shift README

The project's README from github.com/shift-editor/shift. As one markdown file: README.md.

Shift

A modern, cross-platform font editor built with TypeScript and Rust, focused on bringing contemporary technologies and design principles to type design.

Why Shift?

Shift aims to redefine font editing by combining the power of Rust for performance-critical tasks with the flexibility of web-based UI technologies. Whether you're a type designer or a developer, Shift offers a fresh approach to creating and editing fonts with a focus on speed, precision, and extensibility.

[!WARNING] Shift is an unstable Developer Preview. Versioned Alpha builds are for early testing, not production font work. Work on copies and retain independent backups. Installable builds are published through GitHub Releases; the latest complete development snapshot is available as Shift Nightly.

Linux versioned releases are available through signed APT and DNF repositories, with DEB, RPM, and AppImage direct downloads retained as alternatives.

Architecture

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                         Desktop App                          │
│  Electron shell  ←→  React UI  ←→  TypeScript Editor         │
└───────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┘
                                │ IPC / native bridge
┌───────────────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────┐
│                         Rust Crates                          │
│  shift-bridge      transport adapter                         │
│  shift-workspace   open working state                        │
│  shift-font        live font authoring model                 │
│  shift-store       canonical SQLite documents and recovery   │
│  shift-cli         document authoring and inspection CLI     │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

The desktop app owns shell and editor interaction. Rust owns the live font authoring model, canonical SQLite documents, durable recovery state, and native transport boundary.

shift-font is the core Rust object model:

Font owns glyphs, sources, axes, metadata, and font-level data.
Source is an editable designspace position with a name and location.
Glyph is a glyph concept identified by GlyphId.
GlyphLayer is authored editable data for one glyph at one source.

Stable IDs are identity. Names and Unicode values are editable metadata.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

Node.js (v24)
pnpm (v11)
Rust (stable)

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/shift-editor/shift.git
cd shift

pnpm install
pnpm dev

pnpm dev builds the Rust addon in debug mode through Turbo before starting Electron. Use pnpm dev:release for representative performance, or pnpm dev:watch / pnpm dev:watch:release to rebuild the addon when Rust changes.

Command-line inspection

The shift CLI can inspect canonical SQLite .shift documents without modifying them:

cargo run -p shift-cli -- inspect path/to/Family.shift
cargo run -p shift-cli -- inspect --view axes path/to/Family.shift
cargo run -p shift-cli -- inspect --json path/to/Family.shift

See crates/shift-cli/README.md for the supported views and development commands.

Roadmap

See ROADMAP.md for current implementation status and planned features. We are planning to ship a production grade font editor.

Security and signing

Windows releases are currently unsigned while Shift applies for open-source code signing. See the code signing policy for the signing scope, release controls, team roles, and network/privacy disclosures.

Security vulnerabilities can be reported privately to Kostya Farber.

Community

Join our Discord server to ask questions, report bugs, or contribute!

License

GNU General Public License v3.0 only (GPL-3.0-only)

Copyright © 2026 Kostya Farber.

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358 ·GitHub

What is this?

Shift is a modern, cross-platform font editor for type designers and developers, built with TypeScript and Rust to bring contemporary technologies and design principles to type design.

Is it a desktop app, or does it run in the browser?

It's a desktop app: an Electron shell owns the editor interaction, while a Rust core owns the live font model, the canonical SQLite documents, and recovery state.

Is it ready for real font work yet?

No — Shift is an unstable Developer Preview: Alpha builds are for early testing, not production font work, so work on copies and keep independent backups. Windows builds are also currently unsigned while open-source code signing is pending.

Why build a font editor on Rust plus web UI technologies?

The author wants Rust's performance for compute-heavy font work combined with the flexibility of web-based UI, targeting speed, precision, and extensibility rather than legacy font-editor architecture.

How does Shift model a font internally?

A Font owns glyphs, sources, axes, and metadata. Each Source is an editable designspace position with a name and location, glyph data is authored per source in layers, and stable IDs — not names or Unicode values — are the identity.

What are similar projects?

designcraft, vectorcraft, c64-keyboard-font, awesome-design, Macintosh-Skeletal-Filled, GoLiveBypass, lightcraft, ingetrazo

Which topics is it in?

appimage, fonts, design-tools, creative-tools, font, gpl, typography, editor, electron, sqlite, desktop, gplv3

Creator: shift-editor
Size: 31.8 MB
Stars: 358
Updated: CommitOct 17
Age: 1y
Commits · 90 Days