hanzo-code

Hanzo Code is an open-source AI-native code editor -- a fork of VS Code (microsoft/vscode) with integrated LLM chat, autocomplete, inline diffs, and agent tool use baked directly into the editor core.

Hanzo Code - Open-Source AI Code Editor

Category: Hanzo Ecosystem Related Skills: hanzo/hanzo-extension.md, hanzo/hanzo-mcp.md, hanzo/hanzo-aci.md

Overview

Hanzo Code is an open-source AI-native code editor -- a fork of VS Code (microsoft/vscode) with integrated LLM chat, autocomplete, inline diffs, and agent tool use baked directly into the editor core. It is the open-source Cursor alternative. The custom AI code lives in src/vs/workbench/contrib/code/browser/. Ships as a standalone Electron desktop app for macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Why Hanzo Code?

Tech Stack

OSS Base

Fork of microsoft/vscode v1.94.0. Previously known as "Void Editor" -- references to void remain in internal code paths and product.json applicationName.

Repo: github.com/hanzoai/code

When to use

Hard requirements

  1. Node.js 20.18.x (see .nvmrc)
  2. npm (not pnpm -- this is a VS Code fork and uses npm workspaces)
  3. Python and XCode (macOS) or Visual Studio 2022 (Windows) or build-essential (Linux) for native modules
  4. Electron 34 (installed via devDependencies)

Quick reference

| Item | Value | |------|-------| | Website | https://code.hanzo.ai | | Repo | github.com/hanzoai/code | | Branch | main | | License | MIT | | Node Version | 20.18.2 | | Package Manager | npm (not pnpm) | | Editor Version | 1.94.0 (VS Code base) | | Custom Code Path | src/vs/workbench/contrib/code/browser/ | | Data Folder | ~/.code-editor | | Bundle ID (macOS) | com.hanzoai.code | | URL Protocol | code-editor:// |

One-file quickstart

Build and run from source

git clone https://github.com/hanzoai/code.git
cd code

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build React UI components
npm run buildreact

# Watch-compile the editor (wait for two checkmarks)
npm run watch

# In another terminal, launch the editor
./scripts/code.sh # macOS/Linux
# ./scripts/code.bat # Windows

# Optional: isolate test data
./scripts/code.sh --user-data-dir ./.tmp/user-data --extensions-dir ./.tmp/extensions

Package for distribution

# macOS Apple Silicon
npm run gulp vscode-darwin-arm64

# macOS Intel
npm run gulp vscode-darwin-x64

# Windows
npm run gulp vscode-win32-x64

# Linux
npm run gulp vscode-linux-x64

Output folder appears as a sibling directory (e.g. ../VSCode-darwin-arm64/).

Core Concepts

Architecture

Code is an Electron app with two processes:

┌───────────────────────────────┐
│ Browser Process │
│ (HTML/CSS/React UI) │
│ │
│ src/.../code/browser/ │
│ ├── react/ (React) │
│ ├── chatThreadService │
│ ├── autocompleteService │
│ ├── editCodeService │
│ ├── toolsService │
│ ├── inlineDiffsService │
│ └── sidebarPane │
└──────────┬────────────────────┘
 │ IPC channels
┌──────────▼────────────────────┐
│ Main Process │
│ (Node.js, node_modules) │
│ │
│ sendLLMMessage (all providers│
│ Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, │
│ Mistral, Groq, Ollama) │
└───────────────────────────────┘

Key Services

| Service | File | Purpose | |---------|------|---------| | chatThreadService | 67KB | Chat sidebar message handling, streaming, agent mode | | editCodeService | 89KB | Apply (Fast/Slow), Cmd+K, Edit tool -- all code modifications | | autocompleteService | 33KB | Inline completions from LLM | | inlineDiffsService | 64KB | Red/green diff rendering for pending changes | | toolsService | 24KB | Agent tool registration and execution | | terminalToolService | 14KB | Terminal command execution for agent | | voidSettingsService | -- | Provider/model configuration (implicit dependency for all AI services) | | contextGatheringService | 13KB | File and selection context for LLM prompts | | voidCommandBarService | 28KB | Command palette integration |

Apply System

Two modes:

Key types:

VS Code Internals

Directory structure

code/
├── src/vs/workbench/contrib/code/browser/ # ALL custom Hanzo Code AI features
│ ├── react/ # React UI (chat sidebar, settings)
│ ├── helpers/ # Shared utility functions
│ ├── helperServices/ # Small helper singleton services
│ ├── prompt/ # LLM prompt templates
│ ├── media/ # CSS and assets
│ ├── chatThreadService.ts # Chat + agent orchestration
│ ├── editCodeService.ts # Apply, Cmd+K, Edit tool
│ ├── autocompleteService.ts # Inline completions
│ ├── inlineDiffsService.ts # Diff visualization
│ ├── toolsService.ts # Agent tool system
│ └── ... # 35+ service files
├── src/vs/ # VS Code core (mostly untouched)
├── extensions/ # Built-in VS Code extensions
├── build/ # Build scripts (Gulp tasks)
├── cli/ # CLI tool
├── remote/ # Remote development server
├── test/ # Test infrastructure
├── product.json # Editor identity and branding
├── package.json # npm deps (v1.94.0)
└── .nvmrc # Node 20.18.2

Troubleshooting

| Issue | Cause | Solution | |-------|-------|----------| | Build fails with native module errors | Wrong Node version | Use Node 20.18.x (check .nvmrc) | | TypeError: Failed to fetch dynamically imported module | Missing .js extension in imports | Ensure all TS imports end with .js | | Missing styles after build | CSS not yet compiled | Wait a few seconds, then Cmd+R to reload | | React UI not rendering | React not built | Run npm run buildreact before watch | | CSP errors with local LLM | Provider called from browser process | LLM calls must go through electron-main IPC | | Extensions gallery empty | Missing extensionsGallery in product.json | Already configured for VS Marketplace |

Development rules (from .voidrules)

Related Skills

Last Updated: 2026-03-13 Category: Hanzo Ecosystem Related: editor, vscode, ai, llm, cursor-alternative Prerequisites: Node.js 20, npm, platform build tools (XCode/VS/gcc)