Kakoune

Judgement

What it is

Developer tool

What it does

A modal terminal code editor built around multiple selections, where you select text first and then act on it, extended with shell scripts.

Adopt it when

You like modal editing and want multiple selections at the centre of it, with a small core you extend through Unix tools.

Watch out

Its community is small, it does not run natively on Windows, and LSP support relies on the separate kak-lsp plugin.

Ready for

Usable

Runs as

Command line

Built with

C++

How established

Established: started 15 years ago, latest release v2026.05.21.

What the license allows

You can take the code into anything, including a product you sell, with no conditions.

Judged on 2026-11-06 from the project's README and GitHub data. The license and age lines are worked out directly.

Built from

Follow it down: Kakoune → LLVM project → runs on a microchip

How compilers were built, back to punched paper tape

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