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`.

CLI Flags & Parameters

This reference covers the complete list of startup arguments and command options supported by the px0 executable.

Command Syntax

px0 [flags] [file or directory]

If [file or directory] is omitted, px0 opens the current working directory (.). You can pass either a folder to browse an entire codebase or a single file to jump directly into it.

Complete Flags Reference

Flag	Type	Default	Description
`-port <int>`	integer	`7777`	Port to listen on. Passing `0` automatically picks a random free port.
`-host <string>`	string	`127.0.0.1`	Network interface address to bind. Use `0.0.0.0` to expose px0 over local networks, Docker containers, or remote cloud VMs.
`-no-open`	boolean	`false`	Do not launch the default web browser automatically on startup. Useful for background execution or remote sessions.
`-no-lsp`	boolean	`false`	Do not use language servers (such as `gopls`, `rust-analyzer`, or `clangd`), even if installed on `$PATH`. Falls back to the built-in regex outline and search.
`-no-git`	boolean	`false`	Disable git repository awareness, branch detection, status badges, and diff overlays.
`-no-color`	boolean	`false`	Disable ANSI color codes in terminal startup output.
`-no-telemetry`	boolean	`false`	Disable anonymous usage telemetry reporting.
`-quiet`	boolean	`false`	Suppress informational startup narration in the terminal.
`-update`	boolean	`false`	Check for, download, and install the latest available release of px0 directly into user space.
`-v, -version`	boolean	`false`	Print px0 version and exit.

Examples

Ephemeral Port and Headless Mode (Remote / Agent Workflow)

px0 -port 0 -no-open /path/to/project

Exposing Across Local Network or Cloud VM

px0 -host 0.0.0.0 -port 8080 /path/to/project

Self-Update to Latest Release

px0 -update