Novoforge | Local-First Worldbuilding & Novel-Writing Software

Project Overview

Introduction

Novoforge is a local-first desktop application for worldbuilding and long-form novel writing, built with Electron, React, and TypeScript. Everything — the database, assets, revision history, and backups — lives in a single portable .world bundle on disk. No accounts, no cloud, no lock-in.

The project exists to solve a simple problem: serious long-form writing deserves a dedicated tool that respects your ownership of the work, works offline, and stays out of the way.

✨ Key Features

Manuscript

• Distraction-Free Editor - TipTap/ProseMirror editor with focus mode, typewriter scrolling, entity mentions (@Character), wiki links, inline editorial notes, and scene-break markers
• Scrivenings, Corkboard & Outliner Views - Read and edit your manuscript as one continuous flow, or plan it visually
• Per-Scene Targets & Find & Replace - Track word targets for every scene, part, and book; search across the whole project

Worldbuilding

• Typed Entities - Characters, locations, factions, items, creatures, and more with custom attributes and tags
• Relationship Graph - Visualize connections between every entity, filtered by relationship type
• Timelines, Calendars, Maps, Boards & Family Trees - Build the world around your story

History & Safety

• Revision Snapshots - Automatic snapshots with a diff viewer and one-click restore with safety copy
• Rolling Backup - Auto-backup on close, plus scheduled encrypted backups
• Dropbox & S3 Backups - Optional cloud backup to Dropbox or any S3-compatible bucket

Compile, Export & Import

• Scrivener-Style Compile - Reusable formats with per-section-type layouts, numbering, filters, and typography placeholders
• Full Export Suite - DOCX, EPUB, PDF, Markdown, HTML, Shunn-standard manuscript, and Scrivener .scriv bundles — every run ships a checksummed manifest
• Staged Imports - DOCX, Markdown/plain text, Fountain screenplays, CSV entity sheets, and existing Scrivener projects with preview before commit

Productivity & Insight

• Stats Dashboard - Words per day, streaks, sessions, and chapter-length matrix
• Readability & Consistency - Readability scores plus a consistency workbench with reports and beta-reader exports
• Desktop Polish - Native application menu, ⌘K command palette, dark/light themes, and automatic updates

🛠️ Tech Stack

Novoforge pairs an Electron shell with a typed writing core:

Desktop

• Electron - Cross-platform shell, packaged per-OS with electron-builder
• React - Renderer UI with TipTap/ProseMirror editor
• TypeScript - Strict typing throughout
• TailwindCSS - Utility-first styling with dark/light themes

Core Libraries

• SQLite - Embedded database with full-text search
• xyflow - Entity relationship graph rendering
• Zustand - Minimal, focused state management

🏗️ Architecture

Design Principles

flowchart LR
    UI["React Renderer"] -->|"typed IPC"| Main["Electron Main"]
    Main --> Domain["Typed domain services<br/>+ ports"]
    Domain --> DB["SQLite<br/>embedded"]
    Domain --> FS[".world bundle<br/>manifest + assets + revisions"]
    Domain --> Backup["Backup providers<br/>local / Dropbox / S3"]

A project is just a folder — a portable .world bundle containing the database, assets, revisions, and backups next to each other. Open it, back it up, or sync it however you like; the domain core stays portable and testable behind small ports, keeping the UI layer Electron-agnostic.

🚀 Download & Platforms

Novoforge ships desktop installers for all three major platforms:

• Windows - NSIS installer (Novoforge-<version>-setup.exe)
• Linux - AppImage, Debian (.deb), and RPM (.rpm) packages
• macOS - DMG (currently unsigned — right-click → Open on first launch)
• Auto-Updates - The app checks a public release feed and updates in place

Grab the latest version from the releases page or visit the website.

🎯 What Makes This Project Unique

1. Local-First by Design - A project is just a portable .world folder; the database, assets, and revisions live next to each other, so backup and portability are trivial.

2. Serious Writing Tools - Revision snapshots with diffs, scrivenings, corkboard/outliner views, per-scene word targets, and Scrivener-grade compile — built for long-form work.

3. Round-Trip Interop - Checksummed exports to DOCX/EPUB/PDF/Shunn/ Scrivener with staged imports back in, including Fountain screenplays and CSV entity sheets.

4. Encrypted Cloud Backups - Optional Dropbox or S3 sync with encrypted archives, no lock-in required.

5. Private & Respectful of Ownership - No accounts, no telemetry; your work is yours and stays on your machine.

6. Continuous Delivery - GitHub Actions builds, tests, and ships installers to a public download feed on every release tag.

📸 Screenshots

🗺️ Roadmap

Novoforge is under active development. Planned work includes:

• Dropbox cloud backups (OAuth, encrypted)
• Auto-update pipeline via public GitHub releases
• macOS installer (DMG) — v1.0.0
• Corkboard/outliner views, find & replace, section types
• Scrivener-style compile engine with per-section layouts
• Code signing & notarization (Windows/macOS)
• Cloud sync providers beyond Dropbox/S3
• Manuscript collaboration (long-term)

🤝 Author & Contact

• Author: @mahabubone - Full-Stack Developer | TypeScript Enthusiast
• Email: iam.mahabub@proton.me

📄 License

Novoforge is free for personal, non-commercial use by individuals. Commercial use, use by organizations, modification, and redistribution require the author’s written permission (a separate commercial license is available). See LICENSE for the full terms.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Electron - Cross-platform desktop shell
• TipTap / ProseMirror - Rich text editing foundation
• SQLite - Embedded local-first database
• xyflow - Relationship graph rendering