Mine is a new cross-platform IDE built specifically for Coalton and Common Lisp, available as a self-contained app or a terminal-based hacker variant.
Key Takeaways
Two distribution modes: mine-app (Tauri + Xterm.js, no dependencies, Windows/macOS) and mine-core (terminal-first, requires Kitty keyboard protocol support, all platforms).
Supports Coalton (strong static types, functional flavor) and Common Lisp (dynamic, CLOS) side by side – use one, the other, or mix within a project.
The IDE itself is written in Coalton, making it a non-trivial working example of a real Coalton codebase using ASDF.
Iosevka ships as the default font; the project targets builders who want a working environment without configuring Emacs or SLIME from scratch.
Hacker News Comment Review
The dominant question is why a new editor rather than extending SLIME or SLY – commenters acknowledge it is substantial work, but the mine-as-Coalton-example value is a concrete secondary win for learners stuck on ASDF setup.
There is a clear split between Emacs loyalists (who see Emacs+SLIME synergy as unbeatable for power users) and those who think asking newcomers to learn Emacs alongside Lisp is an unreasonable onboarding tax in 2026.
No one disputes the gap Mine fills relative to Lem; the sentiment is that functional VS Code-style CL tooling has been missing and this is a step toward it.
Notable Comments
@sctb: Confirms the IDE is written in Coalton and the standalone build uses Tauri and Xterm.js – implementation detail not in the official preview.
@bitwize: “Asking new devs to learn Emacs, alongside all of Lisp’s idiosyncrasies, is too tall an order” – sharp framing of Mine’s actual market.
