile.txt
That's it. One file. No dependencies. No config.
Mouse support, menus, dialogs, true-color themes, a minimap, a file explorer. Zepto brings the comforts of a GUI editor to your terminal without pretending to be an IDE.
Click where you want the cursor. Drag tabs to reorder them. Everything works the way you'd expect. No modes, no manuals, no tutorials. If you've used any text editor made in the last 30 years, you already know how to use Zepto.
Syntax highlighting, find and replace, fuzzy file opener, undo/redo, block selection, themes - it's all built in. No plugins to install, no config files to write. Open it and start working.
Loads instantly. No splash screen, no indexing, no startup lag. The UI stays snappy even with large files and deep directory trees. Zepto launches faster than your terminal finishes redrawing.
Zepto is a single Perl script. Copy it onto a server, a Docker container, a Raspberry Pi - anywhere with Perl (which is everywhere, including macOS and Linux). No root access, no package manager, no compiler required.
Menus, dialogs, buttons, and panels - all rendered in the terminal with true-color and Nerd Font glyphs for a polished look. Every feature and keyboard shortcut is discoverable on screen. Use it however feels natural.
Built-in highlighting for dozens of languages. Colors adapt to your theme. No configuration or plugins required.
A tree panel with directory browsing, git status colors, and file preview. Or jump straight to any file by typing partial names - no need to remember exact paths.
Click to place cursor. Drag to select. Scroll wheel works. Click menus to open them. Drag tabs to reorder. Resize panels by dragging borders. It just works.
Matches highlight live as you type. Step through results one at a time or replace all at once. Regex supported with interactive inline previews - see exactly what each replacement will do before you commit.
Rectangular selections across lines. Type to insert on all lines at once.
A braille-character scrollbar that shows your position in the file and highlights git changes.
True-color (24-bit) themes. Switch instantly from the menu.
Those are great editors. Vim, Emacs, and Helix are powerful but have steep learning curves. Nano is simple but limited. Zepto aims for a sweet spot: the features you actually need with zero learning curve.
Also great editors - and a big inspiration for Zepto's usability. But they're GUI apps. Zepto brings that same intuitive, discoverable experience to the terminal, where you need it most: SSH sessions, Docker containers, headless servers.
Yes. Zepto launches instantly and stays responsive even with large files. Performance comes from architectural decisions - efficient data structures, minimal redraws, lazy computation - not from the choice of language. A well-architected script will outperform a poorly-architected compiled binary every time.
Perl is pre-installed on virtually every Unix system - Linux servers, macOS desktops, minimal Docker images, locked-down environments where you can't install software. A single Perl script can run anywhere without a build step, a runtime download, or root access. That's the whole point.
Zepto is deliberately config-free. There are a few runtime toggles (theme, nerd font glyphs) but no config files to manage. This is a feature, not a limitation.
Yes. Every line of code has been written by Claude Code. None of it has been hand-written in an editor (ironically). Requirements, system design and architecture, UX guidelines, testing approaches, and core abstractions were defined by a human.