Something has changed.
Writing code used to be the work. Now much of it is done by AI — you’re rarely working on one thing. You’re moving between projects, checking on what one agent finished while another is still running. The job has shifted from typing to directing, and there’s more to keep track of than ever.
Editors haven’t kept up.
VS Code was designed for working on one project at a time. Open five, and its sidebar collapses into an accordion of folders with no hierarchy and no separation — a structure that gets harder to navigate with every workspace you add. We went looking for an extension that could fix it. There isn’t one, and there can’t be — the main sidebar is off-limits to extensions.
The AI-native tools have taken the opposite approach. Codex, Claude Code, and the new Cursor desktop app have removed the file tree almost entirely, betting that a chat interface is all a developer needs. It isn’t — not when you still have to read the code, review the diff, and ship the result.
Both directions miss what the work actually looks like now.
n1 sits in the middle — a code editor built for projects and AI together. A sidebar lists your projects alongside the status of each: pending changes, and the AI agents running in your terminals — working, idle, or waiting for input. Switching between projects takes a single click. Terminals split so several agents can run at once. A built-in Git UI lets you review every change and make commits without leaving the editor. A markdown editor built for the best reading and writing experience — think Apple Notes. And an actual code editor that allows you to search code, or make a quick update.
The work has changed. The tool should change with it.
This is n1.