Chronicler - The free offline worldbuilding tool for writers and GMs.

Chronicler is a free, offline worldbuilding tool and local wiki for writers, game masters, and tabletop RPG creators. It saves your notes as plain Markdown files on your computer. No sign-up, no subscription, no cloud. Your world stays on your device.

Unlike cloud-based tools like World Anvil, Notion, or Campfire, Chronicler runs 100% offline and stores everything locally. You own your files forever. No internet required, no vendor lock-in, no monthly fees.

🔒 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.

🎉 Download the Latest Release for Windows, macOS, and Linux!

❤️ Support on Patreon or Buy Me a Coffee to help fund development.

💬 Join us on Discord

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.

📊 Community & Traction

| Metric | Value | |--------|-------| | Unique Installations | 1,550+ across Windows, macOS, and Linux | | Discord Members | 560+ | | Latest Reddit Post | 32,000+ views, 303 upvotes (98.7% ratio), 298 shares |

"I've been using Chronicler for three months, and it's amazing. I tried Obsidian, but Chronicler is what I was looking for to do my worldbuilding. To me it's the perfect mix between simplicity and deep features." — MikosEybrig, r/worldbuilding

📋 Quick Facts

| | | |---|---| | Price | Free (core features, forever). Optional one-time Community License for cosmetic themes. | | Platforms | Windows 10+, macOS (Apple Silicon & Intel), Linux (AppImage & .deb) | | Internet Required | No. 100% offline. | | Data Storage | Local Markdown files on your hard drive (no cloud servers) | | File Format | Plain-text Markdown (.md) | | Obsidian Compatible | Yes, open Obsidian vaults directly | | Built With | Rust + Tauri (lightweight, instant performance) | | License | Source-available (PolyForm Shield 1.0.0) |

🎯 Who Is Chronicler For?

Tabletop RPG Game Masters building D&D campaigns, Pathfinder settings, or homebrew worlds
Novelists and fiction writers organizing characters, locations, lore, and plot threads
Worldbuilders who want a local wiki that feels like Wikipedia for their universe
Privacy-focused creators who don't want their notes on someone else's server

✨ Features

✍️ Writing & Markdown

Simple Markdown files and folders you can read and edit anywhere
Clean editor with auto-save and live split-screen preview

🔗 Linking & Organization

[[Wikilinks]] with autocomplete to connect your pages instantly
Backlinks panel to trace every relationship between your notes
Tags with hierarchies for flexible categorization
Smart auto-indexing and link updates on rename

📇 Templates & Infoboxes

Wiki-style infoboxes for characters, locations, items, and more
Define reusable templates so new pages are pre-filled and consistent

🖼️ Media & Embeds

Embed local images via ![[images/file.jpg]]
Image carousels and galleries for visual worldbuilding
Page inserts to embed one page's content inside another (navboxes, stat blocks, etc.)

🔐 Privacy & Secrets

Discord-style ||spoilers|| to hide information from other readers
100% offline.

📥 Importing & Migration

Import .docx files from Word and Google Docs with automatic Markdown conversion
Import entire MediaWiki/Fandom wikis from .xml dumps
Open existing Obsidian vaults directly (Markdown-compatible out of the box)

🎨 Customization

Built-in theme editor with custom colors and fonts
Vault diagnostics to find broken links and keep your world healthy

✨ Coming in Chronicler Pro (v1.0)

The core app is free forever. Chronicler Pro will add premium features with a one-time payment (no subscription):

🗺️ Interactive Maps with pins linked to location pages
⏳ Timelines with custom non-Gregorian calendars
🌳 Family Trees for character relationships

⚔️ How Does Chronicler Compare?

| | Chronicler | World Anvil | Obsidian | Notion | Campfire | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Price | Free | Subscription | Free | Free (paid teams) | Per-module purchase | | Offline | 100% offline | No (browser only) | Yes | Partial | Yes | | Data ownership | Local Markdown files | Cloud database | Local Markdown files | Cloud database | Local database | | Privacy | Private by default | Paid feature | Private by default | Cloud-stored | Private by default | | Worldbuilding features | Built-in (infoboxes, templates, wikilinks) | Built-in (extensive) | Requires plugins | Generic databases | Per-module | | Setup required | None | Account + subscription | Plugin configuration | Complex setup | Module purchases |

See the full detailed comparisons at chronicler.pro.

🧭 Philosophy

Your notes. Your files. Your rules.

Chronicler is built on three principles:

Ownership: Your data is stored in plain-text Markdown on your machine. Not in a proprietary database. Not on someone else's server. You can read your files with any text editor, forever.
Privacy: The app works 100% offline. No accounts, no analytics, no telemetry. What you write is yours alone.
Simplicity: Powerful tools for linking ideas, without the setup headache. Chronicler works out of the box with zero configuration.

🚀 Getting Started

Download the latest release from the Releases Page for Windows, macOS, or Linux.

⚠️ Windows Users

Microsoft Defender may show a "Windows protected your PC" screen. This is normal for new unsigned applications from independent developers. Click "More info" then "Run anyway". The application is safe, and you can verify the source code here on GitHub.
🍎 macOS Users

Chronicler for macOS is currently unsigned. To open it:
1. Download the .dmg and move the app to Applications.
2. Open Terminal and run:
```
sudo xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine /Applications/chronicler.app
```
3. The app will now open correctly.
🛡️ Security & Trust

While the installer is unsigned, all in-app updates are cryptographically signed using Tauri's built-in updater, ensuring every update is authentic and untampered.
Create a Vault: Pick a folder on your computer where Chronicler will store your notes.
📘 Read the Help Guide: Learn Markdown, wikilinks, infoboxes, and organization.
Start Writing!

❤️ About the Developer

Chronicler is built by a single independent developer (hi, that's me! 👋) working on the project full-time. I rely entirely on community donations as my only source of income. Your support keeps this project alive.

👉 Join on Patreon to vote on features
👉 Buy Me a Coffee for a one-time donation

🛠️ Tech Stack

Frontend: Svelte 5
Backend: Rust
Packaging: Tauri 2.0

📫 Get in Touch

Bugs & Feature Requests: GitHub Issues
Email: mak.kirkland@proton.me
Discord: Join here!
YouTube: @chroniclerpro
Instagram: @chronicler.pro
TikTok: @chronicler.pro
Pinterest: chroniclerpro

📜 License

This project is source-available under the PolyForm Shield 1.0.0 license.

Chronicler

Install / Use

README