NoxIDE

A lightweight code editor built entirely in Python

A VS Code-inspired editor that you own completely — readable, hackable, extensible.

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Overview

NoxIDE is a desktop code editor written in Python with PyQt5. It features a tabbed code editor with Python syntax highlighting, an integrated PTY terminal, a file explorer, session persistence, and a clean dark UI that mirrors VS Code's layout — built without Electron, without Node.js, without any bloat.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  🗁  NoxIDE         File  Edit  View         [⊟] [ꓸ] [𝕏]  ⊟  □  ✕ │
├────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│    │  main.py ×   utils.py ×   Untitled ×                          │
│ 🗂 ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│    │   1  # main.py                                                 │
│ 🔍 │   2  import sys                                                │
│    │   3  from PyQt5.QtWidgets import QApplication                  │
│ ⚙  │   4                                                            │
│    │   5  def main():                                               │
│    │   6      app = QApplication(sys.argv)                          │
│    ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│    │  PS C:\project> python main.py                                 │
│    │  NoxIDE started                                                │
└────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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Features

Editor

• Tabbed editing with QTabWidget — movable tabs, close buttons, unsaved indicator
• Line numbers with accurate pixel alignment
• Python syntax highlighting — keywords, strings, comments, function names
• Ctrl+Scroll zoom, Ctrl+0 reset
• Custom animated scrollbars — fade in on scroll, fade out on idle
• Smart encoding detection: UTF-8, UTF-8 BOM, UTF-16, Windows-1251, Latin-1
• Re-decode open file in a different encoding without reopening

File Explorer

• QFileSystemModel-backed tree view — open any folder as project root
• Double-click to open files in a new tab
• Auto-detects encoding on load, reports invalid chars in status bar

Integrated Terminal

• Real PTY via winpty — runs PowerShell (or bash on Linux/macOS)
• Full key support: arrows, Tab completion, Ctrl+C/D, Ctrl+Shift+V paste
• pyte for proper ANSI/VT terminal state emulation
• Toggle with `Ctrl+`` or the toolbar button

Session & UI State

• Automatically saves and restores open files, cursor positions, scroll positions
• Restores window geometry (size, position, maximized state)
• Saves splitter positions (sidebar width, terminal height)
• Per-platform storage: %APPDATA%/NoxIDE on Windows, ~/.config/NoxIDE on Linux

Window

• Frameless window (qframelesswindow) with custom title bar
• Menu bar embedded in the title bar (VS Code-style)
• DWM dark mode on Windows
• Minimize / Maximize / Restore / Close with proper hover styles

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Installation

Prerequisites

pip install PyQt5 qframelesswindow pywinpty pyte

Font files fonts/MaterialSymbolsRounded.ttf and fonts/Nunito.ttf are required.
Falls back to Segoe UI / system fonts if not found.

Clone & Run

git clone https://github.com/DevNexe/NoxIDE.git
cd NoxIDE
python main.py

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Project Structure

NoxIDE/
├── main.py                          # Entry point
│
├── core/
│   ├── constants.py                 # Material Icons glyphs, encoding map
│   ├── file_operations.py           # Read/write files, encoding detection
│   ├── models.py                    # FileModel (QFileSystemModel) + EditorModel
│   └── session_manager.py           # Save/restore session.json + ui_state.json
│
├── controllers/
│   └── editor_controller.py         # Open, save, save-as, change encoding
│
├── ui/
│   ├── main_window.py               # NoxIDE (FramelessWindow) — menus, shortcuts
│   ├── components/
│   │   ├── editor.py                # CodeEditor (QPlainTextEdit + line numbers)
│   │   ├── highlighter.py           # PythonHighlighter (QSyntaxHighlighter)
│   │   ├── scrollbar.py             # Animated ScrollBar with opacity animation
│   │   ├── sidebar.py               # Icon sidebar (Explorer / Search / Settings)
│   │   ├── terminal.py              # NoxTerminal (winpty + pyte + QPlainTextEdit)
│   │   └── titlebar.py              # CustomTitleBar with embedded menu bar
│   └── pages/
│       └── editor_page.py           # EditorPage — splitters, tabs, welcome screen
│
├── utils/
│   ├── resources.py                 # resource_path() — PyInstaller-safe paths
│   └── ui_helpers.py                # create_shortcut_chips() for welcome screen
│
└── fonts/
    ├── MaterialSymbolsRounded.ttf
    └── Nunito.ttf

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Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+N	New file
Ctrl+O	Open file
Ctrl+K Ctrl+O	Open folder
Ctrl+S	Save
Ctrl+Shift+S	Save As
Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y	Undo / Redo
Ctrl+X / Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V	Cut / Copy / Paste
Ctrl+A	Select All
Ctrl+= / Ctrl+- / Ctrl+0	Zoom In / Out / Reset
Ctrl+B	Toggle sidebar
`Ctrl+``	Toggle terminal
Alt+F4	Exit

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Session Storage

All session data is stored in a platform-specific directory:

Platform	Path
Windows	%APPDATA%\NoxIDE\
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/NoxIDE/
Linux	~/.config/NoxIDE/

Two files are maintained: session.json (open files, cursor/scroll positions, project path) and ui_state.json (terminal visibility, splitter sizes, sidebar width).

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Requirements

• OS: Windows (primary; Linux/macOS supported with reduced terminal features)
• Python: 3.10+
• Dependencies: PyQt5, qframelesswindow, pywinpty, pyte

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Made by DevNexe