Kiwi

Kiwi is a research workspace for Windows. Papers, notes, claims, tasks, and the manuscript live together in one project, as readable files in a folder you choose. It is open source under the Apache License 2.0, and each person or organisation runs their own copy.

What it does#

• Library. Papers with their references, PDFs, tags, and read state. Imports and exports BibTeX and RIS.
• Reader. PDFs with highlights, underlines, notes, and area marks in six colours. Each mark stays attached to the passage it was made on.
• Notes. Notes that link to the papers, claims, and passages they draw on.
• Claims and evidence. Claims with the evidence that supports or contradicts each one, tied to the questions and hypotheses of the project's protocol.
• Manuscript. A manuscript with citations inserted from the library, compiled to PDF and exported to Word and LaTeX.
• Tasks. Tasks with assignees and due dates, on any object in the project.
• Collaboration. Shared workspaces with comments, presence, and a record of every change.

Get Kiwi#

There is no hosted Kiwi service and no installer to download from this project. You build the application and run the account service it signs in to.

On one machine, for yourself. With Node.js 22.12 or later, pnpm 11, and Docker Desktop:

pnpm setup
pnpm dev

This starts PostgreSQL in Docker, the account service, and the application, with mail delivery replaced by fixtures: the verification code is filled in for you.

For a team. Run the account service somewhere the team can reach, then package the application with that address embedded. The self-hosting guide lists every step: addresses, mail, the service, Google sign-in, building the installer, and publishing updates.

Documentation#

• User guide: the application, page by page.
• Self-hosting: running your own Kiwi.
• Contributing: development setup, the verification gate, and how the code is arranged.
• Privacy, support, and the security policy.
• Where Kiwi came from: the first Kiwi and the summer it was built in.

A look around#

Requirements#

Licence#

Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE and NOTICE.