Spell Checking

[rkusa]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe. I regularely make a lot of typos in code comments, docs, but also in variable names. It is always annoying if pull-requests get post-poned just because of typos reviewers found.

Describe the solution you'd like I find it tremendously helpful if Zed could spell checks my code. I personally rely a lot on this in e.g.:

• Sublime Text: https://www.sublimetext.com/docs/spell_checking.html, and
• VSCode: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=streetsidesoftware.code-spell-checker.

Things the spell checker might check:

• comments,
• doc comments,
• strings,
• segments of a variable name (eg. in get_name/GetName/getName, it would check get and name).

Additional useful features:

• The possibility to add words to a system-wide dictionary.
• The possibility to add words to a project-specific dictionary.
• The possibility to check multiple languages at the same time (e.g. for non-English code, variables are often in English, while strings and comments might contain text in another language).

I'd find it especially neat if the spell check would use native system APIs so that I can expect consistent behaviour between the editor and other apps on my system.

Screenshots

Sublime Text:

VSCode Code Spell Checker extension:

[iamnbutler]

My dream would be to embed something like Grammarly right in Zed :)

[rkusa]

Just came along the following code spelling library written in Rust. Just dropping the link in case it would help: https://github.com/crate-ci/typos

[jaydenseric]

I just tried setting up Zed today and this was the showstopper issue that made me go back to VS Code. Spell check is a critical concern of an editor; it's generally too complex to enforce correct spelling cross-platform via CLI and CI with any degree of confidence and you may be contributing spelling errors to projects with tooling and CI not in your control. I am hopelessly dependent on spellcheck when writing hundreds of words worth of comments and docs per day, or when naming things like types, functions, and variables.

VS Code spell check is quite poor because it's via an extension (https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=streetsidesoftware.code-spell-checker) and not the native macOS spellcheck system, so the spell check UI is inconsistent with other apps and the learned words and not in sync with every other app on your system. But at least it has a solution.

There are non VS Code editors out there that have really nice native OS based spell check, so it's possible.

[SpyrosMourelatos]

I would prefer LanguageTool to Grammarly as it FOSS and supports more languages

[JosephTLyons]

This feature feels like a rather large one to add to Zed, when considering all of the things you should be able to do with spell check. What does a good first pass look like? What would be the bare minimum needed to ship something useable?

Some unknowns:

• Is there a Rust crate out there suitable for spell checking in the context of code?
• Would we have some sort of setting for which file types to spell check, or, maybe a setting for which file types to not spell check.. or both? I think VS Code's spell check has these settings.
• How do we want to surface the spelling errors? Is it just another red squiggly line and do we have a way to suggest a fix? I feel like for a first pass, we could simply display the potential matches in the hover, and a future follow-up could add the possibility to accept a suggestion for a typo.
• VS Code provides spell checking for multiple languages, do we just ship English first? Maybe we'll be lucky and have a crate that can handle multiple languages.

Bonus points

Spell checking in Zed's chat editor.

Future AI ideas

A distant future goal might be to somehow leverage the supported AI models in Zed to fill suggestions for mispelled words, if the suggestions provided by some crate aren't the greatest.

[bajtos]

How do we want to surface the spelling errors? Is it just another red squiggly line and do we have a way to suggest a fix?

In VS Code, the Grammarly extension integrates with the "suggested fix" feature provided by language servers. I can use the same keyboard shortcut to fix ESlint violations and spelling/grammar mistakes.

[jansol]

Vale is an offline rule-based "prose linter" (spelling & style checker) with an official LSP implementation. It is also code-aware so it can check code comments and won't get confused by markdown or HTML. Seems like a great fit?

[arthur-st]

Testing Vale this week, and it works quite well on the CLI level. The configuration might be a bit tricky to set up, but should be fine sailing afterwards.

[phaynes]

Future AI ideas

A distant future goal might be to somehow leverage the supported AI models in Zed to fill suggestions for mispelled words, if the suggestions provided by some crate aren't the greatest.

I frequently switch among Zed, ChatGPT, Gemini, etc., for Markdown editing, focusing on three key tasks:

1. Proofing: My standard response settings are tailored for specific styles, as exemplified below. I need the proofreading to adhere to a distinct style based on the context—basic questions, formal responses, and technical discourse—and to be delivered in Markdown format using British English spelling.

For example, part of my chatGPT response template is - "Basic questions should be concise and direct, emulating the style of the Australian Daily Telegraph, without colloquialisms. Formal responses should be brief and direct, utilizing a military writing style. Technical responses should cater to a postgraduate audience and remain technical." Ideally, I'd like the option to easily select the level of proofing required right after highlighting the text I've just written. i.e a "quick proof", followed by a more reasoned proof, where I give the AI's more context to assist in their feedback.

2. Argument Improvement & Revision: I alternate between AI tools to refine and enhance my work. Direct integration of such feedback within Zed would streamline my editing process.

3. Post-Production: The final adjustments include ensuring APA v7 compliance for references, adding document headers, and formatting the output to specific standards (PDF/HTML or voice script).

Incorporating these features into Zed would significantly enhance my editing workflow, minimizing the need to switch between different tools for each task, and negate the need for inline spelling checks

[brandondrew]

I would prefer LanguageTool to Grammarly as it FOSS and supports more languages

Yeah, I've never been overly impressed with the feedback I get from Grammarly.