Download kindling
The outline stays beside the draft. Free, open source, and it runs on your own machine — no account, no sync, nothing to cancel.
kindling is a desktop app. It runs on macOS, Windows and Linux — there is no mobile version yet. Send yourself the link and pick it up on your computer.
- Runs entirely offline
- No account, no telemetry
- Your files stay yours
- MIT licensed source
02 / What you get
A single application, and nothing beside it
kindling installs one desktop application. No browser extension, no background service, no launch agent, no startup item. Uninstalling it removes the application and leaves every project file where you put it.
The desktop application collects nothing and transmits nothing. It has no analytics of any kind — that is a property of the software, not a setting you have to find.
Release
1.3.0- Type
- Desktop application
- Download
- ~8 MB to ~86 MB, by platform
- Disk
- Under 100 MB installed
- Licence
- MIT
- Source
- GitHub
Verify the download against the published checksum:
shasum -a 256 Kindling_1.3.0_universal.dmg
shasum -a 256 Kindling_1.3.0_x64-setup.exe
shasum -a 256 Kindling_1.3.0_amd64.AppImage 03 / First run
From installer to first scene
-
Install and open it
macOS may ask you to confirm the first launch. See the code signing policy for why.
-
Import your outline
Plottr, Scrivener, yWriter, novelWriter, Obsidian or plain Markdown. Nothing is rewritten at the source.
-
Open a scene
Its beats appear beside the manuscript as prompts you can expand, reorder or ignore.
-
Write
The outline stays visible. Nothing you type leaves the machine.
04 / Requirements and removal
Before and after
System requirements
- macOS
- macOS 12 (Monterey) or later
- Windows
- Windows 10 or later
- Linux
- x86_64 Linux
- Disk
- Under 100 MB
- Network
- Needed to download. Not needed to write.
How to uninstall
Your project files are never removed by an uninstall — they stay wherever you saved them. kindling installs no background services, launch agents or startup items.
- macOS
-
Drag kindling from Applications to the Trash.
Application data, if present, is in
~/Library/Application Support/com.kindlingwriter.app/. - Windows
-
Settings → Apps → Installed apps → kindling →
Uninstall. Application data, if present, is in
%APPDATA%\com.kindlingwriter.app\. - Linux
-
Delete the AppImage and any desktop entry you
created. Application data, if present, is in
~/.config/com.kindlingwriter.app/.
Why macOS warns on first launch
kindling is notarised but not distributed through the App Store. The code signing policy records what is signed, by whom, and how to verify it yourself.
By downloading kindling you agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. kindling is released under the MIT License.
Tell me when there is a new release
Release notes only — a few messages a year, no marketing sequence.