Read arXiv papers comfortably. On your Mac or Kindle.
LocalXiv turns arXiv and alphaXiv links into a paper library on your Mac. Adjust the reading layout, explore optional visual explanations, and export an EPUB for your Kindle. Keep the original paper beside the explanation so you can check what it actually says.
Download v0.0.17 for Mac · Apple Silicon · macOS 26 or newer
Free and open source. No AI account is needed to import, read, or export papers. Optional AI features use your own provider and API key.
- Paste an arXiv or alphaXiv link, or search by title, author, or topic, and save the paper to your local library.
- Read with adjustable fonts, text size, margins, and appearance, including rendered equations.
- Use an Overview to explore a paper visually, a Blog for a longer explanation, or chat to ask a question.
- Export the paper or an available explanation as an EPUB, or send it to Kindle through Apple Mail.
The app includes Attention Is All You Need with a saved Overview and Blog. You can explore that example before connecting an AI provider.
See a figure from the included example
This is a generated illustration, not a figure authored by the paper's researchers. It was generated on 2026-09-18 by the Overview workflow through the figure library with deepseek-flash in five requests, at 63 text runs per million square units. The bundled sample's saved Overview is older; see its source and generation provenance.
LocalXiv is an early preview. Conversion can be imperfect, and AI explanations can contain mistakes even after automated review.
- Download a DMG from the releases page and drag LocalXiv into Applications.
- Open LocalXiv and paste an arXiv or alphaXiv link.
- Open the saved paper. Adjust the font, text size, margins, and appearance to suit your reading.
The packaged app includes its conversion tools. You do not need Homebrew, Python, or an AI account to import and read papers.
The current public preview is ad hoc signed and is not notarized by Apple. macOS may block the first launch. See the installation and update instructions and the notes attached to your downloaded release.
Conversion is imperfect, especially for unusual equations, tables, and layouts. LocalXiv retains the original paper and can fall back to it when EPUB conversion fails.
The reader separates the retained paper from generated explanations:
| View | What it provides |
|---|---|
| Paper | The retained paper, with adjustable reading settings. |
| Overview | A visual explanation of the contribution, mechanism, and evidence. |
| Blog | A longer explanation with source citations and optional focused drawings. |
You can also ask questions about the paper. Generated explanations and answers are aids to reading; check important claims against the source. Generation may take several minutes or fail, and support varies by provider and model.
To enable AI, open Settings → AI connection, choose a provider, enter a model and API key, then test and save the connection. Presets are available for OpenAI, OpenRouter, DeepSeek, and Gemini. Custom accepts other compatible API endpoints; compatibility is not guaranteed for every model.
Overview generation after import is opt-in. Blog generation is manual and works without an existing Overview. Blog figures are laid out by the application from a model-authored Scene panel, the same way the Overview is; a figure that still fails after bounded corrections is omitted. Language and length settings control the explanation.
An Overview is one dense column of up to four panels. The model extracts a digest of the paper and a scene tree of cards, groups, grids, steps, and bars; the application lays the scene out and routes the arrows. See the Overview scene layout design.
Open Share to export an EPUB, or expand Send to Kindle to send through Apple Mail. You can choose the paper or an available generated explanation.
For Mail delivery, add your Kindle email in Settings → Kindle delivery, configure Apple Mail, and approve your sending address in your Amazon account. Confirm delivery on the Kindle itself.
- Papers and settings are stored under
~/Library/Application Support/LocalXiv/library. - Removing the app leaves the library in place. Removing a paper inside LocalXiv deletes its retained files and associated explanations and chat history; previously exported copies remain.
- API keys are stored in macOS Keychain. AI requests use your configured provider and may incur that provider's charges.
- AI generation and questions send selected paper content to the provider. Image-enabled workflows can also send paper figures and generated drawings.
- Importing papers requires network access. Reading saved papers and exporting their EPUBs do not require AI credentials.
LocalXiv was developed primarily with GPT-6 Astra in Codex. That work spans the Mac reader, paper conversion and export, AI explanation workflows, tests, and release tooling. This repository contains the implementation and recorded verification work.
For visitors from the Product Hunt GPT-6 Astra Challenge, Astra's role is in building LocalXiv. The model used inside the app is selected separately in Settings → AI connection. You can use the reading and export workflow without connecting any model.
The desktop app uses a Swift/AppKit launcher, a WebKit reader, and a local Python service. SQLite stores the library and job records. Conversion and AI generation run as separate jobs, so a failed explanation does not invalidate a retained paper.
See development setup and checks and macOS release tooling. The included sample has its own source and generation provenance; it is not evidence that every new generation will succeed.
To report a problem, open an issue with your app version, macOS version, paper link, and the step that failed. For AI failures, include the provider and model, but never an API key.
LocalXiv's original code is licensed under AGPL-3.0-or-later. Third-party components retain their own licenses, listed in NOTICE and dependency licenses.