SideX – A Tauri-based port of Visual Studio Code

A Tauri-based port of Visual Studio Code. Same architecture, native performance, fraction of the size.

Early Release— This project is in active development. Many features are not fully working yet. We're releasing early because a lot of people wanted to help build this out. If you're into open source and want to help make a lightweight, native code editor a reality, you're in the right place.

SideX is a 1:1 architectural port (HEAVILY STRIPPED) of VSCode that replaces Electron with Tauri (Rust backend + native webview). The entire VSCode workbench - editor, terminal, extensions, themes, keybindings — ported to run on a native shell.

5,600+ TypeScript filesfrom VSCode's source, ported and adaptedRust backendreplacing Electron's main processZero Electron importsremaining in the codebaseLightweight— fraction of VSCode's install size

Goal: 200mb RAM usage.

This is an early release. Here's an honest look at where things stand:

Working:

• Core editor (Monaco) with syntax highlighting, IntelliSense basics
• File explorer — open folders, create/edit/delete files
• Integrated terminal (PTY via Rust)
• Basic Git integration
• Theme support
• Native menus
• Extension loading from Open VSX

In Progress / Unstable:

• Many workbench features are stubbed or partially implemented
• Extension host is early-stage — not all extensions will work
• Debugging support is scaffolded but incomplete
• Settings/keybindings UI may have rough edges
• Some platform services are placeholder implementations
• Multi-window support is limited

We need help across the board. See Contributing below.

• Node.js 20+
• Rust 1.77.2+
• Platform dependencies for Tauri — see the Tauri prerequisites guide

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/Sidenai/sidex.git
cd sidex
# Install dependencies
npm install
# Start dev server with hot reload
npm run tauri dev

Building from source (not distributing pre-built binaries yet):

# Install dependencies (if not already done)
npm install
# Build the frontend (increase memory for large codebase)
# macOS / Linux:
NODE_OPTIONS="--max-old-space-size=12288" npm run build
# Windows (PowerShell):
$env:NODE_OPTIONS="--max-old-space-size=12288"
npm run build
# Build the Tauri app (takes 5-10 minutes)
npx tauri build

Linux blank screen: If you get a blank/white screen on Linux, run with:

WEBKIT_DISABLE_DMABUF_RENDERER=1 npm run tauri dev

SideX preserves VSCode's layered architecture and replaces the Electron runtime with Tauri:

VSCode (Electron) SideX (Tauri)
───────────────── ─────────────
Electron Main Process → Tauri Rust Backend
BrowserWindow → WebviewWindow
ipcMain / ipcRenderer → invoke() + events
Node.js APIs (fs, pty, etc.) → Rust commands (std::fs, portable-pty)
Menu / Dialog / Clipboard → Tauri plugins
Renderer (DOM + TypeScript) → Same (runs in native webview)
Extension Host → Sidecar process (in progress)