SideX

SideX is an open-source desktop app that replaces the Electron framework with Tauri. It ports the workbench to a Rust backend and uses the native webview of the operating system instead of a bundled Chromium browser. The application is available for macOS, Windows, and Linux, providing a familiar development environment with a significantly reduced binary size.

Users install the software by building it from source using npm and the Tauri CLI, as pre-built binaries are not yet distributed. It targets a lower memory footprint, aiming for under 200 MB at idle on macOS by leveraging WKWebView. The project is currently in an early release stage, meaning core editing and terminal functions are operational while the debugger and extension host are still in progress.

Key features

• Monaco editor with syntax highlighting and basic IntelliSense
• Integrated terminal with full PTY via Rust and shell detection
• Git integration for staging, committing, branching, and diffing
• File explorer for opening folders and managing files
• Extension installation via the Open VSX registry
• Full-text search and file watching powered by a Rust search index
• Support for multiple built-in themes
• Native OS menus for macOS, Windows, and Linux
• SQLite storage for document management and autosave

The architecture maps the Electron main process to a Tauri Rust backend. It uses TypeScript and Vite 6 for the frontend, while Rust handles file I/O, process management, and the terminal PTY via the portable-pty crate. The backend utilizes the notify crate for file watching and the rusqlite crate for data storage. Syntax highlighting is handled via WASM implementations of vscode-textmate and vscode-oniguruma. It is designed for developers who want the interface and ecosystem without the resource overhead associated with a bundled browser.

SideX is a lightweight port of the Code-OSS project, focusing on reducing RAM usage through a Rust-based infrastructure.