Skip to content

4. macOS editor selection with fallback

Date: 2026-06-27

Status

Accepted

Context

The editor is the crown jewel. Native macOS has no drop-in equal to the web's CodeMirror. Options ranged from low-level text primitives to turnkey editors. jsonette only needs one language (JSON) and already owns the "smart" parts in the engine.

Decisions

Primary: CodeEditSourceEditor

Decision: Use CodeEditSourceEditor (from CodeEditApp, MIT, tree-sitter) — the editor that powers the open-source CodeEdit IDE — feeding it the engine's diagnostics and completion data.

Rationale: - Out-of-the-box support for highlighting, inline errors, completion, and find/replace. - Built-in support for tree-sitter.

Fallback: CodeEditTextView

Decision: If CodeEditSourceEditor is outgrown on control or performance, drop down to its own primitive CodeEditTextView (same family, same APIs underneath) rather than switching ecosystems.

Rationale: - Keeps upgrade/downgrade paths straightforward within the same framework family.

Consequences

  • Validate early in M1 due to the pre-1.0 status of CodeEdit components.
  • The engine/shell separation (ADR-0003) ensures that swapping the editor view does not impact business logic.
  • Alternatives Considered:
  • CodeEditorView (Chakravarty): Turnkey but single-maintainer and offers no primitive to drop down to.
  • Raw STTextView (Krzyżanowski): Fine primitive, but not in the same family as a turnkey option.