# CotEditor — Lightweight Plain-Text Editor for macOS

> A native macOS text editor built with Swift and Cocoa that offers syntax highlighting for 50+ languages, powerful find-and-replace with regex, and a fast, distraction-free editing experience.

## Install

Save in your project root:

# CotEditor — Lightweight Plain-Text Editor for macOS

## Quick Use
```bash
# Install via Homebrew
brew install --cask coteditor
# Or download from the Mac App Store (free)
# Or build from source
git clone https://github.com/coteditor/CotEditor.git
cd CotEditor && xcodebuild
```

## Introduction
CotEditor is a free, open-source plain-text editor for macOS that has been actively developed since 2005. It provides a native Cocoa experience with syntax highlighting, split editing, and scripting support while remaining lightweight and fast.

## What CotEditor Does
- Provides syntax highlighting for over 50 programming and markup languages
- Offers powerful find-and-replace with full regular expression support
- Supports split editor views for comparing or referencing multiple sections
- Handles multiple character encodings including Unicode, CJK, and legacy encodings
- Integrates with macOS features like Quick Look, Services, and AppleScript

## Architecture Overview
CotEditor is written in Swift using AppKit (Cocoa) framework, providing a fully native macOS experience. The text engine builds on NSTextView with custom extensions for syntax parsing. Syntax definitions are declarative YAML files that can be user-extended. The app uses Grand Central Dispatch for background tasks like encoding detection and large-file handling.

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
- Install from the Mac App Store, Homebrew Cask, or build from source with Xcode
- Custom syntax styles go in ~/Library/Application Support/CotEditor/Syntaxes/
- Themes are stored in ~/Library/Application Support/CotEditor/Themes/
- Configure line endings, encoding detection priority, and tab behavior in Preferences
- AppleScript and shell script macros can be added via the Script menu

## Key Features
- Native macOS performance with instant launch and smooth scrolling
- Live character and word count inspector
- Vertical text layout support for CJK writing
- Customizable color themes with live preview
- Open-source and free with no subscription or telemetry

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **Sublime Text** — More feature-rich and cross-platform, but proprietary and paid
- **BBEdit** — More powerful for text processing, but paid license required
- **TextMate** — Similar philosophy but less actively maintained
- **VS Code** — Far more capable as an IDE, but much heavier for quick text editing
- **Nova** — Native Mac IDE with more features, but paid and heavier

## FAQ
**Q: Is CotEditor suitable as a primary code editor?**
A: It excels for quick editing, config files, scripts, and writing. For full IDE features like debugging or LSP, use VS Code or Xcode alongside it.

**Q: Can I add syntax highlighting for a new language?**
A: Yes. Create a YAML syntax definition file and place it in the Syntaxes support directory.

**Q: Does CotEditor support plugins?**
A: It supports scripting via AppleScript, JavaScript for Automation (JXA), and shell scripts, but not a traditional plugin system.

**Q: What macOS versions are supported?**
A: The latest version requires macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later. Older releases support earlier macOS versions.

## Sources
- https://github.com/coteditor/CotEditor
- https://coteditor.com

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Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/asset-5647a0b9
Author: AI Open Source