Strand is a native, small, fast, efficient IDE
Every Strand is one small native binary that launches instantly, runs smoothly and sips RAM.
Strand is a family of IDEs, each tuned to its language: Strand ARS, Strand C, Strand Python, Strand C#. Same featherweight core, same instant feel — tuned for different languages.
Tree-sitter grammars and queries do the coloring — accurate scope, not regex guesswork.
The whole IDE is a ≈15 MB DMG — most editors ship bigger updates. Drag to Applications, open, code: grammars staged inside, no installer, no dependencies.
Modern editors treat RAM as an all-you-can-eat buffet. Strand finishes a 10-file session — searches, scroll stress and all — peaking around 170 MB.
A native Metal renderer locked to your display, frame-times profiled and hot paths shaved — with an e2e harness that reports FPS/RAM timelines on every heavy session.
File-tree sidebar with live git status marks, per-project tab strips, a ⌘P quick-open palette that jumps anywhere, project search and a test runner panel — the full IDE, without the weight.
A native macOS app today — Cocoa and Metal, no emulation layers. Windows and Linux arrive when their platform bridges land.
Strand is built around the loop you already run: open the project, drive the buffer from the keyboard, and let the rails — git marks, search, tests — keep pace without ever leaving the window.
Point strand at a folder; the project switcher remembers it. ⌘P jumps to any file in milliseconds.
Keyboard-first editing, multiple selections, tree-sitter feedback as you type — the buffer keeps up with you.
Git status marks live in the gutter and sidebar; the test runner panel reports without leaving the editor.
Four IDEs, one small download each — pick the language you live in, or build them all from source. Free, entirely on your machine, never phones home.
The team's daily driver and the family flagship: built for Ars, with the @test runner wired straight into the test panel.
Not notarized yet — if Gatekeeper blocks the first launch, right-click the app and choose Open.
The same featherweight core, opened on C: tree-sitter highlighting and the full editor shell, with a C test runner to follow.
Download .dmgThe same featherweight core, opened on Python: pytest discovery and runs land straight in the test panel.
Download .dmgThe same featherweight core, opened on C#: the dotnet test provider lists and runs your xUnit/MSTest/NUnit suites.
Download .dmgClone the repo and let the bundle script do the rest — it builds the shared engine, compiles any of the four apps, and wraps a signed bundle:
Needs ars and cargo on PATH; the Rust editing-core build is content-hash cached between runs. Swap the argument for c, python or csharp to bundle the other IDEs.
strand is an offline native app: your projects stay on your disk, there's no account, no sync service and no telemetry. Uninstalling the app never touches a line of your code.
