OctoDocs
Free & Open Source · Native Desktop App

Your notes, documents,
and ideas — always
backed up to GitHub.

OctoDocs is a free native desktop Markdown editor that automatically pushes to GitHub every time you save. No terminal. No Git commands. No merge conflicts. Just write.

↓ Download for Free View on GitHub
Free forever MIT licensed, open source No account required to try Linux · macOS · Windows
🛡️
Your data, your GitHub. Documents live in your own repo — no third-party servers.
⚡
Native Rust performance. Launches instantly. Uses minimal RAM.
📜
Infinite version history. Every save is a commit. Roll back anything, anytime.
🔓
Zero lock-in. Files are plain .md — open them with any text editor.

Sound familiar?

The pain of losing your work

💾

Hard drive died. Notes gone.

Hundreds of hours of writing, meeting notes, and ideas — vanished. No backup, no recovery.

🕰️

Can't find the old version.

"I had the right wording last Tuesday… but I overwrote it." Without history, it's just gone.

🗂️

Notes scattered everywhere.

One file in Notion, another in Google Docs, some in Apple Notes — you never know which is current.

The OctoDocs way

Safe, versioned, always accessible

🔁

Ctrl+S backs up to GitHub.

Every save creates a commit. Your work is in GitHub — accessible from any device, permanent, and secure.

🕵️

Full version history, automatically.

GitHub's diff view shows what changed and when. Recover any version from any point in time.

📁

One place. On your machine.

All your Markdown files in a local folder that syncs to GitHub. Open with OctoDocs or any editor you like.

Features

Everything you need. Nothing you don't.

Built for people who just want to write — and for developers who want their notes living in the same GitHub ecosystem as their code.

✍️

WYSIWYG Markdown Editor

Write like in Google Docs — headings, bold, italic, underline, code, and strikethrough rendered live as you type. No raw **asterisks** visible unless you want them.

☁️

Auto-push on Every Save

Hit Ctrl+S and OctoDocs saves locally and commits to your GitHub repo in the background. A status badge confirms the sync. Set it and forget it.

💾

Auto-save Every Minute

OctoDocs saves your open document to disk automatically every 60 seconds. Never lose a change, even if you forget Ctrl+S or the unexpected happens.

📂

File Explorer Sidebar

Browse, create, rename, and organize your Markdown files in a sidebar file tree. All changes reflect immediately on GitHub.

🔷

Mermaid Diagrams, Inline

Write Mermaid flowcharts and sequence diagrams in code blocks and see them rendered in full color — right inside the document. No Node.js, no browser.

🔗

Multiple Repositories

Connect multiple GitHub repos — personal notes, team wiki, project docs. Each maps to a different repo, branch, and folder.

⚡

Ready in 60 Seconds

First launch walks you through GitHub OAuth in a browser. No terminal, no SSH keys, no config files. Pick a repo and start writing.

🌙

System Dark Mode, Live

OctoDocs reads your OS dark/light preference on startup and switches themes automatically when you change it — no restart needed. Override any time with the moon button.

Built for everyone

Whether you code or not,
OctoDocs just works

For writers, note-takers & teams

No tech skills required

OctoDocs handles the Git part invisibly. You write, press Save, and your documents are permanently backed up and versioned — without ever seeing a terminal or knowing what a commit is.

  • Meeting notes that are always recoverable
  • Personal journals with full edit history
  • Team wikis that sync to GitHub automatically
  • Research, recipes, travel logs — all safe
For developers & engineers

Your notes where your code lives

Keep Architecture Decision Records, runbooks, and notes in the same GitHub repo as your codebase. Every save is a real Git commit with a timestamp and full diff.

  • Architecture Decision Records, auto-committed
  • Mermaid diagrams rendered inline — no browser
  • Source / WYSIWYG / Split editing modes
  • Multi-repo: dev notes, personal notes, team wiki

How it works

From download to writing in four steps

1

Download & open

Get the binary for your OS below and run it. No installer wizard, no dependencies.

2

Connect GitHub

Approve the app in your browser via GitHub OAuth. No passwords, no SSH keys, no terminal.

3

Pick a repo & folder

Choose where your documents live. Existing .md files are imported automatically.

4

Write & save

Ctrl+S saves locally and pushes to GitHub. A status badge confirms the sync.

Download

Get OctoDocs — it's free

Pre-built native binaries for all platforms. Linux is production-ready. macOS and Windows are experimental and improving with each release.

🐧
Linux
x86_64 · Recommended
Stable
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/elranu/octodocs/main/install.sh | sh

One command installs to ~/.local/octodocs/ and symlinks octodocs to your PATH automatically.

↓ Download binary .tar.gz
🍎
macOS
Apple Silicon · aarch64
Experimental

Native Metal renderer. Download the binary or the DMG installer.

Unsigned app. On first launch: right-click → Open, or System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.
↓ Download binary .dmg
🪟
Windows
x86_64
Experimental

Download the .exe directly or grab the .zip archive.

Unsigned binary. SmartScreen may warn you — click "More info" → "Run anyway" to proceed.
↓ Download .exe .zip

🔧 Build from Source

Requires Rust nightly (selected automatically via rust-toolchain.toml). Linux also needs: libxcb1-dev libxkbcommon-dev libwayland-dev libvulkan-dev libsecret-1-dev libfontconfig-dev libasound2-dev libssl-dev

git clone https://github.com/elranu/octodocs.git && cd octodocs/desktop && cargo run -p octodocs-app

Stop losing your work.
Start writing with a safety net.

OctoDocs is free, open source, and takes 60 seconds to set up. Every document you write is automatically committed to GitHub — forever.

↓ Download Free Now ⭐ Star on GitHub