Zetara

A powerful paper reading and annotation tool with canvas-based note-taking, inspired by Jupyter Lab.

Features

• 📄 PDF Viewer: Built-in PDF viewer with smooth navigation
• 🎨 Canvas Editor: Draw, annotate, and create visual notes alongside your papers
• 🗂️ Paper Management: Organize and manage your research papers
• 👥 Paper Groups: Create groups to visualize relationships between papers
• 📊 Statistics: Track your reading activity
• 🔒 Password Protection: Secure your research with password authentication
• 🌐 Self-Hosted: Run on your own server, just like Jupyter Lab
• ⚙️ CLI Configuration: Easy setup and configuration via command line

Installation

Install Zetara globally using npm:

npm install -g zetara

Or use npx to run without installing:

npx zetara

Quick Start

1. First Time Setup

Set a password (optional but recommended):

zetara password

2. Start the Server

# Build and start (first time)
npm run build
zetara

# Development mode (no build required)
npm run dev

The application will start at http://localhost:3000 by default.

3. Access the Application

Open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:3000. If you set a password, you'll be prompted to log in.

CLI Usage

Basic Commands

# Start server (default: port 3000)
zetara

# Set/update password
zetara password

# View current configuration
zetara config

Server Options

# Custom port
zetara --port=8080
zetara -p 8080

# Bind to specific IP
zetara --ip="127.0.0.1"  # localhost only
zetara --ip="*"          # all interfaces (default: 0.0.0.0)

# IP whitelist (CIDR notation supported)
zetara --allowed-ips="192.168.1.0/24,10.0.0.5"

# Custom data directory
zetara --data-dir="/path/to/your/data"

# Disable password temporarily
zetara --no-password

# Session timeout (seconds)
zetara --session-max-age=3600  # 1 hour

Example Scenarios

Local development:

npm run dev

Secure local server:

zetara password
npm run build
zetara

Lab network server (IP restricted):

zetara --port=8080 --allowed-ips="192.168.1.0/24"

Configuration

Settings are stored in ~/.zetara/config.json:

Location:

• Linux/macOS: ~/.zetara/config.json
• Windows: C:\Users\[username]\.zetara\config.json

Example configuration:

{
  "port": 3000,
  "host": "0.0.0.0",
  "dataDir": "/path/to/data",
  "allowedIps": [],
  "passwordHash": "$2b$10$...",
  "sessionSecret": "auto-generated-hex-string",
  "sessionMaxAge": 86400
}

⚠️ Note: Don't edit config.json manually. Use the CLI commands instead.

Data Storage

By default, Zetara stores your papers and data in:

• Linux/macOS: ~/.zetara/data/
• Windows: C:\Users\[username]\.zetara\data\

You can customize this with the --data-dir option or by setting dataDir in the config.

Security Recommendations

1. Set a strong password: Use at least 8 characters
2. Use IP restrictions: Limit access to trusted networks when possible
3. HTTPS: Use a reverse proxy (nginx, Caddy) with SSL in production
4. Keep updated: Regularly update to the latest version

Troubleshooting

Forgot password?

Reset your password:

zetara password

Or delete the config file to reset everything:

# Windows
del %USERPROFILE%\.zetara\config.json

# Linux/macOS
rm ~/.zetara/config.json

Port already in use?

Change the port:

zetara --port=8080

Cannot access from other computers?

Make sure you're binding to all interfaces:

zetara --ip="*"

And check your firewall settings.

Development

Local Development

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/zetara.git
cd zetara

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run development server
npm run dev

Building

npm run build

Documentation

• Deployment Guide - Detailed deployment instructions
• Contributing - How to contribute (coming soon)

Tech Stack

• Frontend: Next.js 16, React 19
• PDF Rendering: PDF.js
• Canvas: Custom canvas implementation with tldraw-inspired architecture
• Authentication: bcrypt, cookie-based sessions
• Storage: File-based (JSON)

License

MIT © [Your Name]

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for release history (coming soon).

Support

• 🐛 Report bugs
• 💡 Request features
• 📖 Documentation

Inspired by Jupyter Lab's philosophy: Simple installation, powerful features, self-hosted control.