KernStudio is a free, libre open source IDE built specifically for the Kern programming language. Based on VSCodium, KernStudio provides a fully-featured development environment with built-in Kern language support — including syntax highlighting, bytecode compilation, debugging, and an integrated extension marketplace via OpenVSX.
- Download/Install
- Features
- Build from Source
- Why KernStudio?
- Extensions and the Marketplace
- Documentation
- Troubleshooting
- License
:td: :td: Download the latest release here: GitHub Releases :td: :td:
For Windows, download the KernStudio-{version}-win32-x64.zip archive, extract it, and run KernStudio.exe.
KernStudio combines the power of a full Visual Studio Code-compatible IDE with first-class Kern language support:
- Kern Language Server — Real-time syntax highlighting, diagnostics, and code intelligence
- Bytecode Compiler Integration — Compile
.knfiles to.kerncbytecode directly from the editor - Kern VM Debugger — Set breakpoints, step through code, inspect variables in the Kern runtime
- Integrated Terminal — Run
kern,kernc, andkargocommands without leaving the IDE - Extension Marketplace — Browse and install thousands of extensions from OpenVSX
- Git Integration — Built-in source control management
- Terminal Tunneling — Remote development via
kernstudio-tunnel - Fully Telemetry-Free — No tracking, no data collection, no Microsoft services
Build instructions can be found here.
.\build.shThe build process clones Microsoft's vscode repository, applies KernStudio branding patches, and produces a fully MIT-licensed binary.
Microsoft's releases of Visual Studio Code are licensed under a not-FLOSS license and contain telemetry/tracking. While VSCodium provides FLOSS binaries of VS Code, KernStudio goes further by:
- Pre-integrating Kern language support — No need to install extensions manually
- First-class Kern debugging — Built-in debugger for the Kern VM
- Kern-specific tooling — Integrated compiler, package manager, and runtime
- Privacy-preserving defaults — All telemetry disabled by default, no Microsoft services
This repository contains build files to generate free release binaries of KernStudio from Microsoft's Visual Studio Code source. When we speak of "free software", we're talking about freedom, not price.
Note: KernStudio is not a fork of VS Code. It is a set of build scripts and configuration that compile Microsoft's vscode repository into freely-licensed binaries with a community-driven default configuration and Kern language integration.
KernStudio uses open-vsx.org, an open source registry for VS Code-compatible extensions, as its default extension gallery. According to the Visual Studio Marketplace Terms of Use, you may only install and use Marketplace Offerings with Visual Studio Products and Services — therefore KernStudio cannot use the Microsoft marketplace directly.
See the Extensions + Marketplace documentation for details on how to:
- Browse and install extensions from OpenVSX
- Configure a custom extension gallery
- Self-host your own extension registry
- Use proprietary extensions with compatibility workarounds
Full documentation is available in the docs directory:
- Getting Started — Installation, first steps, keyboard shortcuts
- Telemetry — Privacy settings and replacements for Microsoft online services
- Extensions — Marketplace, VSIX installation, compatibility
- Migration — Migrating from VS Code / VSCodium to KernStudio
- Usage — GitHub sign-in, portable mode, terminal support
- Kern Language Support — Using the Kern compiler, debugger, and tools
- How to Build — Building KernStudio from source
- Troubleshooting — Common issues and solutions
If you encounter any issues, please check the Troubleshooting page or browse the existing issues.
KernStudio binaries are MIT-licensed. The underlying VS Code source code built by these scripts is also MIT-licensed (see Microsoft's vscode repository).