essa-editor 1.0.0

Terminal Markdown word processor with live inline styling and spell check

Essa Editor

A terminal Markdown word processor. Single Python file, pure-Python dependencies, works in a bare TTY or over SSH.

        _.._
       /   _ `.
      /  /   `.\
     |  |      `>_
  > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    E S S A   E D I T O R

Features

• Live inline styling (WYSIWYG): **bold** renders bold, *italic* renders italic, <u>underline</u> (or ++underline++) renders underlined — as you type. Markers stay visible but dimmed, so cursor positions always map 1:1 to the file on disk. Headers, lists, blockquotes, inline/fenced code, links, and ~~strikethrough~~ are also styled.
• Spell check: misspellings get a red underline. F7 opens a suggestion popup (Enter replaces, a adds the word to a personal dictionary), F8 jumps to the next misspelling, F3 toggles checking. Code spans, fenced blocks, URLs, and ALL-CAPS acronyms are skipped.
• Toggleable mouse (F2): ON = click to place the cursor, drag to select, wheel to scroll. OFF = the editor releases the mouse so your terminal's native selection and copy/paste work.
• 256-color theme, line numbers, current-line highlight, soft wrap (F6), incremental search (Ctrl+F), undo, cut/copy/paste.

Install

Dependencies are prompt_toolkit and pyspellchecker (both pure Python, no compilation). On Debian/Ubuntu the system Python is externally managed, so use a venv:

python3 -m venv ~/.local/share/essaedit-venv
~/.local/share/essaedit-venv/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt

Then make it callable. For fish:

alias --save essa "~/.local/share/essaedit-venv/bin/python3 /path/to/essaedit.py"

For bash/zsh, add to your ~/.bashrc / ~/.zshrc:

alias essa='~/.local/share/essaedit-venv/bin/python3 /path/to/essaedit.py'

Or just chmod +x essaedit.py and point the shebang at the venv python.

Optional: pip install pyperclip lets Ctrl+C/X/V use the system clipboard instead of the internal one. This needs a graphical session — apt install xclip on X11, or wl-clipboard on Wayland. On a bare TTY (no X/Wayland) there's no system clipboard; the internal clipboard works fine there.

Usage

essa notes.md          # opens (or creates on save)
essa --no-mouse        # start with mouse capture off
essa --no-spell        # start with spell check off

Keys

Key	Action
Ctrl+S	Save (prompts for a name if untitled)
Ctrl+O	Open file
Ctrl+N	New buffer
Ctrl+Q	Quit (asks about unsaved changes)
Ctrl+B	Bold — wraps selection in **, or inserts markers
Alt+I	Italic (Ctrl+I is indistinguishable from Tab in terminals)
Ctrl+U	Underline (<u>…</u>)
Ctrl+Z	Undo
Ctrl+X / C / V	Cut / Copy / Paste
Ctrl+F	Search (Enter = next match, Esc = cancel)
Tab	Insert 4 spaces
F1	Help overlay
F2	Toggle mouse capture
F3	Toggle spell check
F6	Toggle soft wrap
F7	Spelling suggestions for word under cursor
F8	Jump to next misspelled word

Formatting keys toggle: select already-wrapped text (with or without the markers) and press the key again to unwrap.

Notes

• The personal dictionary lives at ~/.config/essaedit/dictionary.txt, one word per line. Edit it freely.
• Underline isn't part of standard Markdown; <u> tags are the portable convention and survive most renderers. ++text++ is also styled for editors that use that extension.
• Inline markers must open and close on the same line to render (line-based lexer).
• snake_case_identifiers are not treated as italics — underscore emphasis only triggers at word boundaries.
• Files are read and written as UTF-8.

License

GNU General Public License v3.0 or later. Copyright (C) 2026 Colin Lewis.