w/05 · ai ide · dune.you

Dune

an ai-first desktop ide.

what

an ai-first desktop ide

codebase

134k lines of tish · 58 releases

platforms

macos · linux · windows · ios (beta)

stack

tish · monaco · rust

drag through the sand

overview

Dune is a warm place for real work: a native code editor with a coding agent built into its core rather than bolted onto the side — written, end to end, in Tish.

It installs extensions and themes from an open registry, with LSP and DAP built in. And it's designed for both developers and vibe coders — the same agent can plan, edit, run shell commands, search the web and drive a browser.

agent tools

built-in themes

releases

the real dune workbench (editing a chuggie game) previewing its themes live

the challenge

AI coding tools tend to be a chatbot bolted onto an editor, or an editor bolted onto a chatbot. Dune is designed as one thing.

It also had to skip the usual web-wrapper frameworks for a native host written in its own language — while one UI keeps running on desktop, in a browser against a server, and in an iOS beta.

01 · the agent

an agent with hands.

Ask, Agent, Plan and Debug modes plus your own. Tools to read, write and edit files, search code lexically and semantically, run the shell, search the web, drive a browser, ask you questions, spin up subagents and track todos — with checkpoints you can restore.

→21 slash commands: /fix, /test, /plan, /code-review…
→@Web and @Codebase context
→skills, rules, modes and hooks per project

Dune's agent panel with modes and model picker

02 · the editor

a real ide, not a demo.

Monaco with TextMate grammars, editor groups and splits, a command palette, a settings UI, a real PTY terminal and Git with diffs, staging and history.

03 · extensions

your extensions, running native.

Install from an open registry or a VSIX URL, and bring over your settings and keybindings. Support comes in four tiers up to a full extension API host in Node or Bun, with workspace I/O routed through Dune's host.

04 · themes

nine ways to dress the desert.

Themes restyle the whole window — not just the editor. Dune Desert (Dusk, Sunset, Midnight, Daybreak), Dune Dessert (Blackberry, Boysenberry, Blackcurrant, Macaron) and the flat Space Optimal, generated from 54 semantic color tokens into CSS, Monaco, xterm and TextMate palettes.

05 · everywhere

desktop, server, ios.

One invoke path serves the native desktop host, a headless dune-server you can reach in a browser or over SSH, and an iOS app in beta — and the same agent loop runs on the desktop, headless and in the cloud.

architecture

an ide written in its own language.

The shipping app is a native host written in Tish on a Rust webview crate; the workbench is Tish compiled to JavaScript, with widgets from lattish.

01
host
apps/tish-ide — Tish on tishlang_desktop (Rust + webview)
→
02
workbench
Tish → JS, Monaco, lattish widgets, xterm
→
03
invoke
one path: desktop handle() · dune-server /rpc · remote
→
04
extensions
Node/Bun extension host, LSP/DAP spawned by the host
→
05
agent
agentToolLoop on Hypery models, MCP client, memory & skills
→
06
ship
conventional commits → releases → Homebrew cask, DMGs

the developer experience

install in one line.

Dune ships through Homebrew; the CLI and a headless server come along as formulas.

terminal

1brew tap duneyou/dune
2brew install --cask dune-ide
3 
4# optional: the dune launcher + a headless server
5brew install dune-ide-cli dune-server

brand & design system

Warm sand and dusty sky: espresso darks, amber light, and a sister palette of candy pastels — every surface driven by tokens so a theme can change the whole window.

espresso

#1c110c

dusk

#241712

amber

#e0a968

sand

#eadcbf

boysenberry

#181221

pink

#ff6ac1