Native desktop app combining terminal, code editor, and dev tools in one window.

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Binder is a native desktop app (C++ + WebView + React) built for developers who want their terminal, editor, and tooling all in one place without the weight of an Electron app.

Core features

• Terminal: multi-tab sessions (any shell), session restore, Ctrl+click paths and URLs
• Code editor: GPU-accelerated, tree-sitter syntax highlighting, file explorer, split panes, find/replace, minimap
• Performance: real-time CPU, memory, disk, GPU, and network graphs
• Problems: code diagnostics scanner with CWE vulnerability detection
• Themes: dark and light presets, full live custom theme editor and keybinding customization

Apps

Binder has an in-app store for installing and uninstalling tools as needed. All current apps are built and maintained by BinderTools, with community-built apps also available.

App	Description
Version Control	Stage, commit, branch, and review diffs
Database	Browse and query .db/.sqlite files in the current project
Live Preview	Preview .md/.html files and forwarded URLs without leaving the app
Ports & Endpoints	Inspect open ports, manage port forwards, and track HTTP endpoints
Workflows	Define, run, and monitor multi-step automation workflows
Notepad	Persistent in-app note-taking

Syntax highlighting

Tree-sitter grammars are compiled into the binary. Supported: Bash, C, C++, C#, CSS, Dockerfile, Go, HTML, Java, JavaScript, JSON, Lua, Markdown, Python, Rust, SCSS, TOML, TypeScript, TSX, YAML, Zig.

Install

Download from the Releases page.

Artifact	Platform
Binder-setup-windows.exe	Windows installer (stable)
Binder-setup-dev-windows.exe	Windows installer (dev channel)
Binder-windows-amd64.exe	Windows portable

Build from Source

Requirements: CMake 3.26+, vcpkg, Node.js 18+, Python 3, MSVC (Windows)

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/BinderTools/binder
cd binder

Set VCPKG_ROOT to your vcpkg installation, then:

./build.ps1

Flags:

./build.ps1 -AppOnly     # skip setup installers
./build.ps1 -SetupOnly   # skip the main app
./build.ps1 -Version v1.2.3

Output goes to cpp/build/Release/. If you cloned without --recurse-submodules:

git submodule update --init --recursive

License

MIT — Copyright © 2026 Kris Powers