GammaPDF

Open source · self-hosted · for people who read papers

Read papers.
Keep what you learn.

A PDF annotator with outliner notes, live math and an AI that reads along — on your own machine.

Download Try the demo Star on GitHub

Windows · macOS · Linux · Docker Latest release

Gamma with a Nature paper open on its first figure: a highlighted sentence and its note in the notes on the right, and under them an AI chat that answers what the paper's key idea is

Your library, on your machine

SQLite and files in one folder. No account with us, no telemetry.

Papers and notes are one thing

Every highlight is a note block. Click it and the PDF jumps to the passage.

Open source, open formats

Export to Markdown, Obsidian, Logseq, Zotero or an annotated PDF at any time.

Read from any place

One library on every device.

Any browser, the desktop app or the iPad. Keep an offline copy on your laptop; it syncs itself when you are back online.

Guide: Offline copies · Install as an app

One library on the lab server, open on a desktop, an iPad and a phone; a note typed from the iPad appears on every other device as the sync between them runs

Highlight, annotate & draw

Mark up the paper. Every mark becomes a note.

Paste an arXiv or DOI link, or drag the PDF in.

  • Highlight text or a figure, with a note
  • Draw with a stylus or the mouse, or bring your Notability notes
  • Type text boxes with Markdown and math
  • Follow citations and translate a page in place

Guide: Highlight and annotate · Draw and type on the page · Follow links and translate

Importing a Notability note: the paper opens with the pencil marks made on the iPad and their ink cards in the notes, then Gamma's pen circles a phrase and draws an arrow to a margin note

Take notes

An outliner with live math, right next to the paper.

  • Nest blocks with Tab, drag to reorder
  • Live preview of Markdown, $LaTeX$ and diagrams
  • Link and embed with [[page]] and ![[block]]
  • Write by hand on a sheet with /note

Guide: Notes

Typing markdown, a page link and a live LaTeX equation, then /note drops a sheet of paper into the notes and a pen sketches the result on it

Ask an AI about your papers

Ask about the paper. Follow its citations back.

  • Cited answers that jump to the passage
  • Show it a figure with Ctrl+drag
  • Your own key: Anthropic, OpenAI or ChatGPT
  • An agent that finds, reads and saves papers, asking before it changes anything

Guide: AI chat · The library agent

Ctrl+dragging a figure into the chat and asking what it shows, following the answer's page citation to the marked passage, then asking about a highlighted sentence's references: the assistant searches for the three papers, reads them and compares them in a cited table

AI in your notes

From a slide to your notes, as math you can edit.

Paste a slide and ask. The equation lands under your cursor once you approve, and any change can be undone.

Guide: The library agent

Pasting a lecture slide into the chat and asking for its equation under the block you are on: after the approval card, the formula lands rendered in the note

Link and organize

Papers arrive labeled. Ideas stay connected.

Metadata fills itself in. Labels and folders keep the library in shape.

Bring a paper in with an arXiv or DOI link and its metadata fills in; search titles, notes and PDF text narrowed by folder and label; follow a reference to a linked paper and come back
Following a citation to its reference, then fetching the cited arXiv paper into Gamma with one click

Reference links

Click a citation to jump to it, or add the cited paper to your library.

In an open paper Ctrl+F finds a word and steps through its matches in the page, then Ctrl+P finds the quantum computing label and opens its papers

Find anything

Search notes, highlights and every PDF at once, typos forgiven.

A freshly opened paper resolves its title, authors and venue; one click copies BibTeX or a slide-ready citation

Metadata & citations

Title, authors and venue fill in on open. Copy BibTeX in one click.

Guide: Library · Labels or folders · Search · Metadata and citations

Connect your research

At home in the tools you already use.

  • Assistants: Codex, Claude Code and any MCP client
  • Import from Zotero, Obsidian, Logseq and Notion
  • Export to Markdown, Obsidian, Zotero, PDF and BibTeX

Guide: Assistants · Import and export · Backups and upgrades

Gamma in the middle of an assistant prompt that mentions @Gamma and a paper, the Obsidian, Notion and Zotero import and export arrows, and the Gamma Connector saving a paper with the publisher sign-in kept per journal

Gamma Connector

Save the paper you're reading. One click.

On an arXiv, DOI or publisher page, the browser extension saves the PDF and its metadata into the folder you pick.

Guide: Gamma Connector

On a Physical Review Letters article page, the Gamma Connector's toolbar badge has found the paper; its popup shows the title and authors, files it under Quantum/Neutral atoms with a label, saves it, and the PDF opens in Gamma with its folder and label

Share and back up

Your space. A shared place.

Keep personal workspaces, share one with your lab, or send a link to a single page. Back everything up as one zip.

Guide: Share a page · Workspaces · Backups and upgrades

Personal workspaces next to a shared research library where an owner and an editor type into two blocks of the same page at the same time and a viewer reads along

Edit together

One page. Everyone typing on it.

Edits and named cursors show up live, even with two people in one block. Your undo only takes back your own changes. Comment on a note, a highlight or the page; mentions and replies wait in each person's inbox.

Guide: Workspaces · Comments and inbox

Three people on one page of a shared workspace: Maya types a question and Sam adds to the takeaway, each caret labeled with its writer's name, while the owner pastes a figure from the paper and drags it larger

Get Gamma

Free, on every desk.

A self-contained app: no Docker, Python or Node. Latest release .

macOS

Download .dmg

First launch: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.

Server

docker run -d --name gamma -p 9001:9001 -v gamma-data:/data ghcr.io/tim4431/gamma:latest

Open localhost:9001 as admin; the password is in docker logs gamma. More ↓

iPad

Join the TestFlight beta

Install Apple's TestFlight app, then open the link on the iPad. Keeps a workspace on the iPad for the Pencil with no connection.

Browser extension

Get Gamma Connector from the Chrome Web Store

Gamma Connector, for Chrome, Edge and other Chromium browsers. Or the .zip.

Codex, Claude Code & MCP

Connection guide

One-command setup in Settings → AI → Integrations.

Self-host

One container. Your whole lab.

One Docker image for amd64 and arm64, with all your data in one /data volume. No environment variables.

  • Users and shared workspaces, managed in the app
  • Caddy or nginx in front for your own domain
  • Upgrades itself through Watchtower

Full install notes on GitHub → · Upgrading

# Docker Compose (recommended)
services:
  gamma:
    image: ghcr.io/tim4431/gamma:latest
    container_name: gamma
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "9001:9001"
    volumes:
      - gamma-data:/data
volumes:
  gamma-data:

Your data stays yours

Runs on your machine. We never see your papers.

Nothing is collected

No telemetry, analytics or crash reports. The only call the app makes on its own is the update check on GitHub.

Plain storage

SQLite and your files in one folder. Copy it anywhere.

Network only when you ask

Paper lookups, translation and AI go out only when you use them, to the service you chose.

Leave any time

Export everything as Markdown, Obsidian, Zotero, PDFs or one zip.

Read the privacy policy →

Questions

Frequently asked

Is Gamma free?

Yes, free and open source, with no account. If you'd rather not run a server, hosted plans start at $2 a month.

Where is my data?

In one folder of SQLite databases and files: on your disk with the desktop app, in the /data volume on a server. Export it as a zip at any time.

Do I need an API key for the AI features?

Only if you want them: an Anthropic or OpenAI key, or a ChatGPT Plus/Pro sign-in. Until then Gamma contacts no AI service.

Can I work with my group?

Yes: shared workspaces with owners, editors and viewers, or a link to one page or folder. Edits show up live for everyone.

What about handwriting and tablets?

Draw with a stylus or the mouse anywhere. On an iPad, the Pencil writes with pressure: in the iPad app (a TestFlight beta, which also works with no connection) or after Add to Home Screen from Safari. See Install as an app.

Which platforms?

Windows, macOS and Debian/Ubuntu on the desktop; the iPad through TestFlight; Docker (amd64, arm64) or Python 3.11+ and Node 18+ on a server.

Start with the next paper you open.

Download View on GitHub