Research Project Compass

A cross-platform desktop app for managing projects, ideas, tasks, and related papers.

Current shape

• Electron desktop app for macOS, Windows, and Linux
• Local-first storage on disk for projects and paper metadata
• PDF storage on disk instead of browser-only storage
• Optional sync through a shared folder
• English and Chinese interface

How sync works

The desktop app can sync through a folder you choose inside a service such as Dropbox, OneDrive, iCloud Drive, Google Drive, or Syncthing.

Each device runs the same app and points to the same cloud-synced folder. The app stores:

• state.json for projects, ideas, and paper metadata
• a pdfs/ folder for attached papers

This keeps the setup simple and cross-platform without locking you into one cloud backend.

Run locally

1. Install dependencies:

npm install

2. Start the desktop app:

npm start

Build installers

npm run dist

Electron Builder is configured to produce:

• dmg for macOS
• nsis installer for Windows
• AppImage and deb for Linux

Project structure

• index.html: renderer markup
• style.css: app styling
• app.js: renderer logic and UI state
• electron/main.js: Electron entry point
• electron/preload.js: secure bridge between renderer and desktop APIs
• electron/storage.js: local file storage and sync-folder logic

Notes

• Sync currently uses a simple last-write-wins strategy based on updatedAt
• Browser mode still works for quick preview, but folder sync and file-backed PDFs are intended for the desktop app
• The next high-value upgrade would be edit/delete for projects, ideas, and papers, plus conflict history for sync