Typink

Typink is a scientific notebook app combining Typst typesetting with handwriting and diagramming, built with a Rust core and a Flutter frontend.

Key Features

• Drawing Pad: Fixed 1333×1000 coordinate space keeps diagrams consistent across edits.
• Typst Preview: Live side-by-side preview with syntax highlighting and inline error diagnostics.
• Persistence: Autosaves .typ source and stroke data (JSON + SVG) on edit; flushes on app lifecycle pause.
• Multi-file sidebar: Manage multiple .typ files in one workspace directory.
• PDF Export: One-tap PDF generation via the Typst engine.

Architecture

Typink uses a hybrid architecture:

• Frontend: Flutter (Riverpod for state, custom headless editor with Vim keybindings).
• Engine: Rust (Typst engine via flutter_rust_bridge).

File Structure

Notebook/
  main.typ       # Main Typst document
  figures/       # Auto-managed directory
    fig1.svg     # Image for Typst rendering
    fig1.json    # Stroke data for re-editing

Build Instructions

Typink uses a hybrid architecture with a Rust core. Nix is required to manage the toolchain (Flutter SDK, Rust, Android NDK).

Use the Makefile at the project root — it wraps every command in the correct nix develop environment automatically.

make help          # list all targets

make run           # build Rust (debug) + run on Linux
make build-linux   # build Rust (release) + package for Linux

make dev-android   # cross-compile Rust (arm64) + run on device
make build-apk     # cross-compile Rust (arm64) + build release APK

make bridge        # regenerate Flutter↔Rust bridge
make test          # run all tests
make clean         # clean Flutter build artefacts

The optimized APK will be at flutter_app/build/app/outputs/flutter-apk/app-release.apk.

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Tip

If you encounter "file INSTALL cannot find" or other directory errors, run make clean.

Installation

NixOS

The flake ships a ready-to-run package (packages.default) and app (apps.default).

Run without installing:

nix run github:m-tky/Typink

Install to your user profile:

nix profile install github:m-tky/Typink

Add to a NixOS system flake (/etc/nixos/flake.nix):

{
  inputs = {
    nixpkgs.url = "github:NixOS/nixpkgs/nixos-unstable";
    typink.url  = "github:m-tky/Typink";
  };

  outputs = { nixpkgs, typink, ... }: {
    nixosConfigurations.my-machine = nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
      system = "x86_64-linux";
      modules = [
        ./configuration.nix
        ({ pkgs, ... }: {
          environment.systemPackages = [
            typink.packages.x86_64-linux.default
          ];
        })
      ];
    };
  };
}

home-manager:

home.packages = [ inputs.typink.packages.${pkgs.system}.default ];

Build locally from source:

nix build .       # output → ./result/bin/typink
nix run .         # build and launch immediately

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Other Linux distributions (Ubuntu, Arch, Fedora, …)

Download the pre-built bundle from the Releases page and extract it, or build from source with make build-linux.

Install:

sudo cp -r typink-bundle /opt/typink
sudo ln -sf /opt/typink/typink /usr/local/bin/typink

Add a desktop launcher:

cat > ~/.local/share/applications/typink.desktop << 'EOF'
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Typink
Comment=Scientific notebook with Typst and handwriting
Exec=/opt/typink/typink
Icon=/opt/typink/data/flutter_assets/icon.png
Type=Application
Categories=Office;Education;
EOF

If the app fails to start, install the required GTK 3 libraries:

Distro	Command
Ubuntu / Debian	sudo apt install libgtk-3-0 libglib2.0-0 libpango-1.0-0 libharfbuzz0b libatk1.0-0 libcairo2 libgdk-pixbuf-2.0-0 libfontconfig1 libfreetype6
Arch Linux	sudo pacman -S gtk3 glib2 pango harfbuzz atk cairo gdk-pixbuf2 fontconfig freetype2
Fedora / RHEL	sudo dnf install gtk3 glib2 pango harfbuzz atk cairo gdk-pixbuf2 fontconfig freetype

Note

Any GNOME, KDE, or Xfce desktop already has these. They're only missing on minimal/server installs.

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User Guide

Dynamic Handwriting

1. Click the "Insert Drawing" icon in the toolbar.
2. The Drawing Pad modal opens. Sketch your diagram.
3. Click "Save & Close".
4. Typink automatically calculates the content density and suggests a width (40% / 70% / 100%) for the #figure tag in Typst.

PDF Export

Click the PDF icon in the top right.

• Linux: Saved to ~/Documents/Typink/
• Android: Saved to your Downloads directory.

Syncthing Integration

Typink is designed to work with Syncthing. Files are saved in a clean .typ + figures/ directory structure, making conflict resolution and cross-device sync straightforward.