AI agents edit your documents, with review and undo. No terminal, no API keys, no setup.
Compose gives writers the power of coding agents — Claude Code, Codex, or a local
model — without any of the developer setup those tools assume. The runtime ships
inside the app, keys live in the macOS keychain (or aren't needed at all: Claude
and Codex run on the subscription you already pay for), and every AI edit goes
through a review step with full version history. Your files stay plain .md in
a folder you choose — readable in any other app, forever.
Status: early alpha. It's stable enough that we write in it daily, but it will have rough edges — keep backups of anything irreplaceable (your files are plain markdown, so Time Machine or any sync folder covers you). macOS only for now, Apple Silicon and Intel. Install below.
Most markdown editors bolt on a chatbot and assume you'll install and authenticate the AI yourself. Most AI writing tools lock your work into their cloud. Compose is neither — the full argument (and when you should pick something else) is in docs/positioning.md:
- Zero-setup agents. Compose bundles its own Node + uv runtime and can install an agent for you on first run. Claude Code and Codex run on your existing subscription; local models run through Ollama with a one-click start. No terminal is ever required.
- AI edits your real files — safely, without git. Every edit is gated: review and accept/reject per file, or apply directly with automatic snapshots. Stale edits are flagged, every file has browsable version history with one-click restore, and deletes land in a recoverable trash.
- Rich editor, plain files. Headings render as headings, tables as real tables, images inline — but the file on disk is always standard markdown. Raw mode is one toggle away. No lock-in, no export step.
- Local-first. Your writing stays on your Mac — no account, no cloud copy. The editor works fully offline; the AI uses whatever agent you connect (a local Ollama model works with no network at all).
- Visual editor powered by CodeMirror 6 — headings, bold, italic, strikethrough, inline code, and fenced code render in place
- Real table editing: click into cells, Tab/arrow between them, select rows and columns, copy as TSV
- Code blocks with syntax highlighting for 143 languages, a language chooser, and one-click copy
- Bullet lists, ordered lists, task lists (checkboxes), horizontal rules
- Inline images with drag-and-drop and paste support
- LaTeX math rendering (inline
$...$and block$$...$$) - Footnotes rendered inline
- YAML frontmatter preserved and editable as document properties
- Toggle between Rich and Raw mode per document
- Autosave as you type — edits hit disk within ~1.5 seconds
- Live streaming chat — draft, rewrite, summarize, restructure, or ask questions about your writing
- Multi-agent: Claude Code, Codex, bob, and local models via Ollama — auto-discovered, or installed for you
- The assistant sees your workspace — it follows
[[wiki-links]]between notes and understands your file structure - Attach any note to the conversation — including files opened from outside the workspace
- Tool and file-operation cards show exactly what the agent is doing; Stop halts it mid-stream
- Review mode: AI edits land in a sandbox — diff each file, accept or reject individually, then apply
- Direct mode: edits apply immediately with automatic version snapshots
- Stale-edit detection — if the source changed since the AI read it, the edit is flagged
- Full version history per file: browse past revisions, restore any version with one click
- Open any folder as a workspace — multi-workspace with tabs
- Open any
.mdfrom Finder — double-click a file anywhere and Compose edits the original in place (and can make itself the default Markdown app in Settings) - File tree with create, rename, move, and soft-delete (recoverable trash, 30-day retention)
- Full-text search powered by a Rust/WASM index — instant results across thousands of files
[[Wiki-links]], backlinks, and standard[markdown links](./path.md)— ⌘-click to navigate
- Select any passage and leave a comment — anchored to your selection
- Turn comments into AI work: send one or a batch to the assistant as a brief
- Comments panel with open/resolved sections per file
- PDF — native macOS WebKit rendering, multi-page with images and tables
- HTML — self-contained single file with inlined images and print CSS
- Markdown — the file itself, always
Homebrew (recommended):
brew install --cask getlatentic/tap/composeDirect download: grab the .dmg from the Releases page —
aarch64 for Apple Silicon (smaller), universal for any Mac — open it and
drag Compose to Applications.
Either way the app is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, and updates itself in the background afterwards.
Requirements: macOS (Apple Silicon or Intel). For AI features, connect an agent in the app — Compose's setup walks you through it, and Node + uv ship inside the app so there's nothing to install first.
- Your writing never leaves your Mac. No account, no sync, no server of ours.
- Anonymous launch ping. Compose sends one
app_launchedevent per launch (app version + OS, via Aptabase; anonymous session id, no content, no file names, no personal data) so we can count active users. Turn it off in Settings → General → Privacy — the toggle is respected before anything is sent. Builds without an analytics key send nothing at all. - Update checks fetch a version manifest from GitHub Releases.
- Error log stays local. Crashes and errors append to a local file (Settings → General → "Open error log") — it is never transmitted; you choose whether to attach it to a bug report.
- The AI agent you connect talks to its own provider under its own terms (a local Ollama model means no network at all).
- Code signing, notarization, auto-updates, Intel support
- Open-with from Finder + default Markdown app
- Formatted copy/paste with Google Docs, Word, and Slack
- Resizable panels, focus mode, Mermaid diagrams
- Outside agents via MCP — with the same review-and-undo net
- Research writing: outline navigation, word-count goals, footnote navigation
- Accessibility pass (VoiceOver, keyboard-only, IME)
- Cross-platform (Windows, Linux)
The live plan is the issue board — sprints are milestones, and every change references an issue.
pnpm install
pnpm tauri dev # the full desktop app (real filesystem + AI agent)
pnpm tauri build # a packaged .app / .dmgPrerequisites: Node.js + pnpm, Rust + the Tauri 2 prerequisites, and wasm-pack for the search index. Built with Tauri 2 (Rust + native WebView), React, TypeScript, CodeMirror 6, and Zustand. The agent layer is agent-harness, our published Rust crate.
MIT © Tosin Amuda