Bezy is an in-development cross-platform font editor with a built-in bidirectional text editor.

Drawing inspiration from customizable editors like RoboFont and MFEK, Bezy reimagines font editing for contemporary Unix-like AI and CLI heavy workflows. The core dependencies are: Bevy, HarfRust, Norad, Kurbo, Fontc, FontIR.

Bezy is written in the Rust programming language using a game engine to create a performant and fun experience that keeps users in a flow state. It is designed to be a visually pleasing environment where design work is done, not just a non-aesthetic production tool.

Rust has great documentation, a friendly compiler with useful error messages, top-notch tooling, and an integrated package manager and build tool. With help from AI tools like Claude Code and Gemini CLI, it can be easier to use than Python. Don't be intimidated if you are not an expert programmer—this application is designed for students, designers, and artists to be able to customize it and make their own tools and other additions.

The project aims to be a welcoming community that values working in the open, sharing knowledge, and helping people become better programmers. Contributors of all skill levels are welcome.

“The enjoyment of one's tools is an essential ingredient of successful work.”
—Donald Knuth

“Many have tried to replace FontForge—all have failed. I might fail, in fact, history says I probably will. Yet, the current state of affairs is so bad I feel I must try.” —Fredrick Brennan

• Rust 1.90.0 or later - Install Rust by following the official instructions at rust-lang.org.

cargo --version
rustc --version  # Should be 1.90.0 or later

git clone https://github.com/bezy-org/bezy.git
cd bezy

# Build and run
cargo run

# Build with optimizations (slower to compile, faster to run)
cargo run --release

# Build and run with a specific font source (UFO or designspace)
cargo run -- --edit path/to/your/font.ufo

You can install Bezy globally and use it as a command-line tool from anywhere on your system.

# From within the bezy directory after cloning
cargo install --path .

# Or install directly from GitHub
cargo install --git https://github.com/bezy-org/bezy.git

Once installed, you can run Bezy from anywhere on your system.

# Launch the editor without loading a source file 
bezy

# Check the version
bezy --version

# Check the installation location
which bezy

To update after making changes or pulling new updates:

# If you're working from the cloned repository
cd path/to/bezy
git pull
cargo install --path .

# Or reinstall directly from GitHub
cargo install --git https://github.com/bezy-org/bezy.git

# If you are having trouble updating try with --force
cargo install --path . --force

# To remove the globally installed version
cargo uninstall bezy

# Edit a specific font source (UFO or designspace)
bezy --edit ~/Fonts/MyFont.ufo

The --edit flag intelligently handles both UFO directories and designspace files:

• Single UFO: Shows a clean interface without master selection controls
• Designspace: Shows master selector circles for switching between different masters

Bezy is designed to be used as a command line tool in Unix-style workflows.

# Initialize user configuration (run once)
bezy --new-config

# Edit a single UFO
bezy --edit ~/Fonts/MyFont.ufo

# Edit a designspace for variable fonts
bezy --edit ~/Fonts/MyVariable.designspace

# Use the strawberry theme
bezy --theme strawberry

# Combine as many flags as you need
bezy --edit ~/Fonts/MyFont.ufo --theme light

# Short form using -e
bezy -e MyFont.ufo

The edit-mode toolbar provides access to various editing tools. Each tool has specific behaviors:

• Selection Tool: Select and manipulate points
• Pen Tool: Add new points and contours
• Knife Tool: Cut contours at specific points
• Text Tool: A text editor built with editable type sorts
• Measure Tool: Measure distances between contours

Bezy includes four built-in themes and supports user configuration and theme customization.

• dark (default) - Dark background with light text
• light - Light background with dark text
• strawberry - Pink/red/green theme
• campfire - Warm orange/red/brown/black theme

You can set up a user configuration directory to customize settings and themes:

# Initialize your user config directory (run once)
bezy --new-config

This creates:

• ~/.config/bezy/settings.json - User preferences like default theme
• ~/.config/bezy/themes/ - Editable copies of all themes

After running --new-config, edit ~/.config/bezy/settings.json:

{
  "default_theme": "strawberry"
}

Now you can run bezy without the --theme flag and it will use your preferred theme.

Bezy uses this priority order for themes:

1. CLI argument: bezy --theme light (highest priority)
2. Config file: default_theme in ~/.config/bezy/settings.json
3. Built-in default: "dark" theme (fallback)

• Without user config: Uses embedded themes (no setup required)
• With ~/.config/bezy/themes/: Uses themes from this directory

# Initialize config to get editable theme files
bezy --new-config

# Now you can edit any theme file:
nano ~/.config/bezy/themes/strawberry.json

# Or create a new theme file:
cp ~/.config/bezy/themes/dark.json ~/.config/bezy/themes/mytheme.json
nano ~/.config/bezy/themes/mytheme.json

# Use your custom theme
bezy --theme mytheme

# Or set it as default in settings.json

When using custom themes from ~/.config/bezy/themes/, changes are reflected instantly when you save theme files (in debug builds).

• Limited to UFO format: Direct editing is only supported for UFO format. TTF/OTF files cannot be directly edited.
• Experimental AI features: AI-powered editing capabilities require additional setup and are still experimental.
• Advanced OpenType features: Some advanced OpenType features are not yet supported.
• Performance with large fonts: Performance optimization is needed for fonts with many glyphs (hundreds of glyphs may cause slowdowns).
• Glyphs.app compatibility: UFOs exported from Glyphs.app may have incompatible anchor formatting that can cause loading errors.

GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 3, 29 June 2007

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL), which means you are free to use, study, share, and change the software. The only condition is that if you share it with others—whether in its original form or with your own changes—you must also make the source code available under the same license. In short: the GPL ensures that the software (and any improvements to it) always stays free and open for everyone.

https://bezy.org