Your digital scriptorium – where knowledge links together. 🧙♂️
🔒 Chronicler is source-available, not open-source. You can view and audit the code, but you cannot modify, redistribute, or reuse it. See LICENSE for details.
Chronicler is a free desktop app for note-takers, storytellers, researchers, and creative minds. It saves your notes as plain Markdown files on your computer — no subscriptions, no logins, and no internet required. Your thoughts stay in your hands.
🎉 Download the Latest Release!
❤️ Support on Patreon or Buy Me a Coffee to help fund development.
Chronicler is developed by a single independent creator (hi, that’s me! 👋) working on the project full-time. I rely entirely on donations as my only source of income. Its continued development is made possible thanks to the generous support of the community.
- Uses simple Markdown files and folders
- Clean editor with auto-save and live preview
- Tags with hierarchies
- Internal [[wikilinks]] with autocomplete
- Backlinks to trace relationships between ideas
- Smart auto-indexing and link updates on rename
- Add structure with optional infoboxes (e.g., people, places, topics)
- Define your own reusable templates
- Access the same note through multiple paths (e.g., by tag, topic or filesystem location)
- Smart indexing supports flexible organization
- Embed local images via
![[images/file.jpg]] - Drag-and-drop support
Chronicler supports importing .docx files directly, making it easy to bring your existing notes into the app.
- Converts Word formatting into clean Markdown
- Preserves headings, lists, bold/italic text, and links
- Works great for writers and worldbuilders migrating old content
- Once imported, content is fully editable and linkable like any other page
- 100% offline — no cloud, no vendor lock-in
- Files are just Markdown + YAML, portable and future-proof
Your notes. Your files. Your rules.
Chronicler is built on three core principles:
- Ownership: Your data is stored in plain text files on your local machine. You are not locked into a proprietary format or cloud service.
- Privacy: The app works 100% offline. What you write is for your eyes only.
- Flexibility: A simple, powerful set of tools for linking ideas, designed to adapt to your way of thinking.
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Download the latest release: Head to the Releases Page and download the installer for your operating system.
When you first run the installer, Microsoft Defender may show a "Windows protected your PC" screen. This is expected because Chronicler is a new application from an independent developer and is not yet code-signed.
To proceed, simply click "More info" and then "Run anyway". The application is safe to use, and you can verify the source code here on GitHub.
Chronicler for macOS is currently unsigned, which means macOS will block it the first time you try to open it. To get it running, you will need to run a command in the Terminal.
- Download the
.dmgfile and move the app to your Applications folder. - Open the Terminal app.
- Run this command:
sudo xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine /Applications/chronicler.app
- The app will now open correctly.
While the initial installer is unsigned, all in-app updates are cryptographically signed by me. This is handled by Tauri's built-in updater, which verifies the update signature before installing it. This ensures that all future updates are authentic and have not been tampered with.
- Download the
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Create a Vault: A "vault" is the folder on your computer where Chronicler will store all your notes. You can create a new folder or select an existing one.
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📘 → Read the Help Guide: Learn how to use Chronicler, write in Markdown, link pages, and organize your notes.
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Start Writing!: Create your first note and start linking your ideas.
Chronicler is a project driven by a passion for privacy and user ownership.
Your financial support directly funds development time, helping to build new features, fix bugs, and design a better user experience.
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👉 Join on Patreon to vote on features.
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👉 Buy Me a Coffee for a one-time donation.
- Frontend: Svelte 5
- Backend: Rust
- Packaging: Tauri 2.0
- Bugs & Feature Requests: Please open an issue on GitHub Issues
- Email: mak.kirkland@proton.me
- Discord: Join here!
This project is source-available and licensed under the PolyForm Shield 1.0.0 license.
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✅ You are free to view and audit the source code for transparency.
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✅ You are free to use the compiled application for non-commercial purposes.
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❌ You are not permitted to modify, redistribute, or use the source code to create competition.
Please see the LICENSE file for the full license text.