A modern, full-featured terminal text editor, with zero configuration. Familiar keybindings, mouse support, and IDE-level features — no learning curve required.
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Quick Install: curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sinelaw/fresh/refs/heads/master/scripts/install.sh | sh
Fresh brings the intuitive UX of VS Code and Sublime Text to the terminal. Standard keybindings, full mouse support, menus, and a command palette — everything works the way you'd expect, right out of the box. No modes, no memorizing shortcuts.
Built for real-world performance: Fresh handles multi-gigabyte files with negligible memory overhead and delivers consistently low-latency input, regardless of file size.
One shortcut to find files, run commands, switch buffers, and jump to any line.
Start each task in its own worktree, hop between them with an arrow key, and leave the rest running.
Select and edit multiple occurrences simultaneously — the same workflow you know from graphical editors.
Browse and apply color themes instantly. Full settings UI and interactive keybinding editor included.
See more feature demos: Editing (search & replace, block selection, sort lines, ...) · Productivity (file explorer, split view, integrated terminal, ...) · Themes
| Category | Features |
|---|---|
| File Management | open/save/new/close, file explorer, tabs, auto-revert, git file finder |
| Editing | undo/redo, multi-cursor, block selection, smart indent, comments, clipboard |
| Search & Replace | incremental search, find in selection, query replace, git grep |
| Navigation | go to line/bracket, word movement, position history, bookmarks, error navigation |
| Views & Layout | split panes, line numbers, line wrap, backgrounds, markdown preview |
| Language Server (LSP) | go to definition, references, hover, code actions, rename, diagnostics, autocompletion |
| Productivity | command palette, menu bar, keyboard macros, git log, diagnostics panel |
| Multitasking (Orchestrator) | one workspace per git worktree, terminals and long-running commands per workspace, coding agents (claude, codex, opencode, aider) with resumable sessions, dock switcher, remote/SSH workspaces |
| Extensibility | TypeScript plugins (sandboxed QuickJS), color highlighter, TODO highlighter, merge conflicts, path complete, keymaps |
| Internationalization | Multiple language support (see locales/), plugin translation system |
Quick install:
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sinelaw/fresh/refs/heads/master/scripts/install.sh | sh
On Linux this installs the universal build: one statically linked binary
that runs on every distro, unpacked under ~/.local, owned by you. It needs no
root, and it updates itself — fresh --cmd update, or the update prompt in the
editor. On macOS it uses Homebrew.
Prefer your distro's package manager? Ask for it explicitly:
curl -sL .../install.sh | sh -s -- --method=deb # also: rpm, aur, nix, cargo, npm, brew, appimagePackages are fully supported — they are opt-in rather than the default because
installing one needs root and hands updates to that package manager. fresh
records how it was installed either way, and updates through that same
mechanism. --method=auto restores the old autodetecting behaviour, and
install.sh --help lists everything.
Or, pick your preferred method:
| Platform | Method |
|---|---|
| Linux (any distro) | universal build — self-updating, no root |
| macOS | brew |
| Bazzite/Bluefin/Aurora Linux | brew |
| Windows | winget |
| Arch Linux | AUR |
| Debian/Ubuntu | .deb |
| Fedora/RHEL | .rpm, Terra |
| OpenSUSE | .rpm |
| FreeBSD | ports / pkg |
| Gentoo | GURU |
| Linux (sandboxed / portable) | AppImage, Flatpak |
| All platforms | Pre-built binaries |
| npm | npm / npx |
| Rust users (Fast) | cargo-binstall |
| Rust users | crates.io |
| Nix | Nix flakes |
| Developers | From source |
curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sinelaw/fresh/refs/heads/master/scripts/install.sh | shA single static (musl) binary for x86_64 and aarch64 with every feature
compiled in, including plugins. It unpacks to ~/.local/share/fresh-editor and
symlinks ~/.local/bin/fresh; set FRESH_INSTALL_DIR / FRESH_BIN_DIR to put
them elsewhere. Ensure ~/.local/bin is in your PATH.
Because nothing else owns these files, this is the one Linux install that can
replace itself: fresh --cmd update downloads the next release, verifies it
against both its published checksum and GitHub's release attestation, and swaps
the binary in place.
The archive also carries the same desktop entry and icon theme the .deb and
.rpm install, and the installer copies them into $XDG_DATA_HOME
(~/.local/share by default) so Fresh shows up in your application menu. Pass
--no-desktop-integration, or set FRESH_NO_DESKTOP=1, to skip that — usually
what you want on a server or in a container. Every file written outside the
install directory is listed in
~/.local/share/fresh-editor/installed-files.txt, so re-running the installer
cleans up after the previous run and uninstalling is rm over that list plus
the install directory and the symlink.
Downloading the archive by hand from the releases
page works the same way — it ships
the same install receipt, so a hand-unpacked copy self-updates too. Only the
binary is swapped on update, so the desktop entry and icons are refreshed by
re-running the installer, not by fresh --cmd update.
On macOS and some linux distros (Bazzite/Bluefin/Aurora):
Note: On macOS, see macOS Terminal Tips for recommended terminal configuration.
brew install fresh-editorwinget install fresh-editorAlternatively, Windows users can use npm.
Arch Linux (AUR)
Binary package (recommended, faster install):
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/fresh-editor-bin.git
cd fresh-editor-bin
makepkg --syncdeps --installBuild from source:
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/fresh-editor.git
cd fresh-editor
makepkg --syncdeps --installUsing an AUR helper (such as yay or paru):
# Binary package (recommended, faster install)
yay -S fresh-editor-bin
# Or build from source
yay -S fresh-editorDownload and install the latest release:
curl -sL $(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/sinelaw/fresh/releases/latest | grep "browser_download_url.*_$(dpkg --print-architecture)\.deb" | cut -d '"' -f 4) -o fresh-editor.deb && sudo dpkg -i fresh-editor.debOr download the .deb file manually from the releases page.
Download and install the latest release:
curl -sL $(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/sinelaw/fresh/releases/latest | grep "browser_download_url.*\.$(uname -m)\.rpm" | cut -d '"' -f 4) -o fresh-editor.rpm && sudo rpm -U fresh-editor.rpmOr download the .rpm file manually from the releases page.
There is no openSUSE repository for fresh yet, so install the .rpm from the
release directly:
curl -sL $(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/sinelaw/fresh/releases/latest | grep "browser_download_url.*\.$(uname -m)\.rpm" | cut -d '"' -f 4) -o fresh-editor.rpm && sudo zypper --no-gpg-checks install ./fresh-editor.rpmOr download the .rpm file manually from the releases page.
Gentoo (GURU)
Enable the repository as read in Project:GURU/Information for End Users then emerge the package:
emerge --ask app-editors/freshOn most systems the universal build is the better choice: same "runs anywhere" property, no FUSE dependency, and no mount overhead on each launch.
install.shno longer selects AppImage automatically — pass--method=appimageif you specifically want it.
Download the .AppImage file from the releases page and run:
chmod +x fresh-editor-VERSION-x86_64.AppImage
./fresh-editor-VERSION-x86_64.AppImageFor faster startup (recommended): Extract the AppImage instead of running it directly. This avoids the FUSE mount overhead on each launch (~10x faster):
./fresh-editor-VERSION-x86_64.AppImage --appimage-extract
mkdir -p ~/.local/share/fresh-editor ~/.local/bin
mv squashfs-root/* ~/.local/share/fresh-editor/
ln -sf ~/.local/share/fresh-editor/usr/bin/fresh ~/.local/bin/freshEnsure ~/.local/bin is in your PATH. Available for x86_64 and aarch64 architectures.
Download the .flatpak bundle from the releases page and install:
flatpak install --user fresh-editor-VERSION-x86_64.flatpak
flatpak run io.github.sinelaw.freshSee flatpak/README.md for building from source.
Download the latest release for your platform from the releases page.
On Linux, prefer the -unknown-linux-musl archives: they are statically linked,
so they run on any distro regardless of its glibc version, and they are gzipped
so a stock tar can unpack them without xz-utils. Every archive carries an
install receipt, so an unpacked copy knows how to update itself.
mise use github:sinelaw/freshnpm install -g @fresh-editor/fresh-editorOr try it without installing:
npx @fresh-editor/fresh-editorTo install the binary directly without compiling (much faster than crates.io):
First, install cargo-binstall if you haven't already
cargo install cargo-binstallThen install fresh
cargo binstall fresh-editorRun without installing:
nix run github:sinelaw/freshOr install to your profile:
nix profile add github:sinelaw/freshcargo install --locked fresh-editorgit clone https://github.com/sinelaw/fresh.git
cd fresh
cargo build --release
./target/release/fresh [file]- User Guide
- macOS Tips - Terminal configuration, keyboard shortcuts, and troubleshooting for Mac users
- Plugin Development
See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.
Fresh checks for new versions daily to notify you of available upgrades. Alongside this, it sends basic anonymous telemetry (version, OS/architecture, terminal type) to help understand usage patterns. No personal data or file contents are collected.
To disable both upgrade checks and telemetry, use --no-upgrade-check or set check_for_updates: false in your config.
Copyright (c) Noam Lewis
This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v2.0 (GPL-2.0).