OpenTheBook

OpenTheBook is a free, lightweight desktop reader for PDF, EPUB, AZW3, and MOBI files. It is intentionally not a book library: install it, double-click a book, and read.

Website: https://openthebook.lol

Local development

npm ci
npm run dev              # website
npm run desktop:dev     # Tauri reader

Useful checks:

npm run lint
npm run build
npm run desktop:build
cargo check --manifest-path src-tauri/Cargo.toml

Desktop behavior

• The Windows installer offers PDF, EPUB, AZW3, and MOBI checkboxes. Selected formats are registered per-user and the installer attempts to make OpenTheBook their default app. Windows 10/11 may require a final confirmation in Default apps.
• The reader starts without a sidebar. Ctrl+T opens the optional chapter rail.
• Update checks run quietly after launch. A downloaded signed update is installed when the reader closes, ready for the next file-association launch.
• The updater manifest is served from https://openthebook.lol/updates/latest.json.

Releases

Push a tag such as v0.1.0 to build Windows and Ubuntu artifacts. The release workflow:

1. Builds the NSIS installer, AppImage, and Debian package.
2. Authenticode-signs the Windows installer with Azure Trusted Signing.
3. Signs the final installer and Linux AppImage with the Tauri updater key.
4. Publishes a GitHub Release and latest.json.
5. Deploys the website and update manifest to Cloudflare.

Required GitHub Actions secrets and domain notes are in distribution/release-setup.md. The local updater private key lives only in the ignored .tauri/ directory and must never be committed.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.