WiseMapping Desktop

Offline Desktop Application for WiseMapping

WiseMapping Desktop is the offline companion to WiseMapping, the free and open-source mind mapping tool. Create, edit, and manage your mind maps locally without an internet connection.

---

About WiseMapping

WiseMapping is a free, web-based mind mapping service that lets you create, share, and collaborate on mind maps. WiseMapping Desktop extends this experience to your desktop, providing:

• Offline Access: Work on your mind maps without internet connectivity
• Local Storage: Keep your data private and secure on your machine
• Cross-Platform: Available for macOS, Windows, and Linux
• Full Feature Set: All the power of WiseMapping, on your desktop

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js >= 20.0.0
• npm or yarn

Setup

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run in development mode
npm run dev

Development with Local Packages

If you are developing properly locally and have the wisemapping-frontend repository in the parent directory, you can easily setup the environment:

yarn deps

This command will:

1. Build the local wisemapping-frontend packages
2. Pack them into tarballs
3. Install them into node_modules without modifying package.json

Then you can run:

yarn dev

Features

• Fully Offline: All mind maps stored locally in ~/Documents/WiseMapping/
• Cross-Platform: Native builds for macOS, Windows, and Linux
• Secure: Context isolation, sandboxed renderer, whitelisted IPC
• Modern Stack: Built with TypeScript, React 19, Electron 28, and Vite 7
• Auto-Save: Your work is automatically saved as you edit
• Native Menus: Platform-native menu bars and keyboard shortcuts

Development

Available Commands

yarn deps       # Setup local development dependencies
yarn dev        # Start development mode
yarn build      # Build for production
yarn dist       # Create distributables for all platforms
yarn dist:mac   # Create macOS distributable
yarn dist:win   # Create Windows distributable
yarn dist:linux # Create Linux distributable
yarn clean      # Clean build artifacts and dependencies

Project Structure

wisemapping-desktop/
├── src/
│   ├── main/                      # Electron main process
│   │   ├── main.ts                # Application entry point
│   │   └── fileManager.ts         # Local file operations
│   ├── preload/                   # Secure IPC bridge
│   │   ├── preload.ts             # Context bridge
│   │   └── index.d.ts             # TypeScript definitions
│   └── renderer/                  # React UI
│       ├── src/
│       │   ├── screens/           # UI screens
│       │   ├── persistence/       # Local persistence layer
│       │   └── styles/            # CSS styles
│       └── index.html
├── resources/                     # App icons and assets
├── .github/workflows/build.yml    # CI/CD pipeline
├── electron-builder.yml           # Build configuration
└── package.json

Storage

Mind maps are stored locally in:

• macOS/Linux: ~/Documents/WiseMapping/
• Windows: %USERPROFILE%\Documents\WiseMapping\

Directory structure:

WiseMapping/
├── metadata.json          # Index with timestamps
└── maps/
    ├── {uuid}.wxml       # Mind map files
    └── {uuid}.wxml

Building for Distribution

Prerequisites for Distribution

• macOS: Xcode Command Line Tools
• Windows: Windows SDK (for code signing)
• Linux: Standard build tools

Create Distributables

# Build for all platforms
yarn dist

# Platform-specific builds
yarn dist:mac    # Creates .dmg and .zip
yarn dist:win    # Creates .exe installer
yarn dist:linux  # Creates .AppImage and .deb

Code Signing (Optional)

For production releases, configure code signing in electron-builder.yml:

macOS:

mac:
  identity: "Developer ID Application: Your Name (TEAM_ID)"

Windows:

win:
  certificateFile: path/to/cert.pfx
  certificatePassword: ${CERT_PASSWORD}

CI/CD

GitHub Actions workflow automatically:

• Builds for all platforms on push to main/develop
• Creates releases for version tags (v*)
• Uploads platform-specific artifacts

Contributing

WiseMapping Desktop is part of the WiseMapping project. Contributions are welcome!

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Please read CONTRIBUTING.md for details on our code of conduct and development process.

Related Projects

• wisemapping-frontend - WiseMapping web application and core packages
• wisemapping-backend - WiseMapping server backend

Support

• Website: www.wisemapping.com

• Issues: GitHub Issues

• Community: WiseMapping Community

License

WiseMapping Desktop is licensed under the WiseMapping Public License (WPL).

The WiseMapping Public License is a modified version of the Apache License 2.0 that includes additional terms specific to the WiseMapping project. See the LICENSE file for the full license text.

Key Points

• ✅ Free to use for personal and commercial purposes
• ✅ Modify and distribute
• ✅ Patent grant included
• ⚠️ Must retain copyright notices
• ⚠️ Must include license and notice files

For the complete license terms, see LICENSE or visit www.wisemapping.org/license.

Authors

WiseMapping Desktop is developed and maintained by the WiseMapping team.

• Project Lead: Paulo Veiga (@pveiga)
• Contributors: See CONTRIBUTORS

---

Made with ❤️ by the WiseMapping team