Install a package

Install MindForger using a package.

If your operating system or distribution is not listed below, then check packages repository for Linux and Unix.

Arch Linux

Install MindForger from Arch User Repository (AUR):

  • https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/mindforger/

Debian

Install MindForger on Debian:

  • either by downloading .deb
  • or from PPA

Download .deb package for your Debian version from:

To install MindForger from the PPA add my PPA for your Debian release version, trust GPG key and install MindForger - follow the instructions described in:

PPAs for Debian 13 "trixie" and Debian 12 "bookworm" get new MindForger versions (older Debian releases PPAs are kept, but frozen). For example Debian "bookworm" (for Debian "trixie" replace bookworm with trixie):

# create directory for APT repository keys (if it does not exist)
sudo install -d -m 0755 /etc/apt/keyrings
# download MindForger GPG key and store it in the binary format used by APT
wget -qO- https://www.mindforger.com/gpgpubkey.txt | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /etc/apt/keyrings/mindforger.gpg > /dev/null

# add PPA to APT sources
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/mindforger.gpg] https://www.mindforger.com/debian-ppa/bookworm bookworm main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mindforger.list

# update sources
sudo apt update

# install MindForger
sudo apt install mindforger

Hints:

  • apt-key used by older versions of these instructions is deprecated and it is not available on Debian "trixie".
  • If apt update reports that the signing key is not bound or SHA1 is not considered secure, download the GPG key again (see above) - its self-signatures were refreshed to SHA-512 in 2026 (the key fingerprint E3E8 520D E382 0D8C 1A72 4BB7 B72E 4F7F 24AF 591D did not change).

Fedora

Install MindForger on Fedora:

Install RPM:

sudo dnf install mindforger-MAJOR.MINOR.REVISION.rpm

Flatpak

Flatpak is a sandboxed package which runs on all major Linux distributions. MindForger is distributed as a single-file .flatpak bundle downloadable from the GitHub Releases page (it is not a Flathub hosted application).

Prerequisites

Install flatpak (if it is not installed already):

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install flatpak

Fedora:

sudo dnf install flatpak

Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S flatpak

openSUSE:

sudo zypper install flatpak

See Flatpak setup for other distributions. Log out and log in again after the first installation of Flatpak so that your desktop picks up the applications installed by it.

Download

Download mindforger-<version>.flatpak from the Assets section of the latest:

Install

Install the downloaded bundle for your user (no root privileges are needed):

# example: mindforger-2.4.0.flatpak
flatpak install --user ./mindforger-2.4.0.flatpak

The bundle is self-contained - if the org.kde.Platform 5.15 runtime it needs is missing, then Flatpak offers to download it from Flathub automatically, you do not have to configure Flathub first. Should you prefer to add the Flathub remote yourself:

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists --user flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Check the installation:

flatpak info com.mindforger.MindForger

Run

Run MindForger either from the application menu (MindForger) or from the command line:

flatpak run com.mindforger.MindForger

On the first start MindForger creates a copy of the documentation and stencils in your home directory (~/mindforger-repository) and opens it as the default repository.

Data storage

The sandbox is granted access to your home directory, therefore MindForger stores the data in the same location as any other MindForger installation - your notebooks are not locked inside the Flatpak:

~/mindforger-repository   ... default repository with your Markdown files
~/.mindforger.md          ... configuration

Markdown repositories on external/mounted media (/media, /run/media) can be opened as well. The sandbox is also granted network access which is used by Wingman LLM providers.

Upgrade

A bundle installed from a file has no remote to be upgraded from (flatpak update refreshes the runtime only). Download the newer .flatpak and install it the same way - your repository and configuration are kept:

flatpak install --user --reinstall ./mindforger-<version>.flatpak

Uninstall

flatpak uninstall --user com.mindforger.MindForger

~/mindforger-repository and ~/.mindforger.md are not removed by the uninstall - delete them manually if you want to get rid of them.

FreeBSD

Install MindForger on FreeBSD:

pkg install deskutils/mindforger
pkg install mindforger

(port commit)

macOS

Install MindForger on macOS either using brew or by downloading .dmg.

MindForger is not signed nor notarized by Apple. Therefore macOS Gatekeeper blocks its first launch and MindForger is no longer available in the official Homebrew cask repository. Follow the steps below to install MindForger and allow it to run.

Homebrew

Install MindForger using Homebrew from the dvorka/mindforger tap:

brew install --cask dvorka/mindforger/mindforger

Homebrew removes the quarantine attribute after the installation, so MindForger should start without any further steps. Upgrade MindForger by:

brew upgrade --cask mindforger

If you have MindForger installed from the official Homebrew cask repository (brew install mindforger), then uninstall it first:

brew uninstall --cask mindforger
brew install --cask dvorka/mindforger/mindforger

Disk iMaGe

MindForger .dmg is built for Intel - Apple Silicon Macs run it using Rosetta 2 which is installed by macOS automatically on the first launch (or install it by softwareupdate --install-rosetta --agree-to-license).

Install MindForger using .dmg:

Install .dmg:

  • Open/mount .dmg
  • Drag and drop/copy mindforger from .dmg to Applications
  • Allow MindForger to run - see below
  • Run MindForger

Allow MindForger to run

When macOS says that "mindforger" cannot be opened because Apple cannot check it for malicious software or that "mindforger" is damaged, then allow MindForger to run using one of the options below.

Option 1 - Terminal (works on all macOS versions):

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/mindforger.app

Option 2 - System Settings (macOS 15 Sequoia and newer):

  • Try to run MindForger and close the warning dialog
  • Open System Settings > Privacy & Security
  • Scroll down to the Security section and click Open Anyway next to the message about mindforger
  • Confirm by clicking Open Anyway and authenticate with your password or Touch ID

Option 3 - Finder (macOS 14 Sonoma and older):

  • Open Applications in Finder
  • Control-click (or right-click) mindforger and choose Open
  • Click Open in the warning dialog

Allow MindForger once after every installation (or update) from .dmg.

MindForger creates copy of the documentation in your home directory (~/mindforger-repository) and opens it as default repository.

NixOS

Install MindForger package on NixOS:

nix-env -i mindforger

openSUSE

Install MindForger on openSUSE:

sudo zypper in opi
opi mindforger

Snap

Snap is a self-contained package which runs on all major Linux distros. There are the following MindForger Snap distributions:

Both packages require snapd - install it (if it is not installed already) by following the official guide for your distribution:

Downloadable .snap package

The .snap package attached to every GitHub release uses classic confinement. Unlike the strictly confined SnapCraft.io package it has full access to the host, therefore it reads and writes your Markdown files and its configuration exactly like the .deb or tarball installation does. Classic confinement packages cannot be published to the Snap Store - the downloaded .snap file is installed directly (sideloaded).

Download

Download mindforger_<version>_amd64.snap from the Assets section of the latest:

Install

Install the downloaded package with the --dangerous (sideloaded package which is not signed by the Snap Store) and --classic (classic confinement) flags:

# example: mindforger_2.3.0_amd64.snap
sudo snap install --dangerous --classic ./mindforger_2.3.0_amd64.snap

Check the installation:

snap list mindforger

Run

Run MindForger either from the application menu (MindForger) or from the command line:

mindforger

... or:

snap run mindforger

On the first start MindForger creates a copy of the documentation and stencils in your home directory (~/mindforger-repository) and opens it as the default repository.

Data storage

Classic confinement stores the data in the same location as any other MindForger installation - your notebooks are not locked inside the snap:

~/mindforger-repository   ... default repository with your Markdown files
~/.mindforger.md          ... configuration

The strictly confined SnapCraft.io package keeps both under ~/snap/mindforger/common/ instead.

Upgrade

A sideloaded snap is not refreshed automatically (snap refresh has no Snap Store revision to upgrade to). Download the newer .snap and install it the same way - your repository and configuration are kept:

sudo snap install --dangerous --classic ./mindforger_<version>_amd64.snap

Uninstall

sudo snap remove mindforger

snap remove deletes the snap and its ~/snap/mindforger directory - ~/mindforger-repository and ~/.mindforger.md are not touched.

Ubuntu

Install MindForger from PPA. Add my Lauchpad hosted PPA and install MindForger:

# add PPA to trusted repositories
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ultradvorka/productivity

# update sources
sudo apt update

# install MindForger
sudo apt install mindforger

Windows

Install MindForger using installer.

  • Download installer executable from https://github.com/dvorka/mindforger/releases (or try nightly build)
  • Run installer.

WSL

Install Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and check that you have Ubuntu 16.04 or newer:

lsb_release -a
  ...
  Release:        16.04
  Codename:       xenial

If not, then run sudo do-release-upgrade.

Install and start an X server for Windows like Xming.


Install MindForger from PPA. Add my PPA to Apt, trust GPG key, install MindForger and run it:

# add PPA to trusted repositories
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ultradvorka/productivity

# update sources
sudo apt update

# install MindForger
sudo apt install mindforger

# run MindForger
DISPLAY=:0.0 mindforger

Build from source code

Build MindForger from the source code.

Build on Debian

Build MindForger on Debian 9 (stretch) or later.

Install package dependencies:

sudo apt-get install build-essential zlib1g-dev libhunspell-dev libqt5webkit5-dev qttools5-dev-tools ccache cmake debhelper

Get source code:

# clone MindForger repository
git clone https://github.com/dvorka/mindforger.git
# update repository sub-modules
git submodule init
git submodule update

Build dependencies:

# build cmark-gfm
cd mindforger/deps/cmark-gfm
mkdir build
# OPTIONAL step on certain Debian vesions: cmake -S . -B ./build
cd build
cmake -DCMARK_TESTS=OFF -DCMARK_SHARED=OFF ..
cmake --build .

Compile and install from Git repository root directory:

qmake -r mindforger.pro
# consider speeding up compilation by increasing the number of CPU cores to use e.g. make -j8
make
sudo make install

Install documentation and stencils:

# clone MindForger documentation repository to home directory (location and directory name matters)
cd ~
git clone https://github.com/dvorka/mindforger-repository.git

Run MindForger:

./mindforger

Build on Fedora

Build MindForger on Fedora.

Install package dependencies:

sudo dnf install zlib-devel hunspell-devel qt-devel qt5-devel ccache

Get source code:

# clone MindForger repository
git clone https://github.com/dvorka/mindforger.git
# update repository sub-modules                                            
git submodule init
git submodule update

Build dependencies:

# build cmark-gfm
cd mindforger/deps/cmark-gfm
mkdir build && cd build
cmake -DCMARK_TESTS=OFF -DCMARK_SHARED=OFF ..
cmake --build .

Compile and install from Git repository root directory:

qmake-qt5 -r mindforger.pro
# consider speeding up compilation by increasing the number of CPU cores to use e.g. make -j8
make
sudo make install

Install documentation and stencils:

# clone MindForger documentation repository to home directory (location and directory name matters)
cd ~
git clone https://github.com/dvorka/mindforger-repository.git

Run MindForger:

./mindforger

Build on Gentoo

Build MindForger on Gentoo:

Install package dependencies.

Get source code:

# clone MindForger repository
git clone https://github.com/dvorka/mindforger.git
# update repository sub-modules                                            
git submodule init
git submodule update

Build dependencies:

# build cmark-gfm
cd mindforger/deps/cmark-gfm
mkdir build && cd build
cmake -DCMARK_TESTS=OFF -DCMARK_SHARED=OFF ..
cmake --build .

Compile and install from Git repository root directory:

qmake CONFIG+=mfwebengine -r mindforger.pro
# consider speeding up compilation by increasing the number of CPU cores to use e.g. make -j8
make
sudo make install

Install documentation and stencils:

# clone MindForger documentation repository to home directory (location and directory name matters)
cd ~
git clone https://github.com/dvorka/mindforger-repository.git

Run MindForger:

./mindforger

Build on macOS

Build MindForger on macOS Sierra 10.12+.

Open Terminal and install/update Xcode command line tools:

xcode-select --install

Install/update HomeBrew package manager:

ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"
brew doctor

Install build tools and dependencies:

brew install ccache

Download Qt from https://www.qt.io/download and in its online installer choose:

  • Qt/Qt 5.x.x
    • latest available 5.x.x (Qt 5.9.9 or any newer Qt relese)
    • you can skip components like Android or iOS
  • Developer and Designer Tools
    • Qt Creator
    • qmake
    • CMake
    • Qt Installer Framework

Once Qt is installed you can use ~/Qt/MaintennanceTool.app to add/remove Qt components.

Get source code:

git clone https://github.com/dvorka/mindforger.git
git submodule init
git submodule update

There are two ways how to build MindForger Disk iMaGe package:

  1. either using scripts from MindForger's GitHub repository:
    • build/macos/mindforger-build.sh which creates MindForger executable
    • build/macos/dmg-package-build.sh which creates Disk iMaGe .dmg package on top of binary executable build made by mindforger-build.sh
  2. or using the steps described below

Add dependencies to PATH:

  • fix paths: username, Qt and its components versions might be different
  • add PATH modifications below to your .bash_profile and/or .bashrc or .zshrc depending on your shell (configuration)
  • don't forget to apply changes e.g. using . .bashr_profile
# clang
export PATH="/Users/username/Qt/5.x.x/clang_64/bin:${PATH}"
# cmake
export PATH="${PATH}:/Users/username/Qt/Tools/CMake/CMake.app/Contents/bin"
# installer
export PATH="${PATH}:/Users/username/Qt/Tools/QtInstallerFramework/3.2/bin"

Get source code:

git clone https://github.com/dvorka/mindforger.git
git submodule init
git submodule update

Build dependencies:

# build dependency: cmark-gfm
cd mindforger/deps/cmark-gfm
mkdir build && cd build
cmake -DCMARK_TESTS=OFF -DCMARK_SHARED=OFF ..
cmake --build .

Compile sources from repository root directory:

qmake -r mindforger.pro
# consider adding -j parameter with the number of CPU cores to use e.g. make -j 8
make

Optionally install MindForger:

cd app && cp -rvf mindforger.app /Applications

Install documentation and stencils:

# clone MindForger documentation repository to home directory - location and directory name matters
cd ~
git clone https://github.com/dvorka/mindforger-repository.git

Run MindForger either as application or using command line:

/Applications/mindforger.app/contents/MacOS/mindforger

Qt Creator development environment setup:

  • start Qt Creator as application
  • open project mindforger.pro
  • configure project: clang kit, debug and release profiles
  • menu Build/Run qmake
  • menu Build/Build all
  • menu Build/Run

Build .dmg distribution:

  • start terminal session
  • change to mindforger/build/macos
  • run build/macos/dmg-package-build.sh
  • check .dmg distro created in mindforger/app/mindforger.dmg

Build on NixOS

Build MindForger on Gentoo:

Install package dependencies.

Get source code:

# clone MindForger repository
git clone https://github.com/dvorka/mindforger.git
# update repository sub-modules                                            
git submodule init
git submodule update

Build dependencies:

# build cmark-gfm
cd mindforger/deps/cmark-gfm
mkdir build && cd build
cmake -DCMARK_TESTS=OFF -DCMARK_SHARED=OFF ..
cmake --build .

Compile and install from Git repository root directory:

qmake CONFIG+=mfwebengine -r mindforger.pro
# consider speeding up compilation by increasing the number of CPU cores to use e.g. make -j8
make
sudo make install

Install documentation and stencils:

# clone MindForger documentation repository to home directory (location and directory name matters)
cd ~
git clone https://github.com/dvorka/mindforger-repository.git

Run MindForger:

./mindforger

Build on Ubuntu

Build MindForger on Ubuntu 16.04 or later.

Install package dependencies:

sudo apt-get install build-essential zlib1g-dev libhunspell-dev libqt5webkit5-dev qttools5-dev-tools qt5-default ccache cmake

Get source code:

# clone MindForger repository
git clone https://github.com/dvorka/mindforger.git
# update repository sub-modules
cd mindforger
git submodule init
git submodule update

Build dependencies:

# build cmark-gfm
cd mindforger/deps/cmark-gfm
mkdir build && cd build
cmake -DCMARK_TESTS=OFF -DCMARK_SHARED=OFF ..
cmake --build .

Compile sources and install MindForger from Git repository root directory:

qmake -r mindforger.pro
# consider speeding up compilation by increasing the number of CPU cores to use e.g. make -j8
make
sudo make install

Install documentation and stencils:

# clone MindForger documentation repository to home directory (location and directory name matters)
cd ~
git clone https://github.com/dvorka/mindforger-repository.git

Run MindForger:

./mindforger

See also mindforger/build/ubuntu/build-all-clean-system.sh

Build on Windows

Build MindForger on Microsoft Windows.

Install build tools:

  • Install Microsoft Visual Studio IDE Community edition.
    • Choose Desktop development with C++ in installer.
  • Install Qt and Qt Creator IDE
    • Qt version - choose latest 5.x.x Qt release available (must be Qt 5.9.5 or newer, suggested Qt 5.12.0 or newer)
    • Choose Qt > Qt 5.x.x > QMSVC 2017 64-bit
    • Choose Qt > Qt 5.x.x > Qt WebEngine
    • Choose Qt > Developer and Designer tools > Qt Creator
  • Install cmake
  • Install patch

Get source code from GitHub:

  • Create directory where you want to build MindForger e.g. C:\Users\USER\mindforger-build
# create and change to build directory
C: | cd %HOMEPATH% | mkdir mindforger-build | cd mindforger-build
# clone MindForger repository
git clone https://github.com/dvorka/mindforger.git
# update repository sub-modules
cd mindforger
git submodule init
git submodule update
  • MindForger sources can be found in C:\Users\USER\mindforger-build\mindforger

Build dependencies:

  • build cmark-gfm:
cd deps\cmark-gfm
mkdir build                                                                                                                                                                                                      
cd build                                                                                                                                                                                                         
cmake -G "Visual Studio 15 2017 Win64" -DCMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES=Debug;Release -DCMARK_TESTS=OFF -DCMARK_SHARED=OFF ..
cmake --build . --config Release -- /m

Get default MindForger repository - documentation and examples (will be loaded on the first start):

# change to home directory
C: | cd %HOMEPATH%
# clone MindForger documentation
git clone https://github.com/dvorka/mindforger-repository.git

Build MindForger in Qt Creator:

  1. Start Qt Creator
  2. Open MindForger project:
    • Welcome/Open project
    • Choose C:\Users\USER\mindforger-build\mindforger\mindforger.pro as project file.
  3. Choose kit:
    • Desktop Qt 5.x.x MSVC2017 64bit
  4. Set build directory:
    • Set left toolbar's Projects/Build Settings/Build directory to C:\Users\USER\mindforger-build\mindforger
  5. Set build configuration:
    • Set Projects/Build Settings/Edit build configuration choose Release
  6. Build:
    • Menu Build/Build All

Run MindForger from Qt Creator:

  • Menu Build\Run

Create installer:

  • Install JRSoftware Inno Setup 5
  • Prepare development environment. Change path according to your Qt installation
    • Run %QT_HOME%\5.x.x\msvc2017_64\bin\qtenv2.bat
  • Gather dependencies
    • cd C:\Users\USER\mindforger-build\mindforger
    • %QT_HOME%\5.x.x\msvc2017_64\bin\windeployqt app\release\mindforger.exe --dir app\release\bin --no-compiler-runtime
  • Build installer - update path to vcredist_x64.exe in the command below according to your setup:
    • cd C:\Users\USER\mindforger-build\mindforger
    • "C:\Program Files (x86)\Inno Setup 5\ISCC.exe" /Qp /DVcRedistPath="c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\VC\Redist\MSVC\14.16.27012\vcredist_x64.exe" build\windows\installer\mindforger-setup.iss
  • MindForger installer can be found in app\release\installer folder.

To create debug version of MindForger and executable replace debug with release in the steps above and use mindforger-setup-debug.iss installer configuration.

Build on WSL

Build MindForger on Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

Install build tools:

sudo apt-get install build-essential zlib1g-dev libhunspell-dev libqt5webkit5-dev qttools5-dev-tools qt5-default ccache

Update gcc and g++ to version 5 (at least):

# adds the the test toolchain which includes gcc-5 and g++5 
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-toolchain-r/test
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gcc-5 g++-5
# substitute gcc-5 for gcc and g++-5 for g++ (current version)
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gcc gcc /usr/bin/gcc-5 60 --slave /usr/bin/g++ g++ /usr/bin/g++-5

Get source code:

# clone MindForger repository
git clone https://github.com/dvorka/mindforger.git
# update repository sub-modules
cd mindforger
git submodule init
git submodule update

Build dependencies:

# build cmark-gfm
cd mindforger/deps/cmark-gfm
mkdir build && cd build
cmake -DCMARK_TESTS=OFF -DCMARK_SHARED=OFF ..
cmake --build .

Compile and install from Git repository root directory:

qmake -r mindforger.pro
# consider speeding up compilation by increasing the number of CPU cores to use e.g. make -j8
make
sudo make install

Install documentation and stencils:

# clone MindForger documentation repository to home directory (location and directory name matters)
cd ~
git clone https://github.com/dvorka/mindforger-repository.git

# verify MindForger repository installation
ls mindforger-repository
  limbo  memory  mind  stencils

Run MindForger and start your XServer for Windows (e.g. Xming)

DISPLAY=:0.0 ./mindforger

Build Flatpak

Build the downloadable .flatpak bundle (see Flatpak for installing the already built bundle) from build/flatpak/com.mindforger.MindForger.yaml - the manifest uses org.kde.Platform 5.15 for Qt 5.15 and Flathub's shared Qt WebEngine base app.

Prerequisites

Install flatpak-builder itself, plus eu-strip/eu-elfcompress (package elfutils) and appstream-compose - flatpak-builder shells out to all three to strip debug info and compose AppStream metadata, and none of them come with a plain flatpak install:

sudo apt install flatpak flatpak-builder elfutils appstream-compose

On some distros (e.g. Ubuntu 22.04) the appstream-compose package installs its binary as /usr/libexec/appstreamcli-compose instead of appstream-compose on PATH, which flatpak-builder 1.2.x hardcodes the name of - symlink it if so:

command -v appstream-compose >/dev/null || \
    sudo ln -s /usr/libexec/appstreamcli-compose /usr/local/bin/appstream-compose

Install the Flatpak SDK/runtime/base-app pinned by the manifest:

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists --user flathub \
    https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak install --user flathub \
    org.kde.Platform//5.15-24.08 org.kde.Sdk//5.15-24.08 \
    io.qt.qtwebengine.BaseApp//5.15-24.08

Get source code:

git clone https://github.com/dvorka/mindforger.git
git submodule init
git submodule update

Build

cd mindforger/build
make distro-flatpak-clean distro-flatpak-build

The bundle is written to distro/flatpak/mindforger-<version>.flatpak - show its path with:

make distro-flatpak-path

Install and run locally (optional)

make distro-flatpak-install
make distro-flatpak-run

Remove the locally installed build:

make distro-flatpak-remove

Build Snap

Build the .snap package (see Snap for installing an already built package) from build/snap/snapcraft.yaml - the strict manifest, used both for the Snap Store package and, via build/snap/apply-classic.sh, to derive the classic manifest for the downloadable GitHub Release package. Never hand-edit a classic variant directly.

Prerequisites

sudo snap install snapcraft --classic
sudo snap install lxd
sudo lxd init --auto
sudo usermod -aG lxd $USER

snapcraft builds inside an LXD container, so log out and log in again (or newgrp lxd) after adding yourself to the lxd group for the first time.

Get source code:

git clone https://github.com/dvorka/mindforger.git
git submodule init
git submodule update

Build

cd mindforger/build
# strict package (Snap Store)
make distro-snap
# ... or the classic package (downloadable/sideloaded GitHub Release)
make distro-snap-classic

The packed mindforger_<version>_amd64.snap is written to the repository root - show its path with:

make distro-snap-path

Install and run locally (optional)

# strict package
make distro-snap-install
# ... or the classic package
make distro-snap-install-classic

mindforger

Remove the locally installed package:

make distro-snap-remove

Docker

Run MindForger in Docker container.

Build and run in container

Build Docker image and run MindForger in Docker container.

Build image:

mkdir mindforger

# download Dockerfile
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dvorka/mindforger/master/build/docker/mindforger/Dockerfile > mindforger/Dockerfile

# build image
docker build -t mindforger:latest mindforger

Run container:

# allow access to X server (UNSECURE, but simple):
xhost +local:root

# run image
docker run -it --env="DISPLAY" --env="QT_X11_NO_MITSHM=1" \
    --volume="/tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix:rw" mindforger:latest mindforger

# determine and remember container ID
docker ps -l -q > ~/.mindforger.docker

Run MindForger by starting container:

# start (stopped) container
docker start $(cat ~/.mindforger.docker)

Check also https://github.com/dvorka/mindforger/tree/master/build/docker for handy scripts.

Nightly builds

Nightly builds:

Configure

MindForger can be configured either from UI:

  • menu Knowledge/Preferences

... or using configuration file (while MindForger is NOT running):

  • ~/.mindforger.md

Review .mindforger.md for configuration option details and descriptions.

Appearance and themes

Custom HTML Preview CSS

If you want to change color, font size, rendering of HTML preview, then it can be done using custom CSS.

You can either use your custom CSS - there is no UI for such change:

  1. make sure MindForger is not running
  2. download CSS you like https://github.com/dvorka/mindforger/tree/master/app/resources/qt/css (dark or light and choose Raw)
  3. edit downloaded CSS file and change font size, ...
  4. open $HOME/.mindforger.md and change path to your CSS, e.g.
...
* Markdown CSS theme: /home/USERNAME/my.css
...

This will ensure that CSS from given path will be loaded by HTML preview since the next time MindForger is started.

Wingman preferences

See LLM provider configuration

Spell check preferences

MindForger's spell check implementation is based on Hunspell.

Spell check configuration on Linux

Install Hunspell:

sudo apt install hunspell

Download vocabulary for your language from:

  • https://extensions.openoffice.org/en/project/english-dictionaries-apache-openoffice

Install vocabulary:

  • extract .oxt archive downloaded from the URL above to get .dict and .aff files
  • determine Hunspell's vocabulary search path by running:
hunspell -D
  • copy downloaded (.dict and .aff) vocabulary files to one of the directories on Hunspell's search path e.g. /usr/share/hunspell

Spell check configuration on Windows

Hunspell is included in MindForger executable, therefore it does not have to be installed.

Download vocabulary for your language from:

  • https://extensions.openoffice.org/en/project/english-dictionaries-apache-openoffice

Install vocabulary:

  • extract .oxt archive downloaded from the URL above to get .dict and .aff files
  • copy downloaded (.dict and .aff) vocabulary files to one of the directories on Hunspell's search path:
C:\Users\<profile>\dictionaries
C:\Users\<profile>\Local Settings\dictionaries
C:\Users\<profile>\AppData\Local\dictionaries

Think vs. Sleep mode

MindForger can be either in thinking or sleeping mode:

  • Thinking mode can be activated by checking menu item Knowledge/Think and it's also indicated by the Thinking indicator in main window status bar.
    • MindForger runs background mind-related computations/tasks that can be CPU intensive
    • MindForger suggests relevant notes as you browse/read/write
    • MindForger named-entity recognition model is loaded and enabled
    • ...
  • Sleeping mode can be activated by unchecking menu item Knowledge/Think and it's also indicated by the Sleeping indicator in main window status bar.
    • MindForger runs no background mind-related computations/tasks i.e. it does not consume any extra CPU power and does not show any async information

Switch thinking/sleeping mode based on whether you need mind features for the particular repository or not - consider performance/CPU consumption vs features trade-off.

AA poler preferences