Toast is an emerging terminal IDE that offers developers a comprehensive environment without the need to build their editor from scratch, unlike traditional tools such as vim or emacs. It comes preloaded with features like managed language servers for popular programming languages including Go, Rust, Python, JavaScript, and TypeScript. The IDE supports multi-tab editing with visual indicators for unsaved changes, mouse-enabled tab closing, and quit confirmations.
Syntax highlighting is powered by tree-sitter, covering a broad range of languages and file types. Toast also integrates spell checking for Markdown and plain-text files, and provides convenient navigation features such as 'go to definition' via Ctrl-hover and Ctrl-click.
The interface includes a file tree sidebar that displays git status, supports file creation and deletion, and allows resizing. Developers can perform project-wide searches using ripgrep and utilize in-file find and replace with advanced options. A command palette offers fuzzy search over all actions with keybinding hints and status confirmations.
Toast supports Markdown preview, a theme system with built-in and VSCode-imported themes, and configurable auto-save functionality. Configuration is managed through a JSON file, allowing customization of editor behavior, sidebar appearance, ignored file patterns, and keybindings.
Installation options include Homebrew for macOS, downloadable binaries for various platforms, and an experimental standalone macOS app with a native interface. The project is in early development, so users may encounter bugs.
Developers interested in building from source can do so with Go 1.25.2 or later. The project encourages user feedback through GitHub issues to improve the tool.
Toast aims to streamline the terminal development experience by providing an integrated, ready-to-use IDE that reduces setup time while maintaining the flexibility and efficiency developers expect from terminal-based tools.