web-edit 0.1a0

Simon Willison has released web-edit 0.1a0, a Python web app for viewing and editing files in a folder. The spark was practical: he was on his phone, using Codex Remote on a project, and wanted to change a credentials file without sending those credentials back through the LLM.

So he had Codex and GPT-6 Astra Extra High build the tool. The result is a simple browser interface that lets him browse files in a directory and edit them directly, instead of bouncing sensitive material through an AI system just to make a small change.

The setup is also very deliberate. Willison says it is intended to run over Tailscale, so an agent can start the app and he can reach it from his phone through his Tailscale network. That makes the whole thing feel less like a demo and more like a tiny piece of personal infrastructure.

For the editor itself, the app uses CodeMirror 6. Willison says he considered Monaco, but that still does not have a great mobile experience yet. That detail matters here, because the whole point is to make this usable on a phone, where a lot of developer tools still feel like they were designed for a desk and not a thumb.

web-edit 0.1a0 sits right at the intersection of convenience and caution: enough automation to be useful, but not so much that secrets have to pass through the model just to get a file changed.