GhostIDE 👻

A fully offline AI code editor from Ghost Developer Studio. The editor, the chat, the agent, and the autocomplete all run locally: the AI is a Qwen2.5-Coder model served by llama.cpp on the desktop, or running on-device in the Android app (see the ghostide-android repo). No cloud, no API key, no account.

Your code never leaves the device. The AI lives here.

▶ Watch it run: the 55-second demo — the real app, driven live: editor diagnostics on a real syntax error, the git client, a live test run, the ecosystem catalog, and the agent's approval controls. Narrated by Ryan.

This repo is the shared heart of both editions: the frontend bundle built from web/src ships in the desktop app and inside the Android APK, and server.py is the reference implementation of the API the Android app's Java server mirrors. One behavior pack (BEHAVIOR.md) drives both, so the editions cannot silently drift.

The model store (Qwen2.5-Coder-Instruct, Q4_K_M GGUF)

Model	Download	RAM while running	Notes
0.5B Sprinter	380 MB	~0.7 GB	phone store; fastest, rough edges
1.5B Balanced	0.94 GB	~1.5 GB	phone default
3B Smarter	1.93 GB	~2.6 GB	phone store; 6 GB+ phones
7B Max	4.68 GB	~5.5 GB	desktop default + phone store (8 GB+ phones)

Every download is exact-size and SHA-256 verified before use, and resumable. On the desktop, download the 7B in Settings ("Download 7B model"), switch models any time with a GGUF path in Settings or GHOST_IDE_MODEL, or use the in-app model switcher.

Run it

From source (needs Python 3.11+ and a llama.cpp build):

./start.sh                 # http://127.0.0.1:5173

Then click Start model in the top bar (first load takes about a minute).

As a packaged app (Roadmap G18): packaging/ builds installable packages for Linux, macOS, and Windows (PyInstaller + bundled llama.cpp, one-command install, workspace seeded in ~/GhostIDE). A manual GitHub Actions workflow (.github/workflows/build-desktop.yml) builds all three. The package contains no model; the 7B is an optional in-app download.

Pair mode: another device can join this workspace with a pairing token (tokens expire in 12 hours; viewers are read-only). Binding the server beyond loopback (GHOST_IDE_HOST=0.0.0.0) is for trusted networks: the pairing gate protects the API, but the static shell is served ungated by design.

What's inside

• Editor: CodeMirror 6 (JS/TS, Python, HTML, CSS, JSON, Markdown), tabs, split view, multi-cursor, live syntax diagnostics in the gutter as you type, code folding, find & replace with regex, ignore-case and dry-run previews, command palette, quick open, local history with restore, autosave draft recovery, and session restore down to cursor positions.
• Ghost Chat: streaming chat with context modes: current file, smart slice (the file's dependency web, reason-tagged and budget-packed), or project slice (signatures or full) with a token meter.
• Agent mode: Ghost plans and executes multi-file changes one action at a time; writes stage for your review with diffs, and nothing lands until you approve it. The agent cannot declare DONE over broken staged code (staged files are syntax-checked first, with bounded self-repair rounds you control), it can pause mid-run, queue follow-ups, keep a scratchpad, dispatch read-only EXPLORE sub-runs, and works under step budgets — with a full replayable trail per run.
• Git: a complete daily client — status with ahead/behind, stage, commit, branches, stash, tags, amend, worktrees, blame, log with a commit viewer, remotes — behind server-side input pins (names regex-checked, refs rebuilt, hashes hex-pinned). The agent's git surface is read-only by construction.
• Tests & verify: discover and run Python + Node tests — whole suite, one file, or a single test by name — re-run only failures, and run the verify pipeline with evidence levels (Executed / Claimed / Gaps, never a silent pass).
• The ecosystem: 29 bundled Ghost tools (GhostSlice, GhostMCP, GhostApprove, GhostIndex, GhostReview, and 24 more) execute for real against the workspace; the full table lives in the Android repo's README, and the bundle only builds when every tool's own tests pass (2,871 at generation e13).
• Platform: project templates, a sandboxed plugin system (PLUGINS.md), pair mode with conflict-safe sync, voice coding, and optional encrypted backups (PRIVACY.md explains the data story, which is short: nothing is collected).
• Updates: Settings can check for updates against VERSION.json in this repo. It only ever reports; it never downloads or installs by itself.

How it is proven

GhostIDE is developed in audited 20x20 campaign cycles (CAMPAIGN_20x20.md): twenty improvements, then twenty adversarial audits against a standing checklist, released in batches of five. The machinery:

• Harness suite — node tools/harness/run-all.mjs (137 files at v3.10.0) pins routes, rails, censuses and regressions in the shipped sources.
• DOM-stub bundle gate — the built web bundle is executed headlessly and must get past startup construction; a stillborn bundle cannot ship.
• Live probes — tools/probes/ drives real servers against fixture workspaces, including a canary sweep: a planted API key must appear in zero route responses.
• Ecosystem bundle gate — tools/eco_bundle_gate.py runs every bundled tool's own test suite before the Android build may include it.

Proof comes in layers (compile + pins, desktop-live, on-device) and the record says which layer proved what — see docs/TESTING.md in the Android repo.

Layout

• server.py — the desktop backend (Python stdlib only)
• debug_bridge.py — the debugger bridge (bdb over stdio)
• web/ — the frontend (CodeMirror 6, built with esbuild)
• tools/ — the harness suite, probes, and bundle gates
• playground/ — the seed workspace
• packaging/ — desktop app packaging (G18)
• PLAN.md, ROADMAP_20.md, ROADMAP_ECO.md, CAMPAIGN_20x20.md — plans, roadmaps, and the campaign record
• RUN-ON-PHONE.md — using the desktop build from a phone browser on your LAN

MIT licensed. Built by Ghost Developer Studio, Oakdale, Tennessee.

---

More from Ghost Developer Studio

Ghost Developer Studio builds developer tools, AI-agent safety software, and practical apps, and sells by showing working software, not slide decks.

• Roadmap board: where every studio product stands
• Agent Seatbelt: deterministic guardrails for AI coding agents
• Ghost Hands: governed, recorded, replayable agent hands
• GhostSlice: agent context and prompt optimizer
• GhostIDE: fully offline AI code editor for Android
• All studio projects