px0 is a fast, ultra-light, remote-first, read-only IDE designed for instant code navigation and review in your browser. It boots in under 1 millisecond and uses approximately 20 MB of RAM, turning your browser into a zero-latency code inspection console.

Can px0 be used to inspect code on remote servers and cloud VMs?

Yes. px0 is remote-first. You can run `px0 -host 0.0.0.0` on any remote server, VM, CI runner, or container and browse the codebase directly from your local web browser over HTTP or TLS, without configuring SSH keys, setting up port-forwarding tunnels, or running heavy server daemons.

Why use a read-only IDE instead of a full editor like VS Code?

Code increasingly arrives from the terminal via AI coding agents, compilers, or remote test runners. Developers spend most of their time in verification, audit, and navigation. Full desktop IDEs take seconds to boot and consume 1.4+ GB of RAM just to read files. px0 starts in under 1 ms with ~20 MB RAM, providing zero-latency code reading without editor bloat.

Does px0 require language servers to work?

No. Language servers are completely optional. px0 automatically detects servers like gopls, rust-analyzer, or clangd on your PATH if present, but falls back instantly to a built-in regex-based outline and fuzzy search if no server is installed.

How does px0 handle large repositories?

px0 uses windowed syntax highlighting and virtual DOM rendering (only rendering visible rows on screen), so opening a 400,000-line file costs the same as a 10-line file. It fuzzy-finds across the Linux kernel (95,710 files) in 6 ms.

How do I install px0?

Run `curl -fsSL https://px0.ai/install.sh | sh` on macOS, Linux, or BSD. Prebuilt binaries for 15 OS and architecture targets are also available on GitHub Releases.

How do I avoid sudo prompts when installing or updating px0?

If px0 was previously installed with sudo, remove the active root-owned binary and reinstall cleanly to user space (~/.local/bin) by running: `sudo rm -f "$(which px0)" && curl -fsSL https://px0.ai/install.sh | sh`. All future updates will then run in user space with zero sudo requirements.

Does px0 collect telemetry or send code to the cloud?

No. px0 never transmits code, file paths, symbol names, or search queries. It collects lightweight, anonymous backend session metrics (start and stop times) strictly to measure daily active users and session duration. You can disable telemetry completely with `px0 -no-telemetry`, `DO_NOT_TRACK=1`, or `PX0_TELEMETRY=0`.

Installation & Setup

px0 is a single self-contained binary with zero external dependencies. It starts in under a millisecond and consumes approximately 20 MB of RAM.

Quick Install (macOS, Linux, BSD)

To install px0 as your regular user, run:

curl -fsSL https://px0.ai/install.sh | sh

The installer detects your operating system and architecture, downloads the verified binary, installs it into user space (~/.local/bin or standard PATH directory without requiring root), and ensures your shell PATH is configured.

Avoiding `sudo` Requirements (User-Space Migration)

If you previously installed px0 with sudo into a system directory (/usr/bin or /usr/local/bin), updates or subsequent installer runs may prompt for a sudo password.

As long as a root-owned binary exists in /usr/bin, $PATH precedence will target that binary and require administrator credentials.

Clean One-Liner Fix (Recommended)

Run the following one-liner to remove the old root-owned binary and switch permanently to clean, unprivileged user space:

sudo rm -f "$(which px0)" && curl -fsSL https://px0.ai/install.sh | sh

(This is the last time you will ever need sudo for px0).

What this does:

Locates and deletes the legacy root-owned binary using $(which px0) so it no longer shadows user directories.
Installs px0 cleanly into user space (~/.local/bin/px0) and configures ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc.
Ensures all future runs and updates via px0 -update execute with zero root privileges or sudo prompts.

Step-by-Step Breakdown

If you prefer to run each step manually:

Remove the active legacy binary:
```
sudo rm -f "$(which px0)"
```
Re-install cleanly as a regular user (no sudo):
```
curl -fsSL https://px0.ai/install.sh | sh
```

Reload shell configuration:

source ~/.bashrc   # or: source ~/.zshrc

Verify location and version:

which px0          # should output: ~/.local/bin/px0
px0 -version

Launching px0

Launch px0 by passing any directory path directly:

px0 /path/to/project

Or pass . (or omit the argument) to open the current working directory:

px0 .

px0 will immediately index the repository in the background, launch the local HTTP server, and open your default browser to http://127.0.0.1:7777.

Common CLI Options

-port 7777: Specify a custom listening port (pass 0 for an ephemeral free port).
-host 127.0.0.1: Bind address (0.0.0.0 exposes px0 across local networks or remote hosts).
-update: Check for and install the latest available release in user-space.

For the complete list of runtime parameters and flags, see the CLI Flags Reference.

Uninstallation

To remove px0, see the Uninstalling px0 guide.