Krafta Editor

A fast, native code editor built with C++ and wxWidgets.

No Electron. No Chromium. No web stack. Just a lightweight native application focused on speed, responsiveness, and low memory usage.

Performance

Measured on a Release build running on Linux.

Values are approximate and may vary depending on platform, compiler, extensions, and system configuration.

Platform Status

Tech Stack

• C++20
• wxWidgets 3.3+
• CMake 3.27+

Prerequisites

wxWidgets 3.3+ is required.

By default, CMake downloads and builds wxWidgets automatically using FetchContent, so no manual installation is required.

See wxWidgets Setup for system-installed alternatives.

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/apozinn/kraftaEditor.git
cd kraftaEditor

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build --config Release

# Run directly after building
cmake --build build --target run --config Release

The executable is generated at:

build/bin/Release/kraftaEditor

On Windows with Visual Studio, --config Release is mandatory. On Linux/macOS with Ninja or Make, it is optional but kept for consistency.

wxWidgets Setup

Option 1 — FetchContent (Recommended)

CMake automatically downloads and compiles wxWidgets 3.3.

No additional setup is required.

The first build may take longer due to dependency compilation, but subsequent builds use cached artifacts.

Option 2 — System-installed wxWidgets

Use an existing wxWidgets installation by passing the appropriate flag to CMake:

-DUSE_SYSTEM_WXWIDGETS=ON

If the detected version is older than 3.3, the build automatically falls back to FetchContent.

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)

wxWidgets 3.3 is not yet available in official apt repositories.

Install only the required system dependencies:

sudo apt install build-essential cmake libgtk-3-dev

Then build normally:

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build

-DUSE_SYSTEM_WXWIDGETS=ON is currently not applicable on Linux until wxWidgets 3.3 becomes available in official repositories.

macOS

brew install cmake wxwidgets

cmake -S . -B build \
  -DUSE_SYSTEM_WXWIDGETS=ON \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release

Windows

1. Download wxWidgets 3.3+ from: https://www.wxwidgets.org/downloads/
2. Build and install it following the official documentation.
3. Set wxWidgets_ROOT_DIR to the installation path.
4. Configure the project:

cmake -S . -B build ^
  -DUSE_SYSTEM_WXWIDGETS=ON ^
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release

CMake Options

Linux Installation

Two installation methods are available. Both install the executable, assets, desktop entry, and application icon, as well as refreshing desktop and icon caches automatically. Root permissions are required for system-wide installation.

Method 1 — Install Script

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build --config Release

chmod +x scripts/install.sh
sudo ./scripts/install.sh

Installed paths:

/usr/local/bin/kraftaEditor
/usr/share/kraftaEditor/{assets,languages,config,i18n}
/usr/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/kraftaEditor.png
/usr/share/applications/krafta-editor.desktop

Method 2 — CMake Install

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build --config Release

sudo cmake --install build

Install locally without sudo:

cmake --install build --prefix ~/.local

Uninstall

chmod +x scripts/uninstall.sh
sudo ./scripts/uninstall.sh

Removes all installed files and refreshes desktop/icon caches.

The install scripts are intended for local/system-wide source installs and are not replacements for package managers. For .deb, .rpm, or Arch Linux packaging, prefer cmake --install with the appropriate prefix.

Roadmap

• [ ] LSP integration (Language Server Protocol)
• [ ] Integrated terminal
• [ ] Plugin API
• [ ] Git integration
• [ ] Multi-cursor editing

Contributing

Guidelines

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a branch from main
3. Keep commits focused and descriptive
4. Follow the existing code style
5. Update documentation when applicable
6. Open a pull request with a clear description

For bug reports and feature requests, use: https://github.com/apozinn/kraftaEditor/issues

License

Krafta Editor is licensed under the GNU LGPLv3 license. See the LICENSE file for details.

© 2023–2026 Okarin Softwares