A minimalistic modal text environment, containing your code without distraction.

_{site  ·  releases  ·  hako-code  ·  hako (engine)  ·  hako-studio  ·  org}

箱 Kami: file explorer	箱 Rei AI (powered by hako-code)
Multi-pane splits · resize with Ctrl-W	Launch splash · mithraeum theme

箱 Rei lives inside hake; powered by hako-code:

 ▄█████▄
██ ███ ██ Rei: hako-code
█████████ Provider: You Choose
▀█▀▀█▀▀█▀ Model: You Choose

_{—— I ——}

Overview

• Modal Editing: Vim-inspired normal, insert, visual, and visual-line modes
• Full Motion Set: counts, named registers, text objects (diw, ci", da(), marks, jumplist, dot-repeat, :s/ substitution, bracket match
• Multi-Pane Support: Split horizontally and vertically, resize with Ctrl-W +/-/</>, jump with Ctrl-W 1-9; each pane has a title bar (pane_titles=0 turns it off)
• File Explorer: 箱 Kami - directory navigation, hidden-file toggle, dirs-first sort
• AI Assistant: 箱 Rei - hako-code in a split pane, over its --pipe protocol. Local hako models (hako-sho 3B / hako-koi 7B) or any of its 13 cloud providers; its tools, approvals, pickers and sessions, rendered by the editor. A file Rei edits reloads in its pane
• Skills: the agent's Agent Skills — :skill install owner/repo from the Rei pane
• Syntax Highlighting: 40+ languages, search-match highlighting persists across edits
• Undo/Redo: time-bounded undo blocks, configurable depth
• Visual Selection: character and line modes with yank/delete/change, count feedback
• Clipboard: bracketed paste, system clipboard via Ctrl-C/Ctrl-V
• Fast Search: incremental with n/N, all matches highlighted
• Runner: :build / :test / :run stream into a bottom pane while you edit; ]e/[e jump to file:line errors; a hands the error to Rei. :!<cmd> for quick one-shots
• Line Numbers: absolute or relative, dynamic width
• Mouse Support: click to position, scroll wheel moves cursor
• 19 Themes: mithraeum and washi (the suite's own, dark and light), dark, light, gruvbox, nord, dracula, monokai, solarized, tokyonight, catppuccin, onedark, material, everforest, rosepine, github-dark, github-light, ayu, kanagawa — live-preview picker via :theme
• Customizable: every setting in .hakorc, model/provider choices persist in ~/.hako/state

_{—— II ——}

Build

# One-liner - works on Linux, macOS, Windows (mingw)
gcc hake.c -o hake -lpthread

# Or use the Makefile to also embed the executable icon where the OS allows
make                 # the editor; :install-agent fetches the agent later
make bundle          # the editor AND the hako agent, from ../hako-code/hako.c
make NO_AGENT=1      # editor with no agent path at all (Rei pane stays inert)
make test            # smoke test + the --pipe conformance check + theme sync

Run

./hake              # or  ./hake [filename]

Install (drop the binary into your PATH):

cp hake /usr/local/bin/hake          # Linux / macOS

Deps: C standard library + POSIX/Win32 system headers + pthread. No third-party libraries linked. AI features shell out to curl(1) at runtime.

Install

curl -fsSL https://mithraeums.github.io/hake.sh | sh       # the editor
curl -fsSL https://mithraeums.github.io/install.sh | sh    # the whole suite: editor, agent, engine

Verifies sha256, installs to /usr/local/bin if writable else ~/.local/bin. macOS quarantine xattr stripped post-install. Where there is no release binary (iSh is 32-bit x86) it builds from source. VERIFY=0 skips the sha check, PREFIX=/opt relocates, SOURCE=1 forces a source build.

Executable icon

The icon files live in icon/:

Platform	File	What make does
Windows	hake.ico	Embeds icon into .exe via windres; real OS icon.
macOS	hake.icns	Attaches icon as a resource fork via Rez+SetFile (Xcode CLT). Best-effort.
Linux	hake.png	ELF can't embed icons; ship hake.png and reference it from a .desktop file.

A plain gcc hake.c -o hake produces a working binary on every platform; the icon is purely cosmetic.

iSh (iOS - experimental)

hake compiles on Alpine via iSh:

apk add build-base git curl
make

Notes:

• AI panel needs curl for HTTPS requests; apk add curl is required before using Rei.
• Narrow screens auto-stack the AI panel below the editor instead of squeezing horizontally.
• iSh runs single-threaded under emulation; expect slower stream rendering.

_{—— III ——}

Key Bindings & Commands

Normal Mode

Key	Action
i	Enter insert mode
I	Insert at first non-blank
a	Append after cursor
A	Append at end of line
o	Open line below
O	Open line above
v	Visual mode (character)
V	Visual mode (line)
h,j,k,l	Navigate (←↓↑→)
w,b	Next/previous word
0,$	Start/end of line
gg,G	Top/bottom of file
dd	Delete line (yanks)
D	Delete to end of line
x	Delete character
C	Change to end of line
yy	Yank (copy) line
p,P	Paste after/before
u	Undo
Ctrl-R	Redo
r	Replace character
J	Join lines
/	Search
n,N	Next/previous match
Ctrl-C	Copy to system clipboard
Ctrl-V	Paste from system clipboard
:w	Save
:e <file|dir>	Open file, or explorer at a directory (:e ..)
:q	Quit
:wq	Save and quit
Ctrl-F	Page forward
Ctrl-B	Page backward
]e,[e	Next/previous runner error
:!<cmd>	Run shell command (popup)
:run <cmd>	Run in the runner pane (async)
:build,:test	Run build_cmd / test_cmd from .hakorc

Visual Mode

Key	Action
h,j,k,l	Extend selection
w,b	Word-wise selection
0,$	Select to start/end
gg,G	Select to top/bottom
Ctrl-F	Page forward selection
Ctrl-B	Page backward selection
y	Yank selection
d,x	Delete selection
c	Change selection
Ctrl-C	Copy to system clipboard
Esc	Exit visual mode

Window Management

Key	Action
Ctrl-W s	Split horizontal
Ctrl-W v	Split vertical
Ctrl-W w	Switch pane
Ctrl-W 1-9	Jump to editor pane N
Ctrl-W r / k	Jump to Rei / Kami
Ctrl-W + - < >	Resize
Ctrl-W c	Close pane (Ctrl-W ! discards unsaved changes)

File Explorer (箱 Kami)

Key	Action
:kami, :ex	Toggle explorer (:e <dir> opens it on a folder)
j,k	Navigate files
h,l	Parent/open
g,G	Top/bottom of list
.	Toggle hidden files
r	Refresh
q,Esc	Close explorer

Runner (bottom pane)

:build, :test, :run <cmd> stream a command's output into a bottom pane while you keep editing. Lines that look like file:line[:col] are highlighted and jumpable — the compile/fix loop without leaving the editor.

Key	Action
j,k	Select line
Enter	Jump to file:line[:col] under selection
],[	Next / previous error line
a	Ask the agent to fix the selected error
r	Rerun
q	Stop if running, close otherwise

AI Assistant (箱 Rei)

Key	Action
:ai	Toggle AI panel
i	Enter prompt mode
Enter	In INSERT: newline. In NORMAL: send
Esc	Back to NORMAL
v	Visual select (copy-only in history)
j,k	Navigate history
Ctrl-W w	Switch pane
Ctrl-C	Close panel
:q	Close panel

Pane commands (editor-owned — the : line, not sent to the agent)

Command	Action
:auto / :noauto	Skip / restore per-tool permission prompts for the session
:install-agent	Install the hako agent in place when none is found, then connect
:update-agent	Self-update the agent (hako --update) and relaunch it
:clear	Wipe visible history · :w saves the chat to ai_chat.txt

When the agent asks to write a file or run a command, the pane prompts inline — ● write_file foo.c then [y] once [n] no [a] always. :auto skips the prompts.

Agent commands (inside the prompt — forwarded to hako)

Anything starting with : or / that the pane does not own goes to the agent as a command, not to the model: :model, :provider, :sessions, :theme, :login, :skill install, :use, :usage, :help and the rest. Bare :model / :provider / :sessions open the editor's own picker; enter picks, esc cancels. The full list is in the hako-code README.

Tools (once the project is trusted with :trust): the agent's — read_file, list_dir, grep, glob, write_file, edit_file, edit_lines, run_shell, web_fetch — each behind the [y]/[n]/[a] prompt above, with the output shown in the pane.

Pane control (any focused pane): :q rei / :q kami (also :close <name>) closes the named side panel.

_{—— IV ——}

Configuration

Use supplied config, or generate one with :config inside the editor. HAKE looks for .hakorc in the current directory first, then your home directory.

# Example .hakorc
tab_stop=4
use_tabs=1
show_line_numbers=2
auto_indent=1
smart_indent=1
mouse=1          # shared with hako (where it defaults off); mouse_enabled still works
theme=mithraeum  # shared with hako and hako studio: the same 18 names
explorer_width=30
pane_titles=1

# Runner pane
# build_cmd=make
# test_cmd=make test
# run_cmd=./a.out

# AI panel (Rei) — these are the agent's keys; one ~/.hakorc serves both
ai_provider=mithraeum         # local hako models; or anthropic | openai | gemini | ollama | ...
ai_model=hako-sho
ai_max_tokens=4096
ai_tools_enabled=1
ai_stream=1
# ai_endpoint=                # auto-set for known providers

Keys are better kept out of the rc: :login <provider> in the Rei pane stores them in ~/.hako/credentials.

Run :config to generate a fully documented .hakorc with all options.

_{—— V ——}

Supported Languages

hake provides syntax color for 40+ languages, some of which include:

Systems: C, C++, Rust, Go, Zig, Assembly
Scripting: Python, Ruby, Perl, Lua, Shell, PHP
Web: JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, CSS, JSON
JVM: Java, Kotlin, Scala, Clojure
Functional: Haskell, OCaml, F#, Elixir
Modern: Swift, Dart, Julia, Nim
Config: YAML, TOML, Dockerfile, Makefile

_{—— VI ——}

Change Log

Latest — v0.1.7

The Rei pane catches up with hako-code 0.2.4, and the wire between them is now checked by a script instead of by eye.

• Rei is the CLI in a pane — :model / :provider / :sessions pickers open as popups, :cmd and /cmd reach the agent instead of the model, and a file Rei edits reloads in its pane.
• Saving cannot lose data — the file was truncated before it was written, and :w could save over Rei's edit. :w refuses now and says why; :w! and :e! do what they say.
• Pane title bars, Ctrl-W 1-9 / r / k jumps, and the suite's 19 themes shared with hako and hako studio.
• Tool output in the pane — the agent's tool_result was being dropped, so the pane said "ran list_dir" and never what it found. Rendered now, clipped to 10 lines.
• Text is unescaped — a literal \n no longer appears mid-sentence; the agent's JSON is decoded (\uXXXX included) before it is shown.
• A silently dropped field — the JSON scanner could not tell \" from \\", so any value ending in a backslash was read as missing. Same bug as the agent's, same fix.
• tools/pipe-conformance.py — drives hako --pipe the way the pane does and asserts the approval round trip. No model, no network. Run it whenever either side's protocol moves.
• gcc-clean — a pos[24] two ints could overrun, and a Windows-only unused parameter.

Earlier versions, and the full detail → CHANGELOG.md.

_{—— VII ——}

Roadmap

• Windows parity (pipe agent + runner pane)
• Custom themes from .hakorc in the theme picker
• Buffer list (:ls, :b)
• :e tab completion

_{—— VIII ——}

Contributing

If you share the belief that simplicity empowers creativity, feel free to contribute.

Contribution is welcome in the form of:

• Forking this repo
• Submitting a Pull Request
• Bug reports and feature requests

Please ensure your code follows the existing style. I realize the single file is a personal choice, though if you choose to assist, I have divided the code.

The file is divided into sections marked /*** name ***/ — includes, defines, structs, syntax, terminal, panes, rows, cursor, undo, search, file i/o, drawing, input, popups, splash, explorer, runner, the AI pane, the agent pipe client, init, main. grep -n '^/\*\*\*' hake.c lists them with line numbers.

Thank you for your attention.

This project started out of curiosity and a simple C text editor tutorial. If you hit any issues, feel free to open an issue on GitHub. Pull requests, suggestions, or even thoughtful discussions are welcome.

_{— SEE LICENSE —  ·  GPL-3.0}

_{— deus sol invictus mithras —}