Summary

PaperQuay addresses the fragmented workflow of academic researchers by consolidating PDF reading, translation, note-taking, AI summarization, and agent-assisted literature management into a single, local-first desktop application. Targeting graduate students and heavy paper-reading users, it aims to streamline the research process, reduce context switching, and enhance knowledge synthesis by keeping all essential tools within one integrated environment.

How It Works

Built on Electron with a React/TypeScript/Vite frontend and a Node.js backend, PaperQuay leverages PDF.js for rendering and Tiptap/ProseMirror for its rich notes editor. It utilizes SQLite/sql.js for local data persistence and OpenAI-compatible APIs for AI features like translation, overviews, and agent workflows. A key innovation is its instant block-level translation, pre-caching translations of parsed PDF blocks for seamless switching between source and translated text, preserving original context within its structured reading and note-taking environment.

Quick Start & Requirements

• Installation: Clone the repository and run npm install to install dependencies. Development mode can be started with npm run dev, and a desktop installer can be built using npm run electron:build.
• Prerequisites: Node.js 18 or newer is required.
• Optional Dependencies: An OpenAI-compatible API key is needed for AI features (translation, overviews, agent tasks). A MinerU API key is required for advanced PDF structure parsing. Internet access is necessary for metadata enrichment via OpenAlex and Crossref.
• Platform: Windows, macOS, and Linux are supported.

Highlighted Details

• Integrated Workflow: Combines PDF reading, rich note-taking (Tiptap-based), AI-generated paper overviews, and agent operations within a single desktop app.
• Instant Block Translation: Pre-translates and caches PDF blocks, allowing immediate navigation between source and translated text without leaving the reading flow.
• Tiptap Notes Workspace: Features a robust notes editor supporting wiki-style links ([[note]]), tags (#tag), paper references (@paper), backlinks, and rich text formatting, all stored locally.
• Agent Operations: Enables batch library management tasks like renaming, metadata completion, smart tagging, and classification via AI agents, with user review of tool calls.
• Zotero Compatibility: Offers optional import of Zotero collections, tags, and attachments, but functions as a standalone library manager.

Maintenance & Community

The project is actively developed, with the latest release noted as v0.1.24, focusing on review writing, knowledge graph, MinerU configuration, and note synchronization. The "Todo" section outlines the future roadmap, including enhanced metadata extraction, deeper note-PDF integration, citation generation, folder watching, and RAG-based QA. No direct community links (e.g., Discord, Slack) are provided in the README.

Licensing & Compatibility

PaperQuay Community Edition is licensed under AGPL-3.0-only. Distribution of modified versions or network-provided services requires making the source code available under AGPL terms. Commercial licensing, support, or brand-name permission requires separate contact with the maintainer.

Limitations & Caveats

The AGPL-3.0 license imposes significant obligations for distributed or network-accessible modified versions. While local-first, core AI features rely on external OpenAI-compatible APIs, and advanced PDF parsing requires a MinerU API key. Some advanced features like RAG-based QA and one-click survey/draft generation are still in the planning stages (Todo).