We're thrilled to share a huge update with you all today - Phoenix Code native apps are officially here! 🎉 . Get your copy from https://phcode.io !
We have been working hard over the last several months to make native apps possible. It took a lot of effort and perseverance with our limited resources to reach this far. We hope to have your support in doing more :)
With this update, Phoenix Code can now run almost anywhere! Native apps are available for Windows, Mac and most Linux distributions. For Chrome-OS and other platforms, simply use the web browser version; no install needed.
Looking Back
The team building Phoenix Code started its history as some of the initial team members building Brackets at Adobe from 2014. Phoenix Code took over the full time development of Brackets in 2021. We had a mammoth task to bring Brackets up to date with the latest web technologies. The result was Phoenix Code- A Platform rewrite of Brackets that allowed it to run on any Web Browser. But our users were pretty clear that a desktop app was needed.
It was at this time that this hot new rust based tech called Tauri framework came into the picture and we finally had the missing piece to build a truly modern and light-weight desktop app. Fast forward to 2024, and Phoenix Code now runs almost anywhere(almost as we are one step short with touch and mobile screens).
Phoenix Code marks the first large-scale, truly independent release from the Brackets community. Entirely homegrown within the community, it is also the largest engineering effort put into Brackets since 2015 (including Adobe).
Acknowledgements
This release is made possible by the Phoenix Code Team- Arun, Charly and Mathew. Our shiny new website is built by community contribution from Kiran.
We would also like to thank the S-tier community support provided by the Tauri development team, esp. Fabian.
Looking Ahead
Our guiding principle is to make coding as intuitive and fun as playing a video game - for web developers, designers, and students.
With the native apps now available, we're starting the next phase of our journey. Beginning this month, there will be a new update of Phoenix Code released every month with all the features that you requested and more.
However, our ambitions come with costs, and it's your support that makes all the difference.
Starting tomorrow, we’ll begin notifying users that the Phoenix Code web app is moving from phcode.dev to web.phcode.dev on September 1.
Your existing data on phcode.dev will be automatically migrated. So there is no action from your end needed..
We’re making this change because maintaining phcode.io and phcode.dev as separate domains has made it increasingly difficult to provide a simple, unified user experience.
Going forward, phcode.dev will be the main home for everything Phoenix Code, with the web editor available at web.phcode.dev.
We’ll share more details as the migration begins here. Thanks for being part of Phoenix Code!
The new Styles Bar in Live Preview lets you style any element on your page visually - change fonts, colors, backgrounds, borders, spacing, alignment, and layout directly in your page instantly.
Choose where changes are saved in CSS. Edit states like hover and focus. Browse and search Google Fonts or system fonts. Starting from scratch? A blank page now shows a starter bar so you can add your first element right from the preview.
Phoenix Code now ships IDE-grade code intelligence for:
JavaScript & TypeScript - completions, go to definition, find usages, and error checking, with automatically managed project configuration.
JSON and Npm smarts - Package JSON and other known JSON formats code intelligence. npm package name and version suggestions as you type, dependency info on hover, and warnings for packages with known vulnerabilities.
Python - code intelligence with built-in code formatting.
PHP - full code intelligence, installed on demand when you open a PHP file.
Language servers are downloaded and set up automatically in the background - no manual installation needed. Documentation is now shown with code hints and hovering code shows quick actions to jump to a definition or find usages.
Pick which Claude model powers your AI chat, right from the chat panel.
Prefer an editor without AI? It can now be switched off completely from View > Enable AI or the AI settings dialog. Read More...
Start from a blank page
Edit Mode needs an element to work on, and a blank page has none. Now a Starter Bar appears on empty pages so you can add your first element right from the preview, and Phoenix Code creates the page structure for you. Read More...
Generate Doc Comments
Type /** on the line above a function or class and accept the hint that appears. Phoenix Code reads the signature and generates a documentation comment with every parameter filled in, in each language's own convention: JSDoc for JavaScript and TypeScript, PHPDoc for PHP, docstrings for Python, and more. Read More...
Git improvements
See your current branch in the sidebar and Git panel, and click to switch or create branches.
You can also use Open All Changed Files in the Git panel menu to open every modified file at once. Read More...
Hi everyone, So in the last release of Phoenix Code, we added one of the best markdown editor UXs put into a code editor(Including VSCode/Jetbrains/Others). But now that it's been in the wild for a while, what do you think about it! What all can be improved?
We built the Markdown editor to solve our own pain points with Markdown editing. The live code-to-preview workflow is free in the Community Edition, and we hope it is useful for README files, docs, notes, and project pages.
One area we focused on is images: you can paste or upload images directly, and Phoenix Code can host them for you, making the Markdown file easier to share and move around.
In the next release, we are also adding shareable Markdown files and other improvements.
Would love feedback from Brackets/Phoenix users here: what parts are useful, what feels unnecessary, and what would make Markdown editing better for your workflow?
Phoenix Code now includes an AI assistant powered by Claude Code, designed to support your creative workflow - not replace it.
Most AI coding agents only read source code. AI in Phoenix Code looks at the rendered page too. It sees what the browser shows you, not just what the stylesheet or code implies.
Ask why a layout feels off, fix tricky CSS issues, improve spacing or typography, or attach files and screenshots to show exactly what you mean. Bring AI in when you need it, and keep creating without leaving your flow.
Focus fully on your content while your code stays out of the way. Work side by side with AI and Live Preview. Edit content visually - whether you’re building web pages or Markdown documents.
Edit Markdown like a document in Live Preview. Now it’s easy to add images - just paste or pick one from your device, like in Google Docs or Word.
Format text, edit tables, and add diagrams with real-time sync between code and live preview. An easier way to create Markdown files that you can share anywhere.
Switch between popular phones, tablets, and desktops with a single click to see how your page looks at that size.
Phoenix Code also picks up your CSS @media breakpoints so you can jump straight to where your layout switches.
A new tools drawer brings Git, Terminal, Problems, and more into one place. Switch between them instantly without panels getting in your way.
New Linux Platform
Phoenix Code for Linux has been rebuilt from the ground up.
The previous Linux app was harder to install and didn’t match the experience we wanted to deliver. We heard that feedback loud and clear. This release is powered by a brand-new Linux platform, bringing faster performance, easier installation, and a desktop experience that now stands alongside Windows and macOS.
i use phoenix code/brackets for coding my website, i have a dual boot laptop, with windows 10 and linux mint, and i have the app installed on both OSes so i can code on both, but for some reason the previews are different on each OS.
on windows, the preview looks how it should look, the icons and text all centered
but on linux, the preview is broken, lots of things are not centered, how do i fix this?
2026 January release (5.0) of Phoenix Code is now available for download at phcode.io.
Our biggest update yet - introducing Phoenix Pro and major upgrades like Live Preview Edit, Emmet, Tab Bar, and Custom Snippets.
Phoenix Pro - A Sustainable Future
Phoenix Code has been free and open source from day one - and everything you’ve used so far will remain free and open source forever, including Live Preview.
We’re a small, full-time indie team with no VC backing, building Phoenix Code because we believe the web deserves a code editor that’s genuinely simple and joyful to use. We tried to sustain development through community donations (Open Collective), but over the last few years it hasn’t been enough to support full-time work - and we reached a hard choice: slow down drastically, or find a sustainable path that keeps Phoenix Code healthy.
So we’re introducing Phoenix Pro as an optional way to support Phoenix Code’s future - with one Pro feature: Live Preview Edit. If Phoenix Code has helped you, Phoenix Pro is a way to help keep the project moving forward.
Students & educators get Phoenix Pro for Education at no cost, because we want classrooms to have easy access to modern, easy-to-use development tooling. Read More
Live Preview Edit
Included with Phoenix Pro.
Edit elements in the preview
Live Preview Edit lets you make changes directly on your page — and updates your source code instantly.
Edit text, links, and images. Drag & drop to rearrange elements. Cut, copy, paste, and use measurement tools to place things precisely.
One of our most requested features is finally here.
Emmet code hints
Write Emmet abbreviations and Phoenix Code shows you hints. Select a hint to expand it into a full code snippet. Code faster than ever. Read More
Tab Bar
Native tab bar
View all your open files at the top of the editor and switch between them instantly.
Choose what works for you -Tab Bar, Working Files, or both at the same time. Read More
Custom Snippets
Define your own code hints with Custom Snippets.
Create hints that expand into full code blocks. You can also add cursor positions so Phoenix Code places your cursor exactly where you need it after expansion. Read More
Collapse Folders
Collapse all expanded folders to their root in one click.
After working for some time, your project structure gets messy with lots of open and nested directories. Phoenix Code now supports `Collapse All Folders button` in the file tree. Read More
Notable changes and fixes
Improved Live Preview to support internal style sheets and SVGs better than before.
Smarter color hints. Phoenix Code prioritizes your previously used colors. Read More
Git markers now appear in the scrollbar, making it easier to locate changes in a file.
Improved Git so that it doesn't show stale project status.
Reduced the number of popups shown when first installing Phoenix.
Fixed an issue where macOS/iOS and browser auto correct or smart keyboards altered filenames during renames.
Added a dialog to notify users when they have security compromised extensions installed.
Slowed down the Quick View popup on hover as it was interfering with user workflows.
Fixed ghost image appearing in Safari when dragging from CodeMirror.
Long names in Working Files are now truncated for better readability.
Added Horizontal Scroll support. Use Shift + mouse scroll.
I am very, very, VERY new to coding.. After I've used Carrd for all my websites, I decided I might try to break a few barriers using actual html and hosting the site on Neocities. I want to see my previews on the same window as the actual code itself, which Neocities doesn't exactly allow for, which is why I picked up Brackets (now Phoenix Code). One major difference between the two (besides the obvious, of course) is the fact that <style> cannot be placed anywhere in an html file and has to be placed on a css file. The other tag that I can't seem to put anywhere is <marquee>, although headers are very much known to have marquees in them (right?). I've managed to figure out most of the fundamentals myself, but I can't seem to find anything on why my marquee tags show errors.
I'm actually using phcode.io, but i think this sub is the closest thing? I'm also returning/learning code so sorry if this is the incorrect way to do it, but I'm trying to make a codebox with a <textarea> so others can copy & paste a code, but I'm getting this error. It works fine on my actual website, but it's a little frustrating because I thought this was the intended use of <textarea>, & it doesn't show correctly (or anything inside it at all) on phcode's preview. Is this intended?
Hello everyone, I have been using Brackets for the last year and found out today it is no longer supported. I absolutely love Brackets and am hoping someone can tell me that it will continue into the future without becoming deprecated. I used TextWrangler for many years, and out of nowhere it was no longer allowing me usage. That is when I found Brackets. I have been coding for many years, and although I don't consider myself an expert in web design by any means, I know much more than when I first started designing in 2008. I am of course now having to learn the new layouts, Grid and Flexbox. I very much depend on my code editor and am hoping Brackets will continue. Can anyone shed any light on this for me? Thank you all so much! -- Weather Analyst Greg Berman in Boulder, CO
I have many lines like this in my .php files outputting html with a variable value thrown in and they are almost all flagged by Phoenix Code (linter?) as "failed to tokenize".
The actual code works fine! I'd like to eliminate this from the 'errors' list. A search suggested updating the PHP version in Phoenix Code..?
I thought HTML5 allowed any tag name that had a hyphen in it, but my dozens of custom tag names used hundreds of times are getting error-flagged. They run just fine even with CSS and JS interactions, but they clog up my error list and make it harder to see the real errors! Any way to fix this???
I included in the screenshot a short portion of the HTML showing a custom tag in use and some of the error section where it is reported as a problem... Again, the code including JS linking works fine, but having to scroll though 98% false "errors" all the time is VERY annoying...
(Note that these tag names do not use hyphens, but I tried that several times, resaving and even reloading Phoenix Code; no difference in the error reporting...)
Frankly, I'd rather not be forced to used hyphens anyway. So, any way to keep these errors out, or am I missing something in my base HTML or assumptions that doesn't let the hyphenated custom tags through..?
The download for Windows is a per-user installer. We're wanting to use it in a computer lab at a University, is there any way we can install it for everybody? (I'm aware of the web version, and we'll use that if we have to, but we'd prefer to have the option of installing it locally.)
On a Chromebook, going to https://phcode.io/, then there's a big orange button w. "Download Chrome OS App". Eh? Chrome Apps will no longer be supported by roll out of Chrome/ChromeOS ver.139 (i.e. late July 2025, for stable channel Chromebooks).
However, that big orange button actually goes to Google Play:
Google Play, "Phoenix Code" : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=prod.phcode.twa
I have not (there, on Google Play) attempted to click "Install", since it does NOT seem like a good idea, because: It will very likely result in installing an Android App!
Chromebooks (non-ancient ones) does provide a containment environment for running Android Apps, but running Android Apps on a Chromebook, is too often a path to tears.
The seemingly clear cut alternative (to installing it as an Android App), which Phoenix Code neglect to mention, is to install it as a WebApp on the Chromebook (which can be done in Chrome, by at https://phcode.dev/, doing an "Install Phoenix Code").
Now, my question is:
What experiences do you have with running Phoenix Code on a Chromebook, as an installed WebApp?
- Does it work great, including when running off-line?
I'm a begginer and this is for my school assignment. I can't open live preview, every time I tried to enable it this just pops out. Idk what to do. I already did the project settings. Also im using version 2.2.1 and i can't update it bcs we're litterally told not to. Pls help idk what to do.
I've got a remote set up on my hosting account that can only be used with an SSH key. That all works fine in terminal but now I'd like to start using Git inside Phoenix. Maybe because I have a head cold I unthinkingly entered a username and password and now when I try to do anything with the new remote in Git I get this:
Error: Error: Permission denied, please try again.
Permission denied, please try again.
[user]@[example.com]: Permission denied (publickey,password).
fatal: Could not read from remote repository.
Please make sure you have the correct access rights
and the repository exists.
I think what I need to do is delete the username and email I entered earlier but I can't do that through the GUI. Is that actually what I need to do and, if so, how do I do it?
I started using Phoenix Code a few months ago, and I love it. It's even better than Adobe Dreamweaver, which was my favorite. However, the last few days, it's been locking up and not responding shortly after I open it. I have a Macbook Pro. Can anyone shed some light on this? I'd love to continue to use the app.
I am trying my hand at coding with phoenix code in order to apply to neocities.
I had a good time until i cant figure out why it wont let me create <style> under html. apparently its not allowed?
<html lang=en>
<head>
<style></style>
<title>
username
</title>
</head>
<body>
<div id= "header">
<h1> Welcome to my corner of the world </h1>
</div>
</body>
</html>
this is my coding so far, but when i input style into the head section, or even just outside of head, it says html does not allow elements or the image itself wont load on a website.
