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Python 3.11+ Platform Tkinter LSP Debugger Ollama AI GUI Designer Active Development

IDOL is what IDLE could have been — a full Python IDE with professional-grade tools (Designer, LSP, git, terminal, split editor) and a built-in learning platform designed to grow with you. Beginner-friendly without being beginner-limited. Pure Python, no Electron, no dependencies beyond pip.

Runs natively on Windows, macOS, and Linux from a single codebase.

What's coming next? See the ROADMAP for in-progress work, the planned backlog, and long-term ideas.

pip install -r requirements.txt
python main.py

For AI features: install Ollama and run ollama pull qwen2.5-coder

For Git features: install Git

→ Full setup guide

The only Python IDE with a VB6-style visual form designer built in. Drag-and-drop canvas, 17 widget types, live property editing, variable binding, menu builder, and clean class-based code generation — all in a Tkinter project.

Beyond widgets, the designer ships non-visual components (Timer, CommonDialog, Socket, Image) you drop into a component tray, and a catalog-driven Handlers system that wires component actions and form events to widgets with a click — no boilerplate. There's also a Canvas Item Designer for placing shapes, text, and images directly on a Canvas widget.

→ Full designer docs — covers components, handlers, and the canvas item editor in detail

Multi-tab editing with canvas-native syntax highlighting (regex-rule, no Pygments), code folding, sticky scroll, minimap, multi-cursor (Alt+Click), line move/duplicate, smart pairs, split editor with scroll sync, and VS Code-style find & replace.

→ Full editor docs

ruff diagnostics on every keystroke (three severity tiers, cascade suppression), Problems panel with hover tooltips and AI double-click, pylsp hover docs, autocomplete, and go-to-definition.

→ Full intelligence docs

Command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P), AST-based Outline panel, File Explorer with inline new-file/rename, Find References, and a breadcrumb bar with a filename-crumb file picker, locals drill-down, and sibling picker.

→ Full navigation docs

Staging/unstaging, commit, push/pull, gutter diff strips, Git Health panel with one-click fixes, commit history with inline diffs, inline file explanations, and a guided Fix Wizard.

→ Full git docs

Full VT100 PTY terminal (PowerShell/bash/zsh/Python REPL), venv and conda detection toolbar (activate/deactivate/switch, no conda init needed), Run/Output panel with inline stdin bar, Run Line, Run Selection, and runtime error indicators. An interactive Python REPL is included out of the box — no configuration required.

→ Full terminal docs

debugpy over DAP — breakpoints with VS Code-style gutter, step controls (F5/F10/F11), LOCALS + BREAKPOINTS panel, floating debug panel, two debug targets (Output or Terminal). No per-project install needed.

→ Full debugger docs

Local Ollama LLM — fully offline, no API key. Send File, Send Selection, streaming responses, syntax-highlighted code blocks, token counter, conversation save/load, and remote host support.

→ Full AI chat docs

Installed packages grouped by topic, live filter, package search, install/uninstall with live output, and AI examples — all tied to the active interpreter. Conda environments get a conda backend automatically: search runs against your configured conda channels (with a conda ↔ PyPI source toggle), installs route by where you found the package, and uninstalls route to the tool that installed it.

→ Full package manager docs

Click any IDE element for a three-section explanation (what it is, how it works, real-world example) — the click is intercepted, so you can click Commit or a tab's ×ばつ and just read about it. AI Ask button streams a beginner-friendly explanation via Ollama. Covers 20+ IDE elements.

→ Full learning mode docs

4-step project setup wizard, per-project interpreter selection, venv and conda env management (conda interpreters discovered automatically; the wizard can create project-local .conda/ envs), session persistence, .idol-project files, zen mode, and status bar with live git branch and diagnostic count.

→ Full project docs