microsoft / microsoft/PowerToys

Peek: Add basic editing and saving capabilities for simple text and source code files

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Needs-Triage
Dominant language
C
Stars
139k
Forks
8.6k
PR merge metrics
PR metrics pending

Description

### Description of the new feature / enhancement

Add simple editing and saving support for text and code files like .txt, .md, .env, .xml, .json etc. When previewing these files, users should be able to click into the text, make quick modifications, and save the changes directly within the Peek window without needing to launch a separate application.

### Scenario when this would be used?

Currently making small edits to a file requires launching an external editor, however the new notepad app has become quite slow and full IDEs like VS Code are overkill for this use case. Since Peek opens instantly and already supports syntax highlighting for these files, allowing inline edits and saves would be much faster and also really useful.

### Supporting information

_No response_

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by locating Peek's preview window and the existing syntax-highlighting path for text and source code files. Define how editing, saving, unsaved changes, and save failures should behave before implementation. Done means supported files can be edited and saved directly in Peek without launching another application.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
desktop
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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