dedtxt

A dead simple plain-text editor.

"because everything sucked for this sort of thing"

A bit like TextEdit or Notepad, but even simpler and with fewer features. No hidden text. No formatting. No settings. A textarea and a file. Raw bytes in, raw bytes out, UTF-8 by default, no BOM, no line-ending munging. If we die with unsaved text, may the next visit offer to restore.

Two targets, same code:

• Web at https://dedtxt.app/ — the editor itself, installable as a PWA from any modern browser (including iOS and Android via "Add to Home Screen"). This is the shipping target.
• Desktop — macOS / Windows / Linux native via Tauri 2. Native installer are a later release if there is interest; the code, Rust tests, and CI are kept current so they may be revived (see FUTURE.md and CHANGELOG.md).

Requirements

• Node 20+ (see .nvmrc)
• Rust stable (rustup install stable) for desktop builds. Web-only development doesn't need Rust.

Run from source

npm install
npm start                 # Tauri dev window (Rust toolchain required)
npm run serve:web         # Web build at http://127.0.0.1:5173
npm test                  # JS unit tests (node:test, zero deps)

Rust unit tests:

cargo test --manifest-path src-tauri/Cargo.toml

Project structure

src/                      The app itself — shared by every platform
  index.html              Single textarea + first-visit welcome dialog
  renderer.js             Editor logic; talks only to platform/
  welcome.js              First-visit dialog (mobile detection, shortcut labels)
  platform/
    index.js              Detects runtime, picks an implementation
    tauri.js              Bridges to Rust via window.__TAURI__ globals
    web.js                File System Access API + download fallback
  sw.js                   Service worker for offline web
  manifest.webmanifest    PWA manifest
src-tauri/                Rust crate — the desktop "main process"
  Cargo.toml              Crate manifest
  tauri.conf.json         Window + bundle config
  src/lib.rs              Menus, dialogs, file I/O, OS events (+ unit tests)
  icons/                  Generated platform icons (32x32.png, icon.icns, etc.)
build/                    Icon source (icon.svg) + master icon outputs
scripts/                  Build scripts (web, icons)
test/                     JS unit tests (node:test)
CNAME                     dedtxt.app custom-domain claim for gh-pages

The renderer is platform-agnostic: it imports platform/index.js, which returns one of two modules with the same interface (tauri.js for the desktop app, web.js for the PWA). Adding a new platform means writing a new module and teaching platform/index.js how to detect it.

Build desktop installers (paused)

Native desktop builds are deprecated but buildable — the PWA is the shipping target. The tooling below still works locally and the Rust code stays tested in CI (the desktop-check job), but no installers are auto-built or released. See FUTURE.md to revive them.

Each OS builds its own installers locally (Tauri uses the host platform's build tooling — codesign, nsis, dpkg, etc.):

npm run build:mac         # .dmg + .app.tar.gz (host arch)
npm run build:win         # .msi + NSIS .exe
npm run build:linux       # AppImage + .deb + .rpm

Outputs go to src-tauri/target/release/bundle/. The GitHub Actions desktop

• release jobs that built all three OSes on a v* tag are currently disabled (if: ${{ false }}); re-enable them (and restore the tag trigger) to ship installers again.

Build the web app

npm run build:web         # produces dist-web/
npm run serve:web         # serve dist-web/ at http://127.0.0.1:5173

dist-web/ is a static site — drop it on any web host. The editor lives at the root; dist-web/app/ is a single-page redirect kept around for the legacy dedtxt.app/app/ bookmark.

Pushes to main redeploy the site to the gh-pages branch automatically via GitHub Actions; the site lives at https://dedtxt.app/.

Icon

The app icon lives at build/icon.svg. Edit it, then run:

npm run gen:icons         # regenerates Tauri, PWA, and macOS/Windows icon sets

Keys

Action	macOS	Win/Linux
New	Cmd + N	Ctrl + N
Open	Cmd + O	Ctrl + O
Save	Cmd + S	Ctrl + S
Find	Cmd + F	Ctrl + F
Toggle welcome	Esc	Esc

Drop a file onto the window to open it. The OS "Open with…" menu lists dedtxt for txt/md/log/json/csv/ini/yml/yaml/xml.

Save behavior

There's one Save, not Save / Save As. Open a different file and Save targets the new one — there is no "save as a different file" path. The save dialog is the browser's own; dedtxt never stacks its own filename prompt on top. A fresh buffer defaults to untitled.txt, and any extension you type is kept (notes.md stays notes.md).

The tab title is bare "dedtxt" until you've actually opened or saved a real file; after that it's <name> — dedtxt when clean and • <name> • — dedtxt when there are unsaved changes (dirty bullets flank the filename so the state survives title truncation by the OS window chrome).

Chromium browsers (Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc, Opera) implement the File System Access API, so opened files have a real writable handle and re-saves are silent. The native save picker only appears the first time you save an unnamed buffer.

Firefox, Safari, and every iOS browser lack the File System Access API — there's no JS path to write to a real file on disk, so each save triggers a download instead. Depending on your browser settings that either lands in your Downloads folder under the current name or shows the browser's own "where to save?" dialog. For native-like silent save, use a Chromium browser.

Welcome dialog

Shown automatically once per browser / install. After you dismiss it, the auto-open never fires again — not even after a version bump. To re-open: click the icon in the top-right corner of the editor, or press Esc. Pressing Esc again (or clicking outside the card, or typing any character) closes it. When the Find bar is open, Esc closes Find instead — it won't pop the welcome dialog.

Updates

dedtxt keeps itself current — no manual re-download.

Web (dedtxt.app) — a new deploy is picked up by the service worker in the background. Once the fresh assets are cached, the welcome dialog surfaces an "A new version is ready" notice; clicking it reloads into the new version.

Desktop (paused as of rc.59 — no new installers ship right now) — on launch the app asks dedtxt.app whether a newer web layer has shipped. If the installed build can run it, the welcome dialog offers "Click here to update": the new files are downloaded, each checked against a sha256 in the published manifest, then swapped in place (with a progress bar) and the window reloads — no reinstall, and local state (like the dismissed-welcome flag) carries over. If a release needs a newer native shell than you have installed, it points you to the Releases page for a fresh installer instead.

Contributing & history

• CONTRIBUTING.md — dev setup, the PR checklist, and the "dead simple" non-goals.
• CHANGELOG.md — release history (the single source of truth).
• FUTURE.md — the short list of ideas worth keeping around.

Bugs and ideas are welcome via the GitHub issue templates. The app's about popup (click the icon, top-right) also has donation links if you'd like to support the project.

License

ISC. See LICENSE.