practicode

practicode

Personal coding practice, right in your terminal.

practicode is a small Rust TUI for stdin/stdout practice: problem on the left, code on the right, judge loop in the same terminal. No browser tab shuffle, no paste dance, just solve and run.

Why It Exists

• Fast local judging for Python, TypeScript, Java, and Rust
• Gradual problem flow with local history
• AI-powered /next <request> when you want a custom problem
• Personal problem-generation notes
• Small stack: Rust, Ratatui, Crossterm, and plain process execution

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/baba9811/practicode.git
cd practicode
cargo run --

Want a local binary?

cargo install practicode
practicode

Prefer npm from GitHub?

npm install -g github:baba9811/practicode
practicode

Working from a local checkout?

cargo install --path .
practicode

Or with npm:

npm install -g .
practicode

The npm wrapper builds the Rust binary with Cargo, so Rust/Cargo is still required.

Daily Loop

The code editor starts focused.

write code
Esc, then /run
Esc, then /next easy string problem

Submissions are saved as you type under submissions/<problem-id>/solution.<ext>.

Commands

Press Esc, then /, to focus the command bar.

Command	Action
/run	Judge the current submission
/next	Open the next local problem, or ask AI to create one
/next easy string problem	Ask AI for a custom next problem
/prev	Go back through problem history
/list	Browse problems with up/down or j/k, open with Enter
/open 2	Open by number, id, or slug
/giveup	Show the reference answer
/ai hint	Ask the selected AI about the current problem and submission
/provider codex	Set AI provider: codex or claude
/model sonnet	Set the model for /ai and AI-backed /next; use auto for the CLI default
/note prefer hashmap practice	Append a standing note for future problem generation
/notes	Show your local next-problem notes
/lang python	Set language: python, ts, java, rust
/ui ko	Set UI language: ko, en
/theme	Toggle dark/light theme
/source ai	Prefer AI for next-problem generation
/exit	Quit

The editor owns normal typing keys. Press Esc, then /, when you want the command bar.

Custom Problem Generation

/next <request> passes your request into the selected AI problem generator. Examples:

/next a slightly harder string problem
/next hashmap practice, easy
/next sorting problem, no graph yet

AI generation reads docs/problem-authoring-notes.md every time it creates a problem. Add personal preferences from inside the TUI:

/note Prefer concise statements.
/note I want more string and hashmap practice.
/note Avoid DP until I ask for it.

Those notes are stored in .practicode/problem_notes.md, so they stay local.

AI Providers

Codex is the default:

/provider codex
/model auto

Claude Code is also supported:

/provider claude
/model sonnet
/source ai

/ai <prompt> uses the current provider for coaching. AI-backed /next uses the same provider and model. If you want a custom daemon or wrapper script, set /ai-next-command <shell command>; practicode passes PRACTICODE_NEXT_REQUEST, PRACTICODE_AI_PROVIDER, and PRACTICODE_AI_MODEL.

Generated problem banks stay local:

Path	Purpose
.practicode/problem_bank.json	Local/custom/generated problem bank
.practicode/problem_notes.md	Optional personal problem-generation notes
.practicode/problem-state.json	Current problem, history, settings
problems/	Generated problem markdown/index files
submissions/	Your answer files

Those paths are ignored by git, so your practice history stays yours.

Safety

/run executes your local submission as a normal process. practicode runs it from .practicode/build/<problem-id>/run, but this is not an OS sandbox. Only run code you trust.

Debug Prints

/run shows raw stdout when a case fails. If you want debug output without changing the judged answer, print to stderr:

import sys

print("debug", value, file=sys.stderr)

Development

cargo test
cargo run -- --smoke
cargo run --

The source is split by boring responsibility:

Path	Role
src/core.rs	Problem bank, state, rendering, judging
src/tui.rs	Ratatui app, editor, command parser
src/ai.rs	Codex/Claude command integration and notes
src/text.rs	UTF-8 cursor math and Hangul composition
src/process.rs	Process execution helpers
tests/	Integration tests split by module

Discovery Notes

Recommended GitHub topics for this repo: coding-practice, competitive-programming, algorithms, ratatui, tui, rust, codex, claude-code, local-first.

References

• Ratatui terminal UI library: https://ratatui.rs/
• Crossterm terminal backend/events: https://github.com/crossterm-rs/crossterm
• Codex CLI open-source repo: https://github.com/openai/codex
• Claude Code CLI reference: https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/cli-reference
• Kattis problem package format: https://www.kattis.com/problem-package-format/
• ICPC judging guidelines: https://icpc.global/regionals/regional-contest-cookbook-judging-guidelines
• GitHub README image guidance: https://docs.github.com/repositories/managing-your-repositorys-settings-and-features/customizing-your-repository/about-readmes
• GitHub repository topics: https://docs.github.com/articles/classifying-your-repository-with-topics