の nova

A code editor built on Tauri 2, React 19, and CodeMirror 6. Native binary, no Electron, no Chromium.

Website Manual Releases

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Features

• Multi-tab editor with syntax highlighting for TypeScript, JavaScript, Rust, Python, Go, JSON, Markdown, HTML, CSS, SQL, Java, and C++
• Vim mode (normal / insert / visual) — toggled per-tab, mixes with normal editing across open files
• PTY-backed terminal with multi-session support — sessions persist when the panel is hidden
• Git panel — stage, unstage, diff, commit, and branch management without leaving the editor
• Fuzzy file finder (Ctrl/Cmd+P) and command palette (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+P)
• Markdown preview (split pane, live)
• Spotify player integration
• Autosave with debounce
• Ten dark themes, applied live without view reload
• Custom background image with opacity, blur, and tint controls
• Preset system — save and restore full editor configurations
• ~80 MB RAM at idle

Installation

Download the latest release from the releases page.

Platform	Package
macOS	.dmg (universal — Apple Silicon + Intel)
Windows	_x64-setup.exe (NSIS installer)
Linux	.AppImage or .deb

macOS note: the binary is not notarized. On first launch, run:

xattr -cr /Applications/nova.app

Windows note: SmartScreen may warn about an unsigned binary. Click More info → Run anyway.

Building from source

Prerequisites: Rust (stable), Node.js 20+, platform system deps

# macOS — no extra deps needed
# Linux
sudo apt-get install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev libssl-dev libayatana-appindicator3-dev librsvg2-dev

git clone https://github.com/mugiwaraluffy56/nova-editor.git
cd nova-editor
npm ci
npm run tauri dev

To produce a release build:

npm run tauri build

For a macOS universal binary:

rustup target add aarch64-apple-darwin x86_64-apple-darwin
npm run tauri build -- --target universal-apple-darwin

Contributor setup notes

Verify prerequisites before cloning

Tool	Minimum	Check
Rust (stable)	1.77+	rustc --version
Node.js	20+	node --version
Tauri CLI	2.x	npx tauri --version

Windows — move the project out of OneDrive

Cargo writes thousands of small files to target/ during compilation. OneDrive locks these files mid-build and causes:

⚠️ Access is denied. (os error 5)

Clone or move the project to a plain path like C:\dev\nova.

Icons — required before first build

src-tauri/icons/ is not committed to the repo. On first clone, the build will fail with:

⚠️ `icons/icon.ico` not found; required for generating a Windows Resource file

Generate them once from any square PNG:

npx tauri icon "your-image.png"

Linux — additional packages

Depending on your distro version, the apt-get block above may also need:

sudo apt-get install build-essential libxdo-dev libgtk-3-dev

Dependencies

Always use npm ci (not npm install) to install from the lockfile exactly. On Windows, to reset node_modules:

Remove-Item -Recurse -Force node_modules

Stack

Layer	Technology
Shell	Tauri 2 (Rust)
UI	React 19, TypeScript, Vite
Editor	CodeMirror 6
Terminal	xterm.js + portable-pty (Rust)
Git	git2-rs
Styling	Tailwind CSS

Keyboard shortcuts

Action	macOS	Windows / Linux
Fuzzy finder	Cmd+P	Ctrl+P
Command palette	Cmd+Shift+P	Ctrl+Shift+P
Toggle terminal	Cmd+J	Ctrl+J
Toggle git panel	Cmd+G	Ctrl+G
Toggle vim mode	Cmd+Shift+V	Ctrl+Shift+V
Open file	Cmd+O	Ctrl+O
Open folder	Cmd+Shift+O	Ctrl+Shift+O
New window	Cmd+Shift+N	Ctrl+Shift+N
Settings	Cmd+,	Ctrl+,

Full reference: manual.

Roadmap

See ROADMAP.md.

The near-term focus is LSP integration, inline git diff gutters, split pane editing, and workspace search. Phase 2 targets a full native rewrite on GPUI (Zed's GPU UI framework) to eliminate the WebView entirely.

License

MIT