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Carrel

Getting started

Choose the package for your computer from GitHub Releases. Current targets are Apple Silicon Mac, Intel Mac and Linux x86-64. Draft releases are maintainer review builds; published prereleases remain early software.

macOS

Open the .dmg, drag Carrel into Applications, eject the disk image and open Carrel from Applications. Apple Silicon uses the macos-arm64 package; Intel uses macos-x86_64. You do not need Rust, Node or a development server.

Trial packages are ad-hoc signed, without Developer ID signing or notarization. If macOS blocks a trusted copy you downloaded from this repository, try opening it first, then use System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway. See Apple’s instructions.

Linux

The initial x86-64 packages are built on Ubuntu 24.04. A .deb can be installed with the system package manager, which also resolves its runtime dependencies:

sudo apt install ./Carrel-VERSION-linux-x86_64.deb

An AppImage can be made executable and launched directly:

chmod +x Carrel-VERSION-linux-x86_64.AppImage
./Carrel-VERSION-linux-x86_64.AppImage

Replace VERSION with the version in the downloaded filename. Other distributions may need additional WebKitGTK/FUSE support; report the distribution and exact error rather than assuming the Ubuntu build is universal.

Add something to read

Use Add source beside Sources, in Settings → Sources, or in the context bar’s app menu. Paste a website address or RSS/Atom/JSON feed URL. Carrel discovers feeds from websites; if several valid feeds exist, choose the intended one.

For a single page, use Save article in the context bar/app menu (Cmd+N on Mac). It archives the article and its cached images without subscribing.

Today shows publications from the preceding 24 hours. Older posts belong in Library, even if you just subscribed. Source and folder lists put the newest publications first. Undated posts explicitly use their saved date.

Bring subscriptions with you

Settings → Sources offers Import OPML and Export OPML using native file dialogs. Import skips existing subscriptions and preserves their title/folder settings. Optional source folders also round-trip through OPML.

The reading guide covers navigation, appearance and annotations. You can read locally without setting up peer sync or adding a person.