Tabst

Write guitar tabs like markdown.

中文README

Features

Write. Play. Share.

Efficiently write alphaTex. Play scores. Share PDF/GP.

Why Tabst

Say no to bulky binaries and XML; the world belongs to plain text.

While document writing already has a plethora of out-of-the-box Markdown editors, precise typesetting tools like LaTeX, and innovative tools like Typst, why in the realm of guitar tabs are we still connecting notes on scores like in Word?

MusiXTeX and Lilypond have set a publishing-grade example in music notation languages, while alphaTab.js has made interactive and playable scores possible. In Tabst, we write alphaTex in a simple, intuitive syntax, and easily share with your friends.

This is just the beginning. My vision is to transform scattered PDFs and images of scores into alphaTex stored in Tabst. Visual language models (OMR Optical Music Recognition) are on the way.

Tech Stack

• alphaTex
• alphaTab.js
• CodeMirror
• pnpm
• TypeScript
• Vite
• Tauri 2
• React 19
• shadcn/ui
• Tailwindcss 3 (Ultimately decided to revert to v3 as v4 is not stable enough)
• biome
• Zustand
• Lucide Icon

Development Environment

MCP Server

• context7
• shadcn/ui

Install Deps

pnpm install

Development

pnpm run dev  # Run React development server + Tauri shell
pnpm run dev:react # Run renderer only

Build Targets

pnpm run build        # Default desktop build (Tauri)
pnpm run build:web    # Website target (static dist)
pnpm run build:tauri  # Explicit Tauri desktop build

Release

pnpm run release
pnpm run release:mac
pnpm run release:linux
pnpm run release:win

Desktop Runtime

The desktop runtime cutover is complete and the repository is now Tauri-first.

• Product builds, release commands, and CI desktop validation all target Tauri.
• The renderer uses a unified desktopAPI bridge for desktop capabilities.
• Detailed normalization work and follow-up tasks are tracked in docs/dev/TAURI_MIGRATION_STATUS.md.