px0 is the IDE for humans and AI, optimized for quick, fast code reviews. It boots in under 1 millisecond and uses approximately 20 MB of RAM, turning your browser into a zero-latency code review and inspection console with native Git/GitHub integration and AI harness connectivity.

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 px0 instead of a heavy 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 inspect files. px0 starts in under 1 ms with ~20 MB RAM, providing zero-latency code reading and delegated agent editing 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`.

Themes & Interface Customization

px0 ships with 14 built-in syntax and interface themes optimized for code legibility across both dark and light environments.

Available Themes

The following themes are included out of the box:

Theme Name	Style	Characteristics
Tokyo Night (Default)	Dark	Deep violet background with neon cyan and magenta accents
Catppuccin Mocha	Dark	Warm pastel palette on soothing dark mauve
Catppuccin Latte	Light	Clean, high-contrast daytime pastel palette
Dracula	Dark	Vibrant pink, purple, and green syntax accents
GitHub Dark	Dark	Default GitHub code audit appearance
GitHub Light	Light	High-contrast black on white documentation style
Gruvbox Dark	Dark	Warm retro autumnal earthy tones
Gruvbox Light	Light	Parchment warm background with retro accents
Nord	Dark	Arctic, north-bluish clean aesthetic
One Dark	Dark	Classic Atom / VS Code dark blue-gray
Solarized Dark	Dark	Precision-calibrated blue-green palette
Solarized Light	Light	Warm solarized yellow-tinted daylight theme
Monokai	Dark	High-contrast yellow, green, and orange syntax
Rose Pine	Dark	Muted vintage minimalist aesthetic

Switching Themes

You can change themes through multiple methods:

Click the Theme Button in the bottom left footer of the sidebar (or press the theme icon on the activity rail) to open the theme selection dropdown.

Method 2: Command Palette (`Ctrl+Shift+P` or `Cmd+Shift+P`)

Press Ctrl+Shift+P to open the Command Palette.
Type Theme and select Preferences: Select Theme.
Use the arrow keys to preview themes dynamically in real time and press Enter to commit your choice.

Method 3: Visual Settings Manager (`Cmd+,` or `Ctrl+,`)

Press Cmd+, (or Ctrl+,) to open the Settings Manager, locate Workbench: Color Theme (workbench.colorTheme), and click any theme pill button to apply it instantly.

Persistence

Your selected theme is automatically saved to your user settings (~/.px0/settings.json) and restored whenever you open any px0 session on that machine.

Theme Architecture & CSS Tokens

px0 uses a strict CSS Custom Property token architecture. Rather than hardcoding hex colors across components, the entire interface is styled through semantic CSS variables defined in /static/themes.css.

Key color tokens include:

--bg-main: #1a1b26;        /* Main editor background */
--bg-side: #16161e;        /* Sidebar and activity rail */
--bg-tab: #1f2335;         /* Active tab background */
--fg-main: #c0caf5;        /* Default editor text */
--fg-dim: #565f89;         /* Comments and line numbers */
--accent: #7aa2f7;         /* Selection and highlights */
--git-mod: #e0af68;        /* Git modified badge */
--git-add: #9ece6a;        /* Git added badge */
--git-del: #f7768e;        /* Git deleted badge */

Because themes are clean modular stylesheets, they load with zero runtime JavaScript overhead.