Tapa native Markdown reader
The folder you open is a surface your AI agents read and edit over MCP: the file is the API. Reader-first on native desktop, boots instantly. Free and open source, MIT.
Tapa is reader-first. Point it at a folder of Markdown and you read: clean rendered prose, nothing in the way. Editing is on demand. Double-click the exact block and you drop into an editor where you clicked; double-click again and you are back to reading.
What it does
Reader-first rendering
Open a folder and read rendered Markdown. Full CommonMark and GFM.
Edit on demand
Double-click a block to edit exactly there (CodeMirror).
File tree
Sidebar with the whole folder, toggle with Cmd-B.
Fuzzy file finder
Cmd-K to jump between files by name.
Content search
Cmd-Shift-F searches inside files, results streamed from Rust.
Live reload
Disk changes reload on their own, without losing unsaved edits.
OS-native theme
Follows the system light/dark, with a manual toggle.
Agents (MCP)
Tapa includes an optional MCP server, tapa-mcp. Point any MCP client (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor) at a vault and the agent gets list, read and search over your Markdown, read-only by default.
claude mcp add tapa -- /path/to/tapa-mcp /path/to/your/vaultAdd --write at the end to allow writes: append, and patch that edits a single block by ^id or a section by heading, with an if_match precondition that refuses if the file drifted underneath it. Writes are atomic (temp file then rename). And it is reactive: subscribe pushes the change the instant the disk changes, instead of re-reading on a timer.
tapa-mcp is a separate binary, not bundled: the reader stays a pure reader if you never build it. Markdown rendering runs in JavaScript, not Rust, and the project is still early.
Shortcuts
- ⌘K
- Fuzzy file finder
- ⌘⇧F
- Search inside files
- ⌘B
- Toggle the sidebar
- ⌘S
- Save and return to reading
- Double-click
- Enter / exit edit mode
Where the name comes from
Tapa, from Tapajós, the river and region of western Pará, Brazil, where Ary is from. The region carries its own identity, with a long-running movement to carve out a State of Tapajós.
And because, like a tapa (a slap), it is unexpectedly fast: a quick, sharp strike.
Where it's heading
The path is to take Tapa from a small reader toward an open, pluggable, AI-native editor. The reference point in my head is the polish and ambition of something like Granola, but the opposite shape: local-first instead of cloud, open instead of closed, an editor you own instead of a service you rent.
MCP is the first load-bearing piece of that: the proof that the file can be the shared surface. The plugin seams come next. There is no plugin system yet.
The roadmap is deliberately open, to keep the freedom to change my mind about how it gets there. What stays firm is the direction and the license: it stays MIT, and it stays something your agents can read.
Download
v0.2.0 · free, MIT · macOS, Windows, Linux
- macOS Apple Silicon (.dmg) 5.2 MB
- macOS Intel (.dmg) 5.4 MB
- Windows .exe 1.8 MB
- Windows .msi 2.5 MB
- Linux Debian / Ubuntu (.deb) 2.4 MB
- Linux Fedora / RHEL (.rpm) 2.4 MB
- Linux AppImage 73.6 MB
The app is not signed yet, so the OS warns on first launch: on macOS use right-click then Open; on Windows click More info then Run anyway.
Get Tapa updates
Building in public. Drop your email and I'll ping you when a new version ships, alongside the newsletter on AI, automation and engineering. Optional: the download above is free.