⚡ Leo-Web... 3 Months Later

[Félix]

Hi everyone,

Three months ago, I got the first release of Leo-Web out the door: a browser-based version of Leo, built from the TypeScript core that also powers LeoJS.

At that point, Leo-Web was already usable, but it was still very much a fast first pass: I had taken the core TypeScript implementation of Leo and placed it inside a simple HTML/CSS/JavaScript interface as quickly as I could.

Since then, I’ve been using Leo-Web regularly, finding the rough edges, and filling in the missing pieces, trying to make Leo-Web feel more polished and complete.

One of the biggest additions is the documentation, embedded directly in the same URL/domain, for which I've again used the 'docusaurus' site generator. (similar to sphinx but uses '.md' markdown instead of '.rts')

Check it out at https://boltex.github.io/leo-web/docs

Some of the other big improvements since the initial release include:

• Fixed keybindings and improved right-click context menus across the interface and many other style & UI issues
• Implemented Leo’s abbreviations functionality
• Added the undo pane and the Nav Pane, with its quickSearch plugin features originally by Ville M. Vainio
• Added quick-find buttons to the Nav Pane
• Added a button toolbar for @button nodes, and icon buttons for common commands
• Added a welcome screen showing common outline-editing keybindings
• Added support for .leojs JSON format for myLeoSettings
• Added menu shortcuts and buttons to directly access the documentation more easily

The main goal has been to make Leo-Web feel less like a proof of concept and more like a real, practical way to use Leo directly in the browser.

Leo-Web still has the same basic idea: no installation, no server, and no account required. It runs locally in the browser and can work with files through the browser’s File System Access API.

I’d be very happy to hear feedback from Leo users :) 

Thanks again to everyone involved in Leo over the years.

For more info about my Leo related projects, or to give them a 'star' on github, all the links are on my home page: https://boltex.github.io/

Félix

---

Oh, and in case you missed my last post, here's a rundown of some of what it can do that you might not know about:

🖱️ Resize everything at once

• You can drag the intersection point of the pane resizers to resize all panes simultaneously.
  It’s a small detail, but once you notice it, it makes layout adjustments feel much more fluid than resizing panes one by one.

📱 Install it like a real app

• leo-web includes a web app manifest, which means you can install it as a standalone app.
  Once installed, it runs in its own window, without browser UI — essentially a native app experience.

⚙️ UI & behavior settings built-in

• The UI pane lets you tweak the visibility of UI components.
  This makes it easy for new users to tweak those details without using myLeoSettings.leo.

📜 Run scripts (JavaScript / TypeScript)

• leo-web supports Leo scripts written in JavaScript or TypeScript.
  That means browser-native scripting, easy experimentation, and direct access to the JS ecosystem.

🔍 “Go Anywhere” navigation (Ctrl+P)

• There’s a Ctrl+P “go-anywhere” command, inspired by editors like Sublime Text and VS Code.
  It lets you jump quickly across nodes by lazy-matching what you type to existing headlines.

 ⌨️ Command palette shortcuts

• The Alt+X command palette is also accessible via Ctrl + Shift + P
  So if you’re coming from other editors, your muscle memory already works here.

🧘 Quick “zen mode”

• Shift + F11 → toggle off the top menu & F11 → fullscreen
  Combined, they give you a clean, focused editing environment in seconds.

[Thomas Passin]

It sounds very good, Felix.  So much work! Is it possible to create custom menus to run user scripts?

[Edward K. Ream]

On Sun, Jul 5, 2026 at 3:28 PM Félix <felix...@gmail.com> wrote:

Three months ago, I got the first release of Leo-Web out the door: a browser-based version of Leo, built from the TypeScript core that also powers LeoJS.

At that point, Leo-Web was already usable, but it was still very much a fast first pass: I had taken the core TypeScript implementation of Leo and placed it inside a simple HTML/CSS/JavaScript interface as quickly as I could.

Since then, I’ve been using Leo-Web regularly, finding the rough edges, and filling in the missing pieces, trying to make Leo-Web feel more polished and complete.

One of the biggest additions is the documentation, embedded directly in the same URL/domain, for which I've again used the 'docusaurus' site generator. (similar to sphinx but uses '.md' markdown instead of '.rts')

Wow. Félix, this is spectacular work. It feels like desktop Leo in so many ways. And it goes beyond desktop Leo in some ways. For example, one click changes between light and dark mode.

It's dead easy to install the desktop app and pin it to the taskbar.

Edward

P.S. A quirp: what's up with the accent on the last character in the log pane?

not found: /leo-editor/leo/external/make_stub_files.cfg̀

EKR