Any editor, full control
Your teammate's Vim config doesn't affect your VS Code. Shadow syncs the files underneath — everyone keeps their own setup, keybindings, and extensions.
VS Code · Neovim · Vim · JetBrains · Zed
Screensharing ≠
pair programming.
Most “pairing” is one person driving. The other is stuck in someone else’s setup.
Shadow lets both of you edit live, in your own editor.
VS Code · Neovim · Vim · JetBrains · Zed — keep your setup.
Download for Mac
Requires macOS 13+. Also available as a CLI.
See it in action.
Shadow syncs actual files between machines. Both sides keep full control.
Your mentor pings you: "hey, let's pair on this bug."
You say sure. They send a Live Share link.
You've been using WebStorm for three years. You open VS Code for the first time since college. You can't find the terminal. The keybindings are wrong. Your extensions aren't there. You spend ten minutes getting oriented.
The bug fix takes fifteen minutes.
Shadow exists so that never happens again.
Setup takes thirty seconds.
One click to start. One link to share. That's the whole setup.
01
Click Start in the menu bar
Open Shadow, pick your project folder. A secure tunnel is ready in seconds.
02
Send the link
The invite is auto-copied to your clipboard. It's long—that's the encryption key baked into the URL. Paste it in Slack and move on.
shadow join 'https://...#e2e-key' 03
They join, you're pairing
They click the link or paste it into their Shadow app. Both editing the same files, live, in whatever editor they each prefer.
Zero-knowledge encryption
The encryption key lives in the URL fragment — it never touches the server. The relay sees ciphertext. Not even we can read your code.
https://.../#e2e-key No accounts. Ever.
No email, no OAuth, no onboarding wizard. Download, click Start, pair. The code is MIT-licensed and fully open source.
Lightweight by design
A native macOS app that sits in your menu bar. No Electron. Start sessions without touching a terminal.
Native Swift · menu bar appThe alternatives, honestly
You already know the workarounds. They all have a catch.
Screen share and one of you just watches. Live Share and one of you abandons their editor. Shadow syncs the actual files, so both people keep full control of their own setup.
| Shadow | Live Share | Screenshare | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Can you use your own editor? | Yes, any IDE! | VS Code only | You just watch |
| How do you share? | Click Start, paste the link | Microsoft auth invite | Meeting link + screen share app |
| Can both people type? | Yes | Yes | No |
| How fast does it feel? | Near-instant (file sync) | Low latency | Video-encoding lag |
| Who sees your code? | Nobody, E2E encrypted | Relayed through Microsoft | Depends on the provider |
You've scrolled this far.
Next time someone says "let's pair," try Shadow. Download, click Start, send the link.