Huang Xin 30dee7b909 feat(dict): improve MDict rendering and dictionary management (#4072)
* fix(reader): play sound:// links in MDict definitions via MDD lookup

MDX entries reference audio resources with `<a href="sound://name.ext">`.
Until now those anchors fell through to the browser, which tried to
navigate to an invalid scheme and did nothing useful.

Wire each `sound://` anchor inside the rendered MDX body to:
- preventDefault + stopPropagation (so the parent card's tap-to-expand
  doesn't fire),
- look up the path in every companion `.mdd` until one returns bytes
  (js-mdict's `MDD.locateBytes` auto-normalizes the leading separator),
- wrap the bytes in a Blob and play via `new Audio(URL.createObjectURL)`,
- cache the resolved URL on the anchor so subsequent clicks reuse it,
  with the URL tracked for revocation in `dispose()`.

Note: many MW-style dictionaries use `.spx` (Speex) which Chromium and
Safari don't natively decode — the lookup will succeed but playback may
fail silently. Other formats (mp3, wav, ogg vorbis) play fine.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* feat(dict): improve MDict rendering and dictionary management

Builds on the sound:// fix to round out MDict rendering and tighten
the dictionary settings panel.

MDict provider:
- Follow MDict-specific URL schemes inside the rendered HTML:
  `sound://path` plays via Audio (with a deprecation toast for `.spx`
  whose codec no major browser decodes), and `entry://word` /
  `bword://word` forward to ctx.onNavigate so the popup re-looks-up
  the target. Cycle-bounded (5 hops) `@@@LINK=<word>` content-level
  redirects are followed transparently, so entries that are pure
  redirect strings (e.g. "questions" → "question") render the
  canonical entry instead of the literal redirect text.
- Render the body inside a shadow root so each dict's CSS stays
  scoped — `<link rel="stylesheet">` references are resolved against
  the companion .mdd, loose .css files imported alongside the bundle
  are read at init, and `url(...)` refs inside both are rewritten to
  blob URLs sourced from the MDD (covers sound icons, background
  images, @font-face sources). The body is tagged `data-dict-kind="mdict"`
  for downstream targeting.
- A baseline app-level stylesheet (`getDictStyles`) is injected into
  every shadow root with theme-adaptive `mix-blend-mode` for `<a>`
  background icons / `<a> img` (multiply on light, screen on dark);
  isDarkMode is forwarded via the lookup context.
- `<img src="/path">` is now treated as MDD-relative (the tightened
  IMG_SRC_PROTOCOL_RX skips schemes / protocol-relative only); a
  fallback retry strips the leading slash for bundles that store the
  resource without it.
- The auto-prepended light-DOM headword `<h1>` is hidden when the
  dict body either leads with a same-text element (any tag — covers
  `<h3 class="entry_name">`, etc.) or contains an `<h1>` with the same
  trimmed text anywhere (covers wrapper-div-then-h1 layouts).

Dictionary management:
- Importing a dict whose name matches an existing one now replaces
  it in place, preserving the slot in providerOrder and inheriting
  the previous enabled flag. The .css extension is added to the file
  picker, and loose .css files imported alongside .mdx/.mdd are
  bundled with the dictionary regardless of stem-match.
- The settings panel gains an Edit mode (parity with Delete mode):
  trailing pencil button on imported dicts and custom web searches
  opens a rename modal. Edit and Delete are mutually exclusive.
  Below 400px, the Edit/Delete labels collapse to icons only.

Card UX:
- The card's tap-to-expand handler now walks `composedPath()` so
  clicks on anchors / buttons / images inside the shadow root no
  longer fold the card.

i18n:
- Translations added for new strings across 33 locales.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

---------

Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-05-06 08:27:58 +02:00
2025-01-21 07:18:00 +01:00
2024-11-11 21:25:22 +01:00

Readest Logo

Readest


Readest is an open-source ebook reader designed for immersive and deep reading experiences. Built as a modern rewrite of Foliate, it leverages Next.js 16 and Tauri v2 to deliver a smooth, cross-platform experience across macOS, Windows, Linux, Android, iOS, and the Web.

Website Web App OS
Discord Reddit AGPL Licence Language Coverage Donate Latest release Last commit Commits Ask DeepWiki

FeaturesPlanned FeaturesScreenshotsDownloadsGetting StartedTroubleshootingSupportLicense

Features

Implemented
Feature Description Status
Multi-Format Support Support EPUB, MOBI, KF8 (AZW3), FB2, CBZ, TXT, PDF
Scroll/Page View Modes Switch between scrolling or paginated reading modes.
Full-Text Search Search across the entire book to find relevant sections.
Annotations and Highlighting Add highlights, bookmarks, and notes to enhance your reading experience and use instant mode for quicker interactions.
Dictionary/Wikipedia Lookup Instantly look up words and terms when reading.
Parallel Read Read two books or documents simultaneously in a split-screen view.
Customize Font and Layout Adjust font, layout, theme mode, and theme colors for a personalized experience.
Code Syntax Highlighting Read software manuals with rich coloring of code examples.
File Association and Open With Quickly open files in Readest in your file browser with one-click.
Library Management Organize, sort, and manage your entire ebook library.
OPDS/Calibre Integration Integrate OPDS/Calibre to access online libraries and catalogs.
Translate with DeepL and Yandex From a single sentence to the entire book—translate instantly.
Text-to-Speech (TTS) Support Enjoy smooth, multilingual narration—even within a single book.
Sync across Platforms Synchronize book files, reading progress, notes, and bookmarks across all supported platforms.
Sync with Koreader Synchronize reading progress, notes, and bookmarks with Koreader devices.
Accessibility Provides full keyboard navigation and supports for screen readers such as VoiceOver, TalkBack, NVDA, and Orca.
Visual & Focus Aids Reading ruler, paragraph-by-paragraph reading mode, and speed reading features.

Planned Features

🛠 Building
🔄 Planned
Feature Description Priority
AI-Powered Summarization Generate summaries of books or chapters using AI for quick insights. 🛠
Advanced Reading Stats Track reading time, pages read, and more for detailed insights. 🛠
Audiobook Support Extend functionality to play and manage audiobooks. 🔄
Handwriting Annotations Add support for handwriting annotations using a pen on compatible devices. 🔄
In-Library Full-Text Search Search across your entire ebook library to find topics and quotes. 🔄

Stay tuned for continuous improvements and updates! Contributions and suggestions are always welcome—let's build the ultimate reading experience together. 😊

Screenshots

Annotations

TTS

DeepL

Footnote

Wikipedia

Theming Dark Mode


Downloads

Mobile Apps

Download on the App Store     Get it on Google Play

Platform-Specific Downloads

Requirements

  • Node.js and pnpm for Next.js development
  • Rust and Cargo for Tauri development

For the best experience to build Readest for yourself, use a recent version of Node.js and Rust. Refer to the Tauri documentation for details on setting up the development environment prerequisites on different platforms.

nvm install v24
nvm use v24
npm install -g pnpm
rustup update

Getting Started

To get started with Readest, follow these steps to clone and build the project.

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/readest/readest.git
cd readest

2. Install Dependencies

# might need to rerun this when code is updated
git submodule update --init --recursive
pnpm install
# copy vendors dist libs to public directory
pnpm --filter @readest/readest-app setup-vendors

3. Verify Dependencies Installation

To confirm that all dependencies are correctly installed, run the following command:

pnpm tauri info

This command will display information about the installed Tauri dependencies and configuration on your platform. Note that the output may vary depending on the operating system and environment setup. Please review the output specific to your platform for any potential issues.

For Windows targets, “Build Tools for Visual Studio 2022” (or a higher edition of Visual Studio) and the “Desktop development with C++” workflow must be installed. For Windows ARM64 targets, the “VS 2022 C++ ARM64 build tools” and "C++ Clang Compiler for Windows" components must be installed. And make sure clang can be found in the path by adding C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\BuildTools\VC\Tools\Llvm\x64\bin for example in the environment variable Path.

4. Build for Development

# Start development for the Tauri app
pnpm tauri dev
# or start development for the Web app
pnpm dev-web
# preview with OpenNext build for the Web app
pnpm preview

For Android:

# Initialize the Android environment (run once)
rm apps/readest-app/src-tauri/gen/android
pnpm tauri android init
pnpm tauri icon ../../data/icons/readest-book.png
git checkout apps/readest-app/src-tauri/gen/android

pnpm tauri android dev
# or if you want to dev on a real device
pnpm tauri android dev --host

For iOS:

# Set up the iOS environment (run once)
pnpm tauri ios init
pnpm tauri icon ../../data/icons/readest-book.png

pnpm tauri ios dev
# or if you want to dev on a real device
pnpm tauri ios dev --host

5. Build for Production

pnpm tauri build
pnpm tauri android build
pnpm tauri ios build

Please refer to our release script if you experience any issues: https://github.com/readest/readest/blob/main/.github/workflows/release.yml

6. Setup dev environment with Nix

If you have Nix installed, you can leverage flake to enter a development shell with all the necessary dependencies:

nix develop ./ops  # enter a dev shell for the web app
nix develop ./ops#ios # enter a dev shell for the ios app
nix develop ./ops#android # enter a dev shell for the android app

7. More information

Please check the wiki of this project for more information on development.

Troubleshooting

1. Readest Wont Launch on Windows (Missing Edge WebView2 Runtime)

Symptom

  • When you double-click readest.exe, nothing happens. No window appears, and Task Manager does not show the process.
  • This can affect both the standard installer and the portable version.

Cause

  • Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime is either missing, outdated, or improperly installed on your system. Readest depends on WebView2 to render the interface on Windows.

How to Fix

  1. Check if WebView2 is installed
    • Open “Add or Remove Programs” (a.k.a. Apps & features) on Windows. Look for “Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime.”
  2. Install or Update WebView2
    • Download the WebView2 Runtime directly from Microsoft: link.
    • If you prefer an offline installer, download the offline package and run it as an Administrator.
  3. Re-run Readest
    • After installing/updating WebView2, launch readest.exe again.
    • If you still encounter problems, reboot your PC and try again.

Additional Tips

  • If reinstalling once doesnt work, uninstall Edge WebView2 completely, then reinstall it with Administrator privileges.
  • Verify your Windows installation has the latest updates from Microsoft.

Still Stuck?

  • See Issue readest/readest#358 for further details, or head over to our Discord server and open a support discussion with detailed logs of your environment and the steps youve taken.

2. AppImage Launches but Only Shows a Taskbar Icon

On some Arch Linux systems—especially those using Wayland—the Readest AppImage may briefly show an icon in the taskbar and then exit without opening a window.

You might see logs such as:

Could not create default EGL display: EGL_BAD_PARAMETER. Aborting...

This behavior is usually caused by compatibility issues between the bundled AppImage libraries and the systems EGL / Wayland environment.

Workaround 1: Launch with LD_PRELOAD (recommended)

You can preload the system Wayland client library before launching the AppImage:

LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libwayland-client.so /path/to/Readest.AppImage

This workaround has been confirmed to resolve the issue on affected systems.

Workaround 2: Use the Flatpak Version

If you prefer a more reliable out-of-the-box experience on Arch Linux, consider using the Flatpak build on Flathub instead. The Flatpak runtime helps avoid system library mismatches and tends to behave more consistently across different Wayland and X11 setups.

Contributors

Readest is open-source, and contributions are welcome! Feel free to open issues, suggest features, or submit pull requests. Please review our contributing guidelines before you start. We also welcome you to join our Discord community for either support or contributing guidance.

A table of avatars from the project's contributors

Support

If Readest has been useful to you, consider supporting its development. You can become a sponsor on GitHub, donate via Stripe, or donate with crypto. Your contribution helps us squash bugs faster, improve performance, and keep building great features.

Sponsors

License

Readest is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. See the LICENSE file for details.

The following libraries and frameworks are used in this software:

  • foliate-js, which is MIT licensed.
  • zip.js, which is licensed under the BSD-3-Clause license.
  • fflate, which is MIT licensed.
  • PDF.js, which is licensed under Apache License 2.0.
  • daisyUI, which is MIT licensed.
  • marked, which is MIT licensed.
  • next.js, which is MIT licensed.
  • react-icons, which has various open-source licenses.
  • react, which is MIT licensed.
  • tauri, which is MIT licensed.

The following fonts are utilized in this software, either bundled within the application or provided through web fonts:

Bitter, Fira Code, Inter, Literata, Merriweather, Noto Sans, Roboto, LXGW WenKai, MiSans, Source Han, WenQuanYi Micro Hei

We would also like to thank the Web Chinese Fonts Plan for offering open-source tools that enable the use of Chinese fonts on the web.


Happy reading with Readest!
S
Description
Local mirror of readest/readest for EPUB review editor migration
Readme 160 MiB
Languages
TypeScript 78.3%
MDX 10.1%
Lua 3.8%
Rust 3.2%
Kotlin 1.3%
Other 3.1%