Exorcist IDE

The native C++ code editor with built-in AI — fast, lightweight, open source

VS Code features. Native performance. ~50 MB memory. Sub-second startup.

Why Exorcist? • Features • Quick Start • Comparison • Architecture • Plugins • Contributing

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Why Exorcist?

Modern IDEs are powerful but heavy. VS Code runs an entire Chromium browser. JetBrains IDEs need gigabytes of RAM. Developers who want AI-powered intelligence, LSP completion, Git integration, and a terminal emulator shouldn't have to pay for it with 500 MB of memory and 5-second startup times.

Exorcist is a ground-up rewrite of the modern IDE experience in native C++17 with Qt 6. It compiles to a single binary, starts instantly, and stays under 50 MB of RAM — while delivering the features you actually use every day:

• AI chat + inline completions — built-in, not bolted on
• LSP intelligence — completion, diagnostics, go-to-definition, rename
• Integrated terminal — native PTY, not a web terminal
• Git panel — status, diff, stage, commit, branch switching
• Plugin system — extend it with Qt plugins or C ABI / LuaJIT scripts

Think of it as: VS Code's feature set in a Sublime Text–sized package, with AI built into the core architecture.

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Features

Code Editor Syntax highlighting for 41+ languages Shebang detection for extensionless scripts Large file support (lazy chunked loading) Minimap, breadcrumb bar, multi-cursor editing Find & Replace with regex and whole-word matching Command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) Fuzzy file search (Ctrl+P)	AI Assistant Chat panel with streaming markdown responses Inline ghost-text completions (like Copilot) Inline chat — select code → ask AI (Ctrl+I) Next-edit suggestions — AI predicts your next edit 15+ built-in agent tools (file ops, search, terminal) MCP (Model Context Protocol) tool server support Session persistence across restarts
Language Intelligence clangd auto-managed lifecycle for C/C++ Auto-completion with trigger characters Go to Definition (F12) / Find References (Shift+F12) Rename Symbol across files (F2) Hover tooltips with documentation Real-time diagnostics — inline underlines + gutter markers Code formatting (Ctrl+Shift+F)	Terminal & Build Full native PTY backend (ConPTY / forkpty) VT100/xterm emulation — colors, alternate screen Multiple terminal tabs Build profiles with problem matchers CMake integration and toolchain detection AI-powered terminal — run AI-suggested commands
Git Integration File status overlays on project tree Inline diff gutter (added/modified/removed lines) Side-by-side diff viewer Stage, unstage, commit from Git panel Branch switching and status bar indicator AI commit message generation from diffs Merge conflict resolution with AI	Search & Navigation Full-text workspace search with regex Fuzzy file search (Ctrl+P) Symbol search with indexed outline Background workspace indexer Semantic search with TF-IDF embedding index

Extensibility

• Qt plugin system — load/unload at runtime
• C ABI — write plugins in Rust, Go, Zig, or any language with C FFI
• LuaJIT scripting — lightweight sandboxed automation
• Service registry — components communicate through string-keyed services
• AI provider plugins — add Claude, GPT, Copilot, or your own endpoint
• MCP protocol — discover and register tools dynamically

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Quick Start

Requirements

Dependency	Version	Required
Qt 6	6.5+	Yes
CMake	3.21+	Yes
C++17 compiler	GCC 10+ / Clang 12+ / MSVC 2019+	Yes
LLVM	15+	Optional

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/shrec/Exorcist.git
cd Exorcist

cmake --preset default        # Configure (Ninja, Debug)
cmake --build build           # Build

./build/exorcist              # Linux/macOS
.\build\exorcist.exe          # Windows

With LLVM (Optional)

cmake -S . -B build -DEXORCIST_USE_LLVM=ON -DLLVM_DIR=/path/to/llvm/lib/cmake/llvm
cmake --build build

Prebuilt Binaries

Coming soon — check Releases for updates.

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Comparison

How Exorcist stacks up against popular editors:

	Exorcist	VS Code	Sublime Text	Neovim
Language	C++17 / Qt 6	Electron / JS	C++ / custom	C
Startup	< 1 s	2–5 s	< 1 s	< 0.5 s
Memory (idle)	~50 MB	~300 MB	~80 MB	~30 MB
AI assistant	Built-in	Extension	Extension	Plugin
LSP	Native	Native	Plugin	Plugin
Terminal	Native PTY	node-pty	None	Native
Plugin system	Qt / C ABI / Lua	JS extensions	Python	Lua / Vim
Cross-platform	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Open source	MIT	MIT	Proprietary	Apache-2.0

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Architecture

Exorcist follows a layered, interface-first architecture with a shared daemon (ExoBridge) for cross-instance services:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   UI Layer                  │
│  MainWindow · Panels · Docks · Dialogs      │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│               Plugin System                 │
│  QPluginLoader · IPlugin · IAgentPlugin     │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│             Service Registry                │
│  Loose coupling · String-keyed resolution   │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│             Core Abstractions               │
│  IFileSystem · IProcess · ITerminal         │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│    ExoBridge (shared daemon per machine)     │
│  MCP servers · Git watch · Auth tokens      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Key design principles:

• Dependencies flow downward only — UI → Plugins → Services → Core
• All OS abstractions are interfaces in src/core/
• AI is a plugin — core never hard-codes an AI backend
• Services communicate through the ServiceRegistry, not direct references
• No raw new/delete — smart pointers or Qt parent/child ownership
• Shared resources (MCP, git watch, auth) live in ExoBridge, not per-instance

Project Structure

src/
├── core/           # OS abstractions (IFileSystem, IProcess, ITerminal, INetwork)
├── editor/         # EditorView, syntax highlighting, minimap, inline completions
├── agent/          # AI orchestrator, chat panel, context builder, tools
│   ├── inlinechat/ # Inline chat widget
│   └── tools/      # Built-in agent tools (file ops, search, terminal, etc.)
├── lsp/            # LSP client, clangd manager, completion popup
├── search/         # Full-text search, workspace indexer, symbol index
├── terminal/       # PTY backend, VT100 emulator, terminal panel
├── git/            # Git service, git panel, diff overlays
├── mcp/            # MCP client and panel
├── project/        # Project/solution management
├── build/          # Build system, task runner, CMake integration
├── process/        # ExoBridge IPC protocol, bridge client, process manager
├── bootstrap/      # Subsystem bootstrappers (LSP, Build, Bridge)
├── sdk/            # Stable plugin API (C++ / C ABI / LuaJIT)
└── ui/             # Shared UI (notifications, dock framework, themes)
server/             # ExoBridge daemon executable
plugins/
├── claude/         # Anthropic Claude AI provider
├── codex/          # OpenAI Codex AI provider
├── copilot/        # GitHub Copilot AI provider
└── common/         # Shared plugin utilities (SSE parser)
docs/               # Architecture docs, roadmap, plugin API guide

For full details see docs/architecture.md.

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Plugins

Exorcist supports runtime-loadable plugins via three interfaces:

Interface	Language	Use case
Qt C++ plugin	C++	Full Qt access, rich UI contribution
C ABI plugin	Rust, Go, Zig, C	Compiler-independent, stable binary interface
LuaJIT script	Lua	Lightweight automation, sandboxed

Built-in AI Providers

Provider	Status	Model
Claude	Ready	Anthropic Claude (HTTP streaming)
Codex	Ready	OpenAI GPT / Codex models
Copilot	Ready	GitHub Copilot (OAuth)
Custom	Ready	Any OpenAI-compatible endpoint (BYOK)

See docs/plugin_api.md for the plugin development guide.

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Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+P	Quick file open
Ctrl+Shift+P	Command palette
Ctrl+F	Find in file
Ctrl+Shift+F	Format document
F12	Go to definition
Shift+F12	Find references
F2	Rename symbol
Ctrl+Space	Trigger completion
Ctrl+I	Inline chat
Alt+\	Trigger AI completion
Ctrl+`	Toggle terminal

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Documentation

Document	Description
Architecture	System design, layers, ExoBridge
Development Principles	How Exorcist evolves as a system
Core Philosophy	Core vs Plugin boundary, activation model
Roadmap	Development phases and progress
Plugin API	Plugin development guide
AI Integration	AI architecture and providers
LSP Lifecycle	LSP client lifecycle
Search Framework	Search system design
Remote Build	Remote build via SSH
Dependencies	Third-party dependency notes

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Project Stats

Metric	Value
Source files	664
Lines of C++	~96,000
Languages highlighted	41+
AI agent tools	112
Plugins	12
Tests	49
Required dependency	Qt 6 only
License	MIT

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

git clone https://github.com/shrec/Exorcist.git
cd Exorcist
cmake --preset default
cmake --build build

Code style: C++17, PascalCase classes, m_ prefix for members, I prefix for interfaces, #pragma once, no raw new/delete. Full guidelines in .github/copilot-instructions.md.

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License

MIT © 2025–2026 Exorcist Contributors