Show HN: Textwave – Versioning for Documents (free, local-only document editor)

1 points by domysee 5 hours ago

What is Textwave?

Textwave is a browser-based document editor. All data is stored in the browser (local storage and IndexedDB). Currently it's a side-project for me. The main differentiator is the version system. Typical editors only have one list of versions. Going back from version 5 to version 2, editing something, and creating a new version, appends to the list as version 6. Textwave's version system is closer to git (though not the same). It lets you go back, edit, and create a new version directly below the selected version. Basically it creates a new branch.

Current features (beyond normal document editing) * Comments, suggestions, and replies * Create/rename/delete versions * Showing added/removed words to previous version * Preview version on hover * Export to Markdown and HTML (inlines images with base64) * Export and import documents via JSON * Light and dark mode

Why did I develop it?

I wanted something where versions feel lighter than the web-based editors I'm used to. When I write an article, I want to create a version without much fanfare. Similar to what I am used to when creating a git commit. With other editors creating a version feels very heavy.

Another goal was that all history is preserved, so that I don't need to create versions for everything. Every change I make should be recoverable. Often I write something where I believe it might be useful later on, just not now. With that I can always recover it. Textwave currently already stores all changes, but doesn't expose them in the UI just yet.

What's planned for the future?

There are a couple of issues that I want to iron out. Larger features that I want to add (as time permits) are * Make usable on mobile * Shortcuts * Showing full edit history * AI integration (e.g. highlight text and ask for separate phrases, style checker, research assistant - the options are endless), with bring your own API key

I'd also love to calculate metrics like "information density", but less sure about that.