3.1 KiB
Verstak Desktop
Verstak is a local-first desktop workspace for files, notes, browser captures, activity and work journal entries. This repository contains the Go/Wails desktop host and UI shell; user-facing functions are delivered by official plugins.
Alpha software. Use a disposable vault while evaluating it. APIs, storage formats and packaging can change before the first stable release.
What the alpha does
- keeps each workspace's identity independent of its current directory name;
- keeps browser captures in a reviewable Inbox, with archive and restore rather than a destructive “remove from inbox” action;
- records local file/note activity and, after review, turns it into journal entries without creating a workspace automatically;
- accepts optional browser domain-time batches. The browser extension is opt-in: it sends only normalized domain names and bounded durations, never URLs, page titles, page contents, keystrokes or navigation history;
- runs official plugins from a
plugins/directory next to the executable.
Components
Clone these repositories as siblings when building a complete local setup:
| Repository | Purpose |
|---|---|
verstak-desktop |
desktop host and UI shell |
verstak-official-plugins |
Files, Notes, Browser Inbox, Activity, Journal and other official plugins |
verstak-browser-extension |
Chromium/Firefox capture and optional domain-activity extension |
verstak-sdk |
plugin manifest schema and TypeScript API |
Build from source (Linux)
Requirements: Go, Node.js with npm, Python 3, the Wails v2 build prerequisites, and the WebKitGTK development package for your distribution.
git clone https://git.mirv.top/verstak/verstak-sdk.git
git clone https://git.mirv.top/verstak/verstak-official-plugins.git
git clone https://git.mirv.top/verstak/verstak-desktop.git
git clone https://git.mirv.top/verstak/verstak-browser-extension.git
cd verstak-sdk && ./scripts/build.sh
cd ../verstak-official-plugins && ./scripts/build.sh
cd ../verstak-desktop
./scripts/install-dev-plugins.sh
./scripts/build.sh
The Linux executable is placed in build/bin/. Start it with --debug to
display internal plugin-provider IDs and write diagnostic logs.
Release artifacts
Maintainers can create a Linux desktop tarball after the sibling repositories above have been built:
cd verstak-desktop
./scripts/release.sh v0.1.0-alpha.1
It writes release/verstak-desktop-linux-amd64-<version>.tar.gz and a matching
SHA256SUMS file. The archive is self-contained: unpack it and run the
included executable. Browser and SDK packages have their own release scripts
in their repositories.
Privacy and activity tracking
The extension's passive domain tracker is disabled by default. Enabling it requires an explicit choice in the extension and lets the user maintain a domain exclusion list. Manual page, selection and link captures are separate actions; they enter Browser Inbox and never create a workspace or journal entry by themselves.
License
Copyright © 2026 Verstak contributors. Licensed under GNU AGPLv3 or later.