Native development. From High level to Low.

HiLo Developer Studio is an IDE for Haiku OS, built natively on the public Haiku API and modelled on Xcode's workflow. It keeps everything you need, from the first idea to the last register, in one window: edit, build, run, debug, search, commit and test.

HiLo is an alpha (1.0.5-alpha), and it is free to use during Alpha and Beta. It was called HaikuCode until 1.0.4-alpha.

Ideas to Applications.

HiLo Developer Studio (HiLo for short) is a native IDE for Haiku OS. The name is the idea: high level to low level, one tool that takes you from the thing you want to make down to the code that makes it. It is written in C++17 against the public Haiku API, with no Qt and no private headers, so it looks and behaves like it belongs on your desktop. It is modelled on Xcode's workflow, and it has its own take on it.

HiLo is an alpha, version 1.0.5-alpha: early, small, and honest about it. It has been built and tried on one Haiku machine so far, so expect rough edges, and tell us where they are.

What it is like to use

One window, everything in reach

A navigator on the left, tabbed editors in the middle, an inspector on the right and a debug area underneath, with a toolbar of Build, Run, Stop and Debug and a scheme pop-up. Your project is organised as targets, configurations and schemes, so switching between a debug build and a release build, or between running your app and running its tests, is one choice in one place. Syntax highlighting for C, C++ and .rdef, line numbers, inline error badges, a jump bar and a Find bar are all there.

Build, run, debug

Press Run and HiLo builds your project, streams the output to a console and shows compiler errors in an Issues navigator that opens the file at the right line. Start a project from a template (application, command-line tool, shared library or static library), or bring in an existing Makefile or Jamfile. When something needs a closer look, the debugger drives gdb from HaikuPorts, with breakpoints in the gutter, stack frames, variables and the usual step buttons.

Find, track and test

Search across the whole project and replace, browse symbols as an outline, see what has changed in git and commit the files you choose, all without leaving the window. Write unit tests in CppUnit and watch them pass or fail in a Tests navigator, with failures that take you straight to the line.

See it as you write it

Markdown files open beside a live preview, and JSON files open as a tree with parse errors shown where they are. Writing the README in the same window as the code it describes is a small pleasure.

A second pair of eyes

A Claude chat sits in the navigator. Bring your own Anthropic API key, kept in Haiku's key store, or point it at an OpenAI-compatible service, such as a local Ollama. It can read your project, search, build, run tests and suggest changes as diffs that you apply or reject, and it asks before it goes outside the project. The chat is the newest part of HiLo, so expect it to keep changing.

Formerly HaikuCode

HiLo Developer Studio was called HaikuCode up to 1.0.4-alpha. If you used that, your settings, saved conversations and API keys move across on first start, your .hcproj projects still open, and the new package replaces the old one. A short migration note covers what is left for you to tidy up.

Price

Free to use during Alpha and Beta.

Purchase options will not be available until HiLo reaches usable maturity, and the dates are to be determined. These are the planned terms for after that: HiLo will be free for non-commercial use, and commercial use will be $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year, by subscription, which you can cancel at any time. You will buy in the app itself, not on this website, so there is nothing to buy here today.

Licence

HiLo is released now under a Commercial support licence. Once the project is stable, the source itself will be published under the MIT licence.

Platforms

HiLo runs on Haiku, and only on Haiku. It ships as an x86_64 package, and you will want gdb from HaikuPorts for debugging (pkgman install gdb); ctags is optional and gives a richer symbol outline (pkgman install ctags). Alpha builds are available on request.

Who it is for

Haiku developers who like a single-window workflow and would like build, debug, find, git and tests in one native app. People who are happy to try an alpha and say what breaks. It is not yet for anyone who needs a mature, widely tested tool today, and it does not have code completion or code folding.

Same spirit. A brighter tomorrow.

HiLo Developer Studio is an independent project. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Apple, Haiku, Inc. or any owner of the BeOS name; Xcode is a trademark of Apple Inc.