# Atheos: a self-hosted browser IDE for small servers > Atheos is a rewrite of Codiad that runs a full editor from a PHP web folder. It installs by copying files, keeps its data in the same tree, and updates by hand. **Atheos/Atheos** — A self-hosted browser-based cloud IDE, updated from Codiad IDE - Repository: https://github.com/Atheos/Atheos - Website: https://www.atheos.io/ - Stars: 677 · Forks: 92 - Language: JavaScript - License: not declared - Published: 2026-09-10 · Updated: 2026-09-10 · Language: en - Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/atheos-atheos ## What Atheos solves, and for whom Atheos is a web-based IDE framework that you host yourself. The README describes it as an updated fork of Codiad, "completely rewritten from the original Codiad project to utilize more modern tooling, cleaner code, and a wider arrange of features." The stated goal is an easy, fast, fully featured cloud IDE "without a large server footprint." The audience follows from that. It is for people who want to edit code in a browser from a server they already run, without installing a desktop editor on the machine doing the editing. The README notes Atheos is primarily developed on a Debian LAMP Server, which tells you the expected environment: PHP, a web server, and a writable folder. If you have that, the install is a file copy. If you do not, the project is a poor fit before you write a single line of code. The project is not archived. The last push was on 2026-08-18. The most recent release listed is v601 from 2025-01-10, after v5.5.0 in 2022. ## How the PHP backend and browser front end fit together The repository layout shows the split. Top-level entries include controller.php, dialog.php, index.php, error.php and common.php, alongside classes/, components/, modules/, plugins/, themes/ and vendor/. A browser request lands on index.php; controller.php and dialog.php handle the server side; components/ and modules/ carry the front-end pieces. One design change matters more than the rest. The README lists "A complete move from Get requests to Post requests to the server" as a notable difference from Codiad. That is a real architectural decision, not a cosmetic one: editor actions that used to be expressible as URLs are now POST bodies, which changes how you reason about caching, logging and any proxy sitting in front of the install. The README also claims a "Massive reduction in unnecessary/repeated traffic from server to client" and "Complete removal of jQuery and it's plugins." Those are the author's claims about the rewrite. The README does not publish measurements, so treat them as intent rather than a verified figure. State lives in the installation tree, not in a database. The README names /config.php, /data, /workspace, /plugins and /themes as the folders that must be writable. That is the practical consequence of the architecture: your code, your settings and your plugin state all sit in the same directory you point a web server at. ## Install Atheos by copying files into a web folder The README gives one manual path: place Atheos in a web-accessible folder and point your browser at it. Before that, the web server needs write access to five paths. The README lists them exactly as follows: ```text /config.php /data /workspace /plugins /themes ``` Those five entries are the paths the README requires to be writable by your web server. The README does not print a chmod command, so the permission step is something you carry out with your own server tooling. If any dependency has not been met, the README says the system will alert you on the installation screen. Once the folder is in place, open the install URL in a browser. The README does not spell out the exact screen sequence, only that missing dependencies surface there. There is also a Docker route. The README points to the docker image on DockerHub at hlsiira/atheos and gives no further configuration detail, so the tag and volume layout are not documented in the README itself. You still need the same writable paths inside the container for config.php, data, workspace, plugins and themes, but the README does not describe how the image maps them. ## Updating Atheos is a manual file operation This is the sharpest limitation in the README, and it is stated plainly: Atheos "has a built in Update Check System, however does not have a system for actually updating the system itself, instead it relies on the admin to copy over the files itself." The README adds that the update system is currently being rewritten and that more information will come later. The documented procedure is to delete everything except the folders listed here, or move these folders to a new directory: ```text /config.php /data /workspace /plugins /themes ``` Then navigate to /themes and delete the default folder. Then download the newest version from the GitHub repo and extract its contents to the root of the installation. Finally, confirm the same folders still have write capabilities. Two things follow. First, there is no rollback documented anywhere in the README; if an upgrade breaks the install, the README does not tell you how to get back. Second, deleting the default theme folder before extracting means a failed extraction leaves you without that theme. Neither is a reason to avoid the project, but both mean your upgrade plan has to include a backup you take yourself. The release cadence is uneven. v5.5.0 is dated 2022-10-05 and v601 is dated 2025-01-10, so a gap of more than two years sits between the two releases listed. The last push to the repository was on 2026-08-18, which is more recent than the latest release. ## Atheos compared with Codiad, and what the fork keeps The obvious alternative is Codiad, the project Atheos forked. The README devotes a section to the difference and lists the changes: POST instead of GET requests, a new UX and theme, a more complete user permission system, reduced server-to-client traffic, removal of jQuery, built-in Git integration, and an emphasis on standardized components and modules to make plugin development easier. That is a meaningful divergence rather than a rebrand. Removing jQuery and rebuilding the front end changes what a plugin author writes. The permission system changes what a deployment can enforce. Built-in Git integration changes what you need to install alongside the editor. Codiad is also the answer for anyone who wants the older behaviour. If an existing plugin or workflow depends on the GET-based request model, the rewrite is a compatibility break, not an upgrade. The README frames the changes as improvements; from an operator's seat, each one is also a migration cost. The README quotes Codiad's own positioning about simplicity and about users of larger IDEs finding that simplicity a benefit. Atheos keeps that framing and pushes it further, aiming to "minimize its footprint even further while maximizing functionality and performance." ## Where Atheos is the wrong tool Atheos assumes a writable web root. That is a security posture, not just a setup step. If your policy forbids a web server from writing to the directory it serves, or if you cannot isolate the install behind authentication and a reverse proxy, the permission model the README requires is a problem you have to solve before anything else. The README also warns that Atheos is primarily developed on Debian LAMP and asks users on other stacks to report installation issues. That is an honest signal: on a non-Debian stack you are on a less travelled path, and the README does not offer troubleshooting for it. Finally, the manual update model rules it out for anyone who needs unattended upgrades. There is no documented rollback and no documented migration tooling. If your environment requires a managed upgrade path, this is the wrong project regardless of how well the editor itself works. The README does not document multi-user concurrency limits, backup tooling, or how the data folder behaves under concurrent writes. Those are gaps, not failures, but they are gaps you would be filling yourself. ## Licence and the cost of running it The README displays an MIT licence badge linking to opensource.org. The repository metadata supplied for this project lists the licence as unknown, so the badge and the metadata do not agree. Before you rely on MIT terms, check the licence file in your own checkout rather than the badge. This is not legal advice; it is a note that the two sources conflict. The ongoing cost is operational. You supply the server, the PHP runtime and the writable paths. You perform each upgrade by hand, following the delete-and-extract procedure, which means scheduling downtime and taking your own backup of config.php, data, workspace, plugins and themes. The README does not describe a maintenance window or a zero-downtime path. There is no pricing to evaluate, since the project is distributed as source and as a DockerHub image. The cost is the time you spend on upgrades and the disk you give to the workspace folder. ## Conclusion Adopt Atheos if you want a PHP-hosted editor on a small server you already control and you are comfortable upgrading by hand, since the README states the built-in Update Check System does not update the system itself. Do not adopt it if you need a managed upgrade path or a stack other than the Debian LAMP setup the README names as the primary development target. Before committing, verify that your web server can write to /config.php, /data, /workspace, /plugins and /themes, and confirm whether the MIT badge in the README matches the licence file shipped in your checkout. ## FAQ ### What does the name Atheos mean? The repository and README do not state a meaning for the name. The README only presents it as the name of the IDE and links to atheos.io, so any definition would have to come from outside this material. ### How do I install Atheos IDE? Place Atheos in a web-accessible folder and point your browser at it. The README requires that /config.php, /data, /workspace, /plugins and /themes have write capabilities, and says the installation screen alerts you if dependencies are not met. ### Can Atheos IDE update itself? No. The README states that Atheos has a built in Update Check System but no system for actually updating itself, so the admin copies the files over manually. The documented procedure is to keep config.php, data, workspace, plugins and themes, delete the default theme folder, then extract the new version over the root. ### Is Atheos IDE available as a Docker image? Yes. The README points to the docker image at hlsiira/atheos on DockerHub. It does not document the image tag, volume mapping or how the writable folders are handled inside the container. ### What is the difference between Atheos and Codiad? Atheos is a fork of Codiad that the README describes as an almost complete rewrite. The listed changes include moving from GET to POST requests, a new UX and theme, a more complete user permission system, removal of jQuery, built-in Git integration and standardized components and modules for plugin development. ## Sources - [Atheos/Atheos on GitHub](https://github.com/Atheos/Atheos) - [Issues](https://github.com/Atheos/Atheos/issues) - [Project website](https://www.atheos.io/) - [README](https://github.com/Atheos/Atheos/blob/main/README.md) - [Releases](https://github.com/Atheos/Atheos/releases) --- Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/atheos-atheos