diff --git a/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs b/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs
index ad4f73bcb014d..f0828b4dd4c87 100644
--- a/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs
+++ b/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ use helix_core::{
     coords_at_pos,
     graphemes::ensure_grapheme_boundary,
     syntax::{self, HighlightEvent},
+    unicode::segmentation::UnicodeSegmentation,
+    unicode::width::UnicodeWidthStr,
     LineEnding, Position, Range,
 };
 use helix_view::{
@@ -111,6 +113,12 @@ impl EditorView {
 
         let last_line = view.last_line(doc);
 
+        let text_annotations = doc
+            .text_annotations()
+            .iter()
+            .filter(|v| (view.first_line..last_line).contains(&v.line))
+            .collect::<Vec<_>>();
+
         let range = {
             // calculate viewport byte ranges
             let start = text.line_to_byte(view.first_line);
@@ -223,6 +231,27 @@ impl EditorView {
                 .collect(),
         ));
 
+        let out_of_bounds = |visual_x: u16| {
+            visual_x < view.first_col as u16 || visual_x >= viewport.width + view.first_col as u16
+        };
+
+        use crate::helix_view::decorations::TextAnnotation;
+        let render_annotation = |annot: &TextAnnotation, line: u16, pos: u16, surface: &mut Surface| {
+            let mut visual_x = pos;
+            for grapheme in annot.text.graphemes(true) {
+                if out_of_bounds(visual_x) {
+                    break;
+                }
+                surface.set_string(
+                    viewport.x + visual_x - view.first_col as u16,
+                    viewport.y + line,
+                    grapheme,
+                    annot.style,
+                );
+                visual_x = visual_x.saturating_add(grapheme.width() as u16);
+            }
+        };
+
         'outer: for event in highlights {
             match event {
                 HighlightEvent::HighlightStart(span) => {
@@ -242,11 +271,8 @@ impl EditorView {
                     });
 
                     for grapheme in RopeGraphemes::new(text) {
-                        let out_of_bounds = visual_x < view.first_col as u16
-                            || visual_x >= viewport.width + view.first_col as u16;
-
                         if LineEnding::from_rope_slice(&grapheme).is_some() {
-                            if !out_of_bounds {
+                            if !out_of_bounds(visual_x) {
                                 // we still want to render an empty cell with the style
                                 surface.set_string(
                                     viewport.x + visual_x - view.first_col as u16,
@@ -254,6 +280,13 @@ impl EditorView {
                                     " ",
                                     style,
                                 );
+                                visual_x += 1;
+                            }
+
+                            if let Some(annot) = text_annotations.iter().find(|t| {
+                                t.text_type.is_eol() && t.line == view.first_line + line as usize
+                            }) {
+                                render_annotation(annot, line, visual_x, surface);
                             }
 
                             visual_x = 0;
@@ -276,7 +309,7 @@ impl EditorView {
                                 (grapheme.as_ref(), width)
                             };
 
-                            if !out_of_bounds {
+                            if !out_of_bounds(visual_x) {
                                 // if we're offscreen just keep going until we hit a new line
                                 surface.set_string(
                                     viewport.x + visual_x - view.first_col as u16,
@@ -293,6 +326,12 @@ impl EditorView {
             }
         }
 
+        for &annot in text_annotations.iter().filter(|t| t.text_type.is_overlay()) {
+            let visual_x = annot.offset.unwrap() as u16;
+            let line = (annot.line - view.first_line) as u16;
+            render_annotation(annot, line, visual_x, surface);
+        }
+
         // render gutters
 
         let linenr: Style = theme.get("ui.linenr");
diff --git a/helix-view/src/decorations.rs b/helix-view/src/decorations.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..c5c1ba1656775
--- /dev/null
+++ b/helix-view/src/decorations.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+use crate::graphics::Style;
+
+#[derive(Clone, Copy, PartialEq)]
+pub enum TextAnnotationType {
+    /// Add to end of line
+    Eol,
+    /// Replace actual text or arbitary cells with annotations
+    Overlay,
+}
+
+impl TextAnnotationType {
+    pub fn is_eol(&self) -> bool {
+        *self == Self::Eol
+    }
+
+    pub fn is_overlay(&self) -> bool {
+        *self == Self::Overlay
+    }
+}
+
+pub struct TextAnnotation {
+    /// String used to namespace and identify similar annotations
+    pub scope: String,
+    pub text: String,
+    pub style: Style,
+    pub line: usize,
+    /// Render at this column, None for Eol
+    pub offset: Option<usize>,
+    pub text_type: TextAnnotationType,
+}
diff --git a/helix-view/src/document.rs b/helix-view/src/document.rs
index f85ded11699c8..2185d3051b2e1 100644
--- a/helix-view/src/document.rs
+++ b/helix-view/src/document.rs
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ use helix_core::{
 };
 use helix_lsp::util::LspFormatting;
 
-use crate::{DocumentId, Theme, ViewId};
+use crate::{DocumentId, Theme, ViewId, decorations::TextAnnotation};
 
 const BUF_SIZE: usize = 8192;
 
@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@ pub struct Document {
     version: i32, // should be usize?
 
     diagnostics: Vec<Diagnostic>,
+    text_annotations: Vec<TextAnnotation>,
     language_server: Option<Arc<helix_lsp::Client>>,
 }
 
@@ -438,6 +439,7 @@ impl Document {
             language: None,
             changes,
             old_state,
+            text_annotations: vec![],
             diagnostics: Vec::new(),
             version: 0,
             history: Cell::new(History::default()),
@@ -1060,6 +1062,22 @@ impl Document {
         })
     }
 
+    pub fn text_annotations(&self) -> &[TextAnnotation] {
+        &self.text_annotations
+    }
+
+    pub fn push_text_annotations(&mut self, annots: Vec<TextAnnotation>) {
+        self.text_annotations.extend(annots)
+    }
+
+    /// Remove annotations that return true for the given predicate
+    pub fn remove_text_annotations<F>(&mut self, f: F)
+    where
+        F: Fn(&TextAnnotation) -> bool,
+    {
+        self.text_annotations.retain(|t| !f(t))
+    }
+
     // pub fn slice<R>(&self, range: R) -> RopeSlice where R: RangeBounds {
     //     self.state.doc.slice
     // }
diff --git a/helix-view/src/lib.rs b/helix-view/src/lib.rs
index 9bcc0b7d51124..fd609ee99b48c 100644
--- a/helix-view/src/lib.rs
+++ b/helix-view/src/lib.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 pub mod macros;
 
 pub mod clipboard;
+pub mod decorations;
 pub mod document;
 pub mod editor;
 pub mod graphics;