explaingit

voideditor/void

★ 28,769TypeScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 4/5MaintainedLicenseSetup · moderate

TLDR

Open-source code editor with AI agents that send requests directly to your chosen AI provider, built on VS Code with privacy-first design and local model support.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((Void Editor))
    What it does
      AI code assistant
      VS Code based
      Change visualization
      Checkpoint system
    Key features
      Direct API calls
      Privacy focused
      Bring your own AI
      Local model support
    Use cases
      AI-assisted coding
      Code review automation
      Self-hosted setup
    Tech stack
      TypeScript
      VS Code foundation
    Audience
      Developers
      Privacy conscious
      Self-hosters

Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Use AI agents to automatically write, review, or refactor code while maintaining full control over which AI service processes your code.

USE CASE 2

Run a self-hosted AI coding environment with your own language model instead of relying on a proprietary cloud service.

USE CASE 3

Checkpoint and visualize code changes made by AI agents to understand and approve modifications before committing them.

Tech stack

TypeScriptVisual Studio CodeNode.js

Getting it running

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires Node.js runtime and VS Code extension setup; API key configuration for chosen AI provider needed to see functional agents.

Use freely for any purpose including commercial. Keep the notice and disclose changes to the patent grant.

In plain English

Void is an open-source code editor designed as an alternative to AI-powered editors like Cursor. It lets developers use AI agents (automated AI assistants) directly on their codebase to write, review, or transform code. A key feature is that it sends your messages directly to AI providers without storing your data on Void's own servers, giving you more control over privacy. You can also bring your own AI model or run one locally on your own machine. Void is built on top of the Visual Studio Code (vscode) codebase, meaning it looks and works like VS Code but adds its own AI-focused features, including the ability to checkpoint and visualize changes as the AI modifies your code. The README notes that the team has paused active development on this editor to explore new ideas, so some features may stop working over time and the project may not resume as a full IDE. The source code remains available and the team will respond to email inquiries about building or maintaining your own version. The project is written in TypeScript and is relevant to developers who want an open-source, self-hostable AI coding environment with full control over which AI model or service they use, rather than relying on a proprietary product.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
How do I set up Void editor with my own OpenAI API key so the AI sends requests directly to OpenAI instead of through Void's servers?
Prompt 2
Show me how to run a local language model with Void editor and configure it as my AI agent for code generation.
Prompt 3
What are the steps to fork and build my own version of Void editor from the source code?
Open on GitHub → Explain another repo

Generated 2026-05-18 · Model: sonnet-4-6 · Verify against the repo before relying on details.