Slate

Local-first desktop workspace for structured personal data.

Slate is a single-user app that feels like a stack of relational spreadsheets, backed by a local SQLite database. It is designed for fast personal workflows like contacts, research, projects, and notes.

Created by Anthony McCloskey.

Status

• MVP in active development
• Primary development environment: macOS
• Local-only data model (no auth, no cloud sync, no subscriptions)

Features

Available now

Tables & Fields

• Local SQLite-backed tables and records
• Table CRUD: create, rename, delete
• Field CRUD: create, rename, delete
• 15 field types: text, long_text, number, currency, percent, email, url, phone, date, checkbox, single_select, multi_select, rating, duration
• Select field options: add, rename, recolor, reorder, delete chips

Grid View

• Inline grid editing with type-aware cell renderers (stars for rating, chips for select, mailto/tel links, etc.)
• Expandable record detail panel (side panel) and full-screen expand modal (double-click row)
• Per-table full-text search
• Column visibility toggles (show/hide fields panel)
• Column sort (click header to cycle asc → desc → none)
• Filters with 10 operators: eq, neq, contains, not_contains, is_empty, is_not_empty, gt, lt, gte, lte
• Row height modes: compact / default / tall
• Keyboard navigation: arrow keys, Tab, Enter to expand, Escape to close

Multiple View Types

• Grid — the default spreadsheet-style view
• Gallery — card grid with primary field and field preview
• Kanban — group by any single-select field; drag cards between columns
• Named views per table with independent sorts, filters, and field visibility

Data In / Out

• CSV import (maps columns to fields by name, case-insensitive)
• CSV export (native save dialog)
• Cross-table record linking
• Record attachments (attach, open, remove local files)

Planned next

• Calendar view — group records by a date field in a month/week layout
• Formula fields — computed values using evalexpr (arithmetic, IF, string concat, DATEADD)
• Lookup / Rollup fields — aggregate linked record values (SUM, COUNT, MIN, MAX, AVG)
• Bulk operations — checkbox multi-select, bulk delete, bulk field update
• Column drag-and-drop reorder
• JSON export

Stack

• Desktop shell: Tauri 2
• Frontend: React + TypeScript + Vite + Zustand
• Database: SQLite via rusqlite (bundled)
• Icons: Lucide

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• npm 10+
• Rust toolchain (rustup, cargo, rustc)
• Tauri system dependencies for your OS: Tauri prerequisites

If Rust was just installed, open a new shell or run:

source "$HOME/.cargo/env"

Install

git clone https://github.com/tadpole256/slate.git
cd slate
npm install

Run in development

npm run tauri -- dev

Build production bundle

npm run tauri build

Build output is written to src-tauri/target/release/bundle/.

Verify locally

npm run build
cargo test --manifest-path src-tauri/Cargo.toml

Data Location and Backups

Slate stores data in your Tauri app data directory under app id com.tadpole.slate.

• Database file: slate.db
• Attachment directory: attachments/

macOS default path:

~/Library/Application Support/com.tadpole.slate/

Backup

1. Fully quit Slate.
2. Copy slate.db and attachments/ to a backup location.
3. Keep both together so attachment references stay valid.

Restore

1. Fully quit Slate.
2. Replace slate.db and attachments/ with your backup copies.
3. Reopen Slate.

Troubleshooting

• cargo: command not found Install Rust with rustup, then run source "$HOME/.cargo/env".
• App hangs on startup Restart the app. If it persists, move the current DB directory aside and relaunch to regenerate a fresh local DB.
• Dev app does not start Re-run npm install, then npm run tauri -- dev and check Tauri prerequisite packages for your OS.

Project Docs

• Architecture and delivery plan: docs/SLATE_MVP_PLAN.md
• Session-by-session implementation history: docs/DEVELOPMENT_LOG.md

Contributing

Feedback and contributions are welcome.

• Bugs and feature requests: GitHub Issues
• Code contributions:
  1. Fork the repository.
  2. Create a branch: git checkout -b feature/my-new-feature
  3. Commit changes.
  4. Run: npm run build and cargo test --manifest-path src-tauri/Cargo.toml
  5. Open a pull request.

Code layout:

• Frontend (React/TypeScript): src/
• Tauri/Rust/SQLite backend: src-tauri/

License

Slate is released under the GNU General Public License v3.0.