Winston

A browser-based IDE built mobile-first: Monaco editor, real terminal sessions, an AI chat agent, and git panel, served over LAN so any device on the network can code.

TypeScript
Fastify
React
node-pty

Winston IDE with the Monaco editor open, file tree, terminal panel, and chat panel — Open full-size screenshot or illustration

Recorded walkthrough

Winston walkthrough: 32.52 seconds. Text walkthrough.

Written walkthrough

Recorded walkthrough (local instance against a scratch repository of fictional sample code): 1. Open Winston on desktop: file tree, editor, and terminal visible. 2. Open a file from the tree and edit it. 3. Run a harmless terminal command (echo) in the integrated terminal. 4. Switch to the mobile layout: bottom tab navigation across Files, Editor, Terminal, and Chat. The recording uses a disposable scratch repository; no personal projects are shown.

Winston editor with file tree and development panels. Open full-size screenshot

Winston desktop layout with sample code and terminal. Open full-size screenshot

Winston mobile layout with bottom tab navigation. Open full-size screenshot

What it is

Winston is a browser-based IDE served over the local network. The premise: your development environment should be reachable from your phone, tablet, or any machine on the LAN, without the interface falling apart on a small screen.

The problem it solves

Most remote-development tools treat mobile as a demo case. Real work happens in odd moments - reviewing a diff from the couch, running a command from a phone, editing a config from a laptop that has nothing installed. Winston treats the small screen as a first-class target while scaling up to a full desktop IDE experience.

My contribution

I built the server and client: the Fastify server with node-pty terminal sessions, the React frontend with resizable panes, the mobile-first navigation, and the OpenAI-compatible chat agent with tool use for file editing, terminal commands, and code search.

Architecture

Server: Node.js with Fastify, WebSocket transport, and real terminal sessions through node-pty - not a web shell simulation.
Frontend: React with Monaco Editor, xterm.js, and Allotment split panes.
AI: any OpenAI-compatible provider (Ollama, OpenRouter, or others), streaming with tool use.
PWA: service worker with offline support, share target, and install-to-home-screen.

Engineering decisions

Real terminals via node-pty. Simulating a shell in the browser breaks the moment a tool reads a TTY; node-pty keeps every CLI tool behaving as if a human typed it.

Mobile layout as a distinct mode, not a squeezed desktop. Bottom tab navigation across Files, Editor, Terminal, and Chat, with touch-optimized passive event listeners, rather than shrinking the desktop grid.

Provider-agnostic AI. The chat agent speaks the OpenAI-compatible protocol, so local models and hosted models are configuration, not different integrations.

Stack

TypeScript, Node.js, Fastify, node-pty, React, Vite, Monaco, xterm.js, WebSocket.

The walkthrough above was recorded against a scratch repository containing fictional sample code. Cross-device state sync is a feature of the product; this site does not host a terminal server.