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`.

Fixing “sudo” Prompts on Install or Update

When running the install script or executing px0 -update, you may see a prompt requesting sudo permissions or system administrator credentials:

[sudo] password for user:

Or when running self-updates on a legacy installation:

permission denied writing to /usr/bin/px0

Many developers prefer not granting sudo permissions to install scripts, or operate in restricted environments where root access is not available.

Why the Script Prompts for `sudo`

This typically happens if px0 was previously installed into a root-owned system directory such as /usr/bin or /usr/local/bin.

System Directory Ownership: Files in /usr/bin require root permissions to overwrite or update.
$PATH Shadowing: In Linux and macOS, /usr/bin typically takes precedence over user directories like ~/.local/bin. As long as a root-owned px0 binary exists in your $PATH, running the installer or invoking px0 will continue targeting the root-owned binary, triggering a sudo password prompt.

The Clean Solution: User-Space Installation

The modern installer can run 100% in user space (~/.local/bin/px0). In user space:

No root access or sudo passwords are ever needed.
px0 -update downloads and verifies new releases seamlessly without permission prompts.
Binaries are isolated strictly to your own user profile.

Recommended One-Liner

To remove the old root-owned binary and switch permanently to clean user-space mode, run:

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 Happens Behind the Scenes

sudo rm -f "$(which px0)" deletes the active root-owned binary wherever it is located in your system $PATH.
The install.sh script executes as your standard unprivileged user, automatically selecting ~/.local/bin/px0.
If ~/.local/bin is not yet present in your $PATH, the script configures your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc.
All future invocations and updates via px0 -update operate completely in user space with zero sudo prompts.

Verification

Reload your shell and confirm the active binary path:

source ~/.bashrc   # or: source ~/.zshrc
which px0

The output should point to your home directory:

/home/<user>/.local/bin/px0

You can now run px0 -update anytime with zero administrative privileges.