Perception IDE
Script Editor & AI Assistant
Perception.cx ships with a fully integrated code editor and AI assistant. It's a native overlay panel — no Electron, no browser runtime. Write, test, and iterate on scripts without ever leaving the platform.
Editor
Multi-Tab Editing
Open as many files as you want. Drag tabs to reorder, middle-click or click the × to close. Each tab tracks its own undo history, cursor position, and unsaved state.
Syntax Highlighting
17 languages are supported: AngelScript, Lua, C/C++, Rust, JavaScript, Python, PHP, HTML, XML, CSS, JSON, Shell, PowerShell, Batch, INI, Markdown, and log files.
IntelliSense
Full autocompletion for the Perception.cx API surface in both AngelScript and Lua. Includes function signatures, parameter hints, type info, and namespace-aware resolution (e.g. sdk::player_t resolves correctly). Trigger manually with Ctrl+Space or let it appear automatically as you type.
Find & Replace
Open with Ctrl+F (find) or Ctrl+H (find & replace). Supports regex, case sensitivity, and whole-word matching. Navigate matches with Enter/Shift+Enter or the arrow buttons.
Line Operations
Ctrl+D — Duplicate line or selection
Ctrl+/ — Toggle line comment
Tab / Shift+Tab — Indent / unindent selection
Ctrl+A — Select all
Standard clipboard: Ctrl+C, Ctrl+X, Ctrl+V
Undo (Ctrl+Z) and Redo (Ctrl+Y) use coalesced history — fast typing gets grouped into single undo steps.
Font Scaling
Ctrl+Scroll to zoom the editor font in or out.
File Explorer
The left sidebar shows your project's file tree with expand/collapse for folders. Right-click any item to access the context menu:
New File — create a file in the selected directory
New Folder — create a subdirectory
Rename — rename the selected file or folder
Delete — remove the selected item
The workspace root directory is used as the AI's working directory. All relative paths in AI tool calls resolve from this root. Internal directories (chats/, backups/, fonts/) are automatically hidden from AI context and search results.
Script Toolbar
The toolbar across the top of the editor provides one-click access to the script lifecycle:
Execute
Compile and run the current script immediately
Reload
Hot-reload a running script without restarting
Unload
Stop and unload the script cleanly
Verify
Compile-check only (no execution) — shows errors with line numbers
Bundle
Resolve all #include directives into a single merged output file
The Bundle button uses the built-in #include resolver by default. You can replace it with a custom build command using Custom Commands.
Integrated Terminal
A built-in cmd.exe terminal lives at the bottom of the editor. Toggle it with Ctrl+`.
Terminal Tabs
The terminal supports up to 8 independent tabs, each running its own cmd.exe process with a separate output buffer, scroll position, and command history.
Click + to open a new tab
Click a tab to switch to it
Click × on a tab to close it (at least one tab is always kept)
Each tab shows a colored status dot: green = alive, red = process exited
Terminal Shortcuts
Ctrl+`
Expand / collapse terminal
Ctrl+L
Clear terminal output
Up / Down
Navigate command history
Ctrl+C
Send interrupt signal to process
Esc
Return keyboard focus to editor
AI integration: When the AI runs shell commands, they always execute in the active terminal tab. You can dedicate one tab for AI operations and keep another for manual commands.
AI Chat
The editor includes a full AI chat panel that connects to any OpenAI-compatible API endpoint — LM Studio, Ollama, OpenRouter, cloud providers, or any service that speaks the standard chat completions format.
Getting Started
Open the Settings sidebar (gear icon)
Under AI Chat, enter your endpoint URL and Model name
Optionally add an API Key
Open the Chat sidebar tab and start typing
You can configure multiple endpoints and switch between them from the dropdown at the top of the chat panel.
Chat Features
Streaming responses with real-time token usage display in the header bar
Full markdown rendering — headings, bold/italic, inline code, fenced code blocks with syntax highlighting, tables, horizontal rules, lists, and blockquotes
Thinking / reasoning — models that output reasoning tokens get collapsible "Thinking" blocks. When collapsed, an auto-generated summary appears (e.g. "Read 3 files, edited 2 files"). Non-thinking models work normally without the thinking block
Conversation management — the dropdown menu offers:
New Chat — start a fresh conversation
History — browse and load previous chat sessions
Clear — wipe the current conversation
Summarize & Continue — compress older messages to free up context space
Auto-compaction — when the conversation exceeds a configurable token threshold, older messages are automatically summarized to stay within context limits. Set the threshold in Settings → Auto-Compact Tokens (0 to disable)
Extra system prompt — add your own persistent instructions in the multiline text area at the bottom of the AI Chat settings section. These are injected into every API request
Panel positioning — pin the chat panel on the left or right side of the editor via the AI Chat on Right Side checkbox
Stopping a Response
Click Stop or press Ctrl+C while the AI is streaming to cancel immediately. You can then edit your message or send a new one without any issues.
AI Code Fill
Separate from the chat, the editor supports inline AI code completions — similar to Copilot but running on your own model.
Triggers automatically after a configurable delay while typing
Ghost text appears inline in grey — press Tab to accept, Esc to dismiss
Supports FIM (Fill-in-the-Middle) tokens for models like Qwen Coder
Uses a separate endpoint, model, and API key from the chat — run a small fast model for completions and a larger model for chat
Configurable context window (number of surrounding lines sent to the model)
Platform API context is injected automatically so the model knows the Perception.cx API
Code Fill Settings
Enable Code Fills
Master toggle
URL / Model / API Key
Endpoint for completions (separate from chat)
Max Tokens
Maximum completion length
Trigger Delay (ms)
Idle time before requesting a completion
Context Lines
Number of surrounding code lines to include
Use FIM Tokens
Enable Fill-in-the-Middle token wrapping
FIM Prefix / Suffix / Middle
Custom FIM token strings for your model
AI Tool Use
The AI can take actions through tools that are organized into categories. Each category can be individually enabled or disabled in Settings → AI Chat → Tools. The AI loops automatically until the task is done (up to the configurable Tool Loop Limit).
Read / Browse Tools
read_file
Read a file's full contents
read_lines
Read a specific line range
list_files
List directory contents
search_text
Search across open files
find_references
Search across ALL project files on disk
get_file_info
Get current file info: path, language, lines, cursor, errors
get_open_files
List all open buffers with line counts and modified status
get_symbols
List function/struct/class/enum definitions in a file
open_file
Open a file in a new editor tab
create_file
Create a new file (fails if it already exists)
save_file
Save a file to disk
get_clipboard
Read system clipboard text
get_recent_changes
Get last 20 undo history entries
Write / Edit Tools
edit_file
Search/replace edit — old text must match exactly
write_file
Write full file contents (shows diff for review)
batch_edit
Apply multiple search/replace edits atomically
replace_all
Find and replace ALL occurrences in a file
insert_lines
Insert text before a specific line
delete_lines
Delete a range of lines
replace_selection
Replace the current editor selection
goto_line
Move cursor to a line number
add_bookmark / get_bookmarks
Manage named bookmarks
get_diff
Get current pending diff state
wait_for_diff_review
Pause until you resolve all pending diffs
Execution Tools
exec_shell_command
Run a command in the active terminal tab (30s timeout)
run_custom_command
Run a user-defined custom command (see Custom Commands)
check_script
Compile-check a script for errors without executing
validate_script
Compile and optionally run a script
execute_script
Write and run an AngelScript/Lua script on the fly
Memory / RE Tools
list_processes
List processes with PID, name, base address, EPROCESS
get_process_info
Detailed process info: modules, threads, PEB, DTB
read_memory
Read bytes as hex dump + ASCII (max 4096 bytes)
read_typed_value
Read typed values: uint8–64, float, double, pointer arrays
find_pattern
IDA-style byte pattern scanning with ? wildcards
read_pointer_chain
Follow pointer chain with offsets at each dereference
read_string
Read ASCII or Unicode string from memory
get_module_exports
List exported functions from a module's PE export table
Web Search Tool
web_search
Search the web via Brave Search API (requires Brave Search Key)
General Tools (always available)
echo
Echo text (testing)
status
Show progress/status message to the user
ask_user
Pause and ask you a question, then resume after you respond
Advanced Tools
These require the Advanced (delete, write mem, scan) toggle to be enabled in the Tools section:
memory_write
Write bytes to process memory
scan_string / scan_wstring
Scan process VAD for ASCII/Unicode strings
disassemble
Disassemble x86-64 instructions at an address (Zydis)
delete_file
Permanently delete a file
Diff Review
When the AI edits a file, it doesn't overwrite your code directly. Every change goes through a diff review:
Changes are displayed as individual hunks with green (added) / red (removed) highlighting
Navigate between hunks with Up / Down arrow keys
Enter — accept the focused hunk
Delete — reject the focused hunk
Ctrl+Shift+A — accept all hunks at once
Esc — reject all remaining hunks
The AI can call wait_for_diff_review to pause until you've resolved all pending diffs before it continues. Alternatively, enable Auto-accept AI edits in settings to skip review entirely.
Custom Commands
Custom Commands let you define named shell command sequences that integrate into the editor and AI workflow. Define them in Settings → Custom Commands.
Creating a Command
Click + Add Command
Enter a Name (e.g. "Build", "Test", "Deploy")
Optionally set a Shortcut keybind — click the shortcut field and press your desired key combination
Add one or more Steps — each step is a shell command (e.g.
build.bat,python test.py). Multiple steps are chained with&&Optionally fill in the AI Context field to describe what the command does for the AI
AI Context
The AI Context field tells the AI what your command does. When this field is filled in, the command becomes available to the AI as the run_custom_command tool. Leave it empty to keep the command manual-only.
For example, a "Build" command with AI Context set to "Compiles the project and reports errors" will let the AI run your build after editing files to verify compilation.
Shortcut Keybinds
Each command can have a keyboard shortcut. Click the shortcut field in settings and press your desired key combination (e.g. Ctrl+B). Click "Clear" to remove a keybind. Shortcuts work globally while the editor has focus.
Bundler Override
When a custom command has Use as Bundler enabled, clicking the Bundle button in the script toolbar will run your custom command in the terminal instead of the built-in #include resolver. Only one command can be the active bundler at a time.
This is useful for custom build pipelines — C-preprocessor macro expansion, hash baking, minification, or any project-specific processing the built-in bundler doesn't cover.
File Backups & Timeline
Every save creates a timestamped backup. The Timeline sidebar tab lets you browse and compare backups:
All backups for the current file are listed, sorted by date
Click any backup to open a side-by-side diff view comparing it against the current version
Line-level add/remove/change highlighting
Configurable max backup count and backup directory in settings
Deleted file recovery — the most recent backup of removed files is preserved
Settings
All configuration lives in the Settings sidebar tab (gear icon). Everything persists to disk automatically.
Project
Root Directory — your project folder. Set via the text field or by opening a folder
Editor
Scroll Speed — mouse wheel scroll multiplier
Autoscroll Speed — speed when auto-scrolling during selection drag
Bundler
Strip comments from output — remove comments when bundling
#includefiles
AI Chat
AI Chat on Right Side
Pin the chat panel to the right side of the editor
Auto-accept AI edits
Skip diff review and apply AI changes immediately
Enable Prompt Caching
Use prompt caching to reduce token costs on OpenRouter / Anthropic
URL
API endpoint URL (OpenAI-compatible)
Model
Model name string
API Key
Bearer token for authentication
Tool Loop Limit
Maximum number of consecutive tool call rounds
Temperature
Sampling temperature (0.0–2.0)
Top P
Nucleus sampling threshold
Auto-Compact Tokens
Token count threshold for automatic conversation compaction (0 = disabled)
Brave Search Key
API key for web search tool
Extra System Prompt
Your own persistent instructions appended to every request
References
Controls what context documentation is injected into AI requests. Found under AI Chat settings.
Platform APIs
Inject Perception.cx API documentation into the AI context
AngelScript Quick Reference
Inject AngelScript language reference into the AI context
.md Documentation
Inject .md files from the current file's directory and any open .md tabs
Tools
Controls which tool categories the AI can use. Found under AI Chat settings. Disabling a category removes those tools from the AI entirely, saving tokens.
Read / Browse
File reading, directory listing, search, symbols
Write / Edit
File editing, diffs, bookmarks, line operations
Execution
Shell commands, custom commands, script compile/run
Memory / RE
Process info, memory read, patterns, disassemble
Web Search
Web search via Brave API (also requires Brave Search Key)
Advanced (delete, write mem, scan)
Dangerous tools: memory write, file delete, string scan, disassemble
Code Fill
See AI Code Fill for details on each setting.
Backups
Max Backups
Maximum number of backups per file
Backup Directory
Where backup files are stored
Custom Commands
See Custom Commands for details.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Editor
Ctrl+S
Save file
Ctrl+W
Close tab
Ctrl+F
Find
Ctrl+H
Find & Replace
Ctrl+Z
Undo
Ctrl+Y
Redo
Ctrl+D
Duplicate line / selection
Ctrl+/
Toggle comment
Ctrl+Space
Trigger code fill manually
Ctrl+Scroll
Zoom font size
Tab
Accept AI suggestion / Indent
Esc
Dismiss AI suggestion / Close find
Diff Review
Enter
Accept hunk
Delete
Reject hunk
Up / Down
Navigate between hunks
Ctrl+Shift+A
Accept all hunks
Esc
Reject all hunks
Chat
Enter
Send message
Shift+Enter
New line in message
Ctrl+C
Cancel AI stream
Terminal
Ctrl+`
Expand / collapse terminal
Ctrl+L
Clear terminal output
Up / Down
Command history
Ctrl+C
Send interrupt to process
Esc
Return focus to editor
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