Web and desktop app

LibrePaper works in a web browser and in the LibrePaper desktop app. The desktop app is not an offline editor. It connects to the same LibrePaper server as the website, with the same account and the same projects. Several people can edit a project at once, whether each of them uses a browser or the desktop app, and you can switch between the two at any time.

Web browsers run every page in a sandbox, so a website cannot run code or use files on your computer. The desktop app does these things for you, on your computer, under your account.

What works where

Feature Web browser Desktop app
Write and edit projects ✅ ✅
Live preview: LaTeX and Typst to PDF, Markdown and Quarto to HTML ✅ ✅
Real-time collaboration with other editors, comments and track changes (Collaborate) ✅ ✅
Share links for readers, commenters and editors ✅ ✅
Version history ✅ ✅
Download the project or the rendered document ✅ ✅
BibTeX bibliographies ✅ ✅
Run R, Python or Julia code in Quarto and Calepin ❌ ✅
PDF, DOCX and slides from Markdown and Quarto ❌ ✅
AI agents in the sidebar ❌ ✅
Cite from your Zotero library (read-only) ❌ ✅
Local backups of every project ❌ ✅
A project folder on your disk for code and data ❌ ✅
  • In a browser, the desktop-only features say they need the desktop app and offer to open it.
  • Nothing runs unasked. Folders are granted one at a time through your system’s own chooser. Running a document’s code is off whenever a document opens, and you turn it on with the Run code switch.
  • On a shared project, editors can change the code that runs, so it is their code too.
  • The desktop app uses the tools installed on your computer, such as R, Python, Quarto and your coding agent.

Install the desktop app

Every package except the plain macOS .dmg puts two commands on your PATH: librepaper (the command line) and librepaper-desktop (the app). You do not need the command line to write.

macOS

  • With Homebrew:
brew install vincentarelbundock/tap/librepaper
  • Or download LibrePaper_<version>_universal.dmg from the release, open it and drag LibrePaper to Applications. It runs on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. This install does not put the commands on your PATH.

Windows

  • With Scoop:
scoop bucket add vincentarelbundock https://github.com/vincentarelbundock/scoop-bucket
scoop install librepaper
  • Or download LibrePaper_<version>_x64-setup.exe from the release. It is signed. It adds its folder to your user PATH, so open a new terminal to use both commands. Uninstalling removes the PATH entry.

Linux

  • Debian and Ubuntu: download librepaper_<version>_amd64.deb from the release, then run:
sudo apt install ./librepaper_<version>_amd64.deb
sudo apt remove librepaper                        # remove it
  • Fedora: download librepaper-<version>-1.x86_64.rpm from the release, then run:
sudo dnf install ./librepaper-<version>-1.x86_64.rpm
sudo dnf remove librepaper                        # remove it
  • openSUSE: use the same .rpm file, then run:
sudo zypper install ./librepaper-<version>-1.x86_64.rpm
  • Nix (x86_64 Linux only):
nix profile install github:LibrePaper/librepaper    # install
nix run github:LibrePaper/librepaper                # or try it without installing

  • Open LibrePaper from your applications menu, or run librepaper-desktop in a terminal.

  • To build from source:

# From a checkout of the repository
make desktop                                   # build the app and the librepaper binary it bundles
desktop/target/release/librepaper-desktop      # start the app
  • On NixOS, make desktop runs inside nix-shell.
  • LIBREPAPER_SERVER points the app at another server. It replaces the default server.
# Start the app with another server
LIBREPAPER_SERVER=https://paper.example.org/ desktop/target/release/librepaper-desktop

How the desktop app works

Nothing else to start

The desktop app starts its own background local service when it opens. You do not start, stop or pair the local service.

Updates

On macOS and with the Windows installer, the app checks for a new version when it starts and asks before it installs it. This includes an app installed with Homebrew. Scoop, the Linux packages and Nix update the app through their own commands.

Windows

  • Ctrl+N (Cmd+N on macOS) opens another window.
  • Ctrl+W (Cmd+W on macOS) closes the window.
  • Ctrl+, (Cmd+, on macOS) opens Settings.
  • Starting the app again opens another window in the running app.
  • A link to your server that opens in a new tab opens in a new window. Other links open in your browser.
  • Closing the last window quits the app and stops the local service.

Help

On macOS, the Help menu copies diagnostics, opens the issue tracker and checks for updates. On every system, Settings, Desktop app, Diagnostics copies the same report.

To build from a checkout, see building from source.