Runners

Runners let you "run" the file or project you are currently working on, right from the editor. Instead of manually copying a command into the terminal, you press a button and the editor figures out what to do.

The Run Button

The run button is a global command (default keybind F5). It is only visible if there is a runner available for either:

• the current file (the file open in the active editor tab), or
• the project root (the current editor tab's project).

When you press the run button, and exactly one runner matches, it runs immediately. If multiple runners match, a bottom sheet lets you choose which runner to use.

Long-pressing the run button forces the picker to appear even when only one runner matches, so you can see which runners are available.

Before running, the editor saves the current file, so your script always sees the latest on-disk content.

Types of Runners

Xed-Editor supports four kinds of runners, which differ in how they are defined and where they come from.

Kind	Defined by	Lives in
Built-in runners	The app itself (Kotlin code)	Shipped with the app
Shell runners	You (a name + a regex + a .sh script)	<private>/local/runners/
Project runners	Your project (a .xed/runner.sh file)	Inside your project
Extension runners	An extension (Kotlin code)	Inside the extension

Built-in Runners

These ship with Xed-Editor and are always available (unless disabled in Settings → Runners).

• HTML preview – Starts a local HTTP server and previews the HTML file (with optional Eruda DevTools injected). It supports *.html, *.htm, *.xhtml, *.xht and *.svg files.
• Markdown preview – Renders a Markdown file in an in-app viewer. It supports *.md, *.markdown, *.mdown, etc.
• Project runner – Runs a project's .xed/runner.sh script if it exists.
• Universal runner – detects the file type and compiles/runs it inside the Ubuntu sandbox (Python, JS, TS, Java, Kotlin, Rust, C/C++, ...). It matches a large set of source file extensions.

Creating a Shell Runner

Shell runners are the simplest way to add a custom runner without writing any Kotlin code. They are just a name, a regex, and a Bash script.

Create It

1. Go to Settings → Runners.
2. Tap the + (FAB) button.
3. Enter a name for the runner (letters, numbers, _ and - only; it must be unique).
4. Enter a regex pattern that matches the files this runner should handle, e.g. .*\.py.
5. Tap Create.

INFO

The regex is matched against the file name, not the full path. Invalid regexes are rejected when you type them.

Edit the Script

Back in Settings → Runners, tap the runner's row. Xed-Editor opens the <name>.sh script in the editor. This script is executed with:

bash <private>/local/runners/<name>.sh /path/to/the/matched/file

So $1 is always the absolute path of the file that matched. Write whatever you want: compile and run, echo a message, call xed to open files, etc.

Because scripts run via bash inside the terminal sandbox, everything available in the terminal is available here (apt, node, python, compilers, ...).

Toggle / Edit / Delete

• Toggle – use the switch to enable/disable the runner without deleting it.
• Edit – tap the pencil icon to change the regex (the name is fixed, because the script file is named after it).
• Delete – tap the trash icon to remove the runner and its script file.

Creating a Project Runner

Project runners let a project declare how to run itself. Create a file named runner.sh inside a .xed directory at the project root:

my-project/
├── .xed/
│   └── runner.sh      ← executable script
└── ...

When the project is selected (as an editor tab's project or as a file tree tab), the Project runner is available and runs:

bash <project-root>/.xed/runner.sh

with the working directory set to the project root. Make sure the script is executable (chmod +x).