Install & availability

In short

Open app.lar.io, install it as an app if you like, and set up device unlock or a passphrase and save the recovery code it gives you. Your workspace lives in this browser, so clearing site data deletes it. Desktop and mobile apps are in preparation.

You can use Lar today in a browser at app.lar.io. It is a full local-first workspace with typed Objects, the block editor, search, Tasks, and Calendar. It needs no account, keeps working offline, and encrypts everything it stores on your device. Signed desktop installers and native mobile apps are in preparation.

Use Lar in the browser

1. Open app.lar.io in a current version of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari.
2. On the Welcome to Lar screen, choose how to start:
   • Sign in to use a Lar account in this browser.
   • Start writing to start a local workspace with no account and no password.
   • Use a pairing or recovery code to join an existing workspace with a pairing code from that device or your account recovery code.
3. Follow the Quick start to create your first Objects.

Lar works offline after the first load. When a new version is ready, a banner says A new version of Lar is available with a Reload button.

Caution

Skipping login keeps the key to your notes in this browser and opens them without asking. Anything that can run code on the page, such as a malicious browser extension, could read them, and if the browser’s site data is ever cleared there is no way to recover the workspace. You can add device unlock or a passphrase later in Settings → Security.

Open the page in Safari or Chrome itself rather than inside another app’s built-in browser. Lar shows a notice when it detects an in-app browser, because those browsers may not remember how you unlock.

Install it as an app

Installing gives Lar its own window and icon, and it keeps working offline.

• Chrome or Edge on a computer: use the install icon in the address bar, or the browser menu’s install option.
• Safari on a Mac: choose File → Add to Dock.
• iPhone or iPad: tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.
• Android: open the browser menu and choose Install app or Add to Home screen.

The exact wording depends on your browser and version. On Android and other browsers that support sharing to web apps, the installed app appears in the system share sheet. Shared text or links open Quick capture pre-filled, and nothing is saved until you confirm.

Note

Safari’s Add to Dock and the iOS Home Screen app keep their own storage. They do not share a workspace with the same site opened in a normal browser tab, and nothing bridges them. Pick one place to work, or use sync to reconcile them.

The browser app adapts to the window. About 1200 pixels wide or more gives the full three-pane layout, 768 pixels and up keeps the sidebar, and narrower windows and phones switch to a simpler mobile layout with a floating navigation bar. See Desktop, web, and mobile for what the mobile layout leaves out.

Where your data lives

Your workspace is stored inside your browser, on this device. Lar does not upload it unless you turn on sync, sharing, publishing, or an AI action.

• Notes and attachments are stored in the browser’s private file storage for app.lar.io and are encrypted with a workspace key.
• The search index Lar builds from your notes is encrypted the same way.
• The key is kept in the browser’s storage. Device unlock (your fingerprint, face, PIN, or device password) or a passphrase, both set up in Settings → Security, protects it. If you continued without logging in, the browser opens the workspace without asking.

What clearing site data does

Clearing site data for app.lar.io in your browser settings, or working in a private window that discards its data when it closes, removes the key to your workspace. Lar then shows This browser lost the key to your notes. You can:

• choose Use my recovery code, if you saved one;
• choose Erase this browser’s copy and start over, which permanently deletes anything that exists only in this browser. If the workspace was synced to your account, choose Use a pairing or recovery code on the welcome screen afterwards to bring the notes back.

Keep your data safe

Browsers can clear a site’s storage under disk pressure. Lar asks the browser for durable storage after you unlock, but the browser can say no.

1. In Settings → Security, turn on device unlock or a passphrase, and save the recovery code somewhere outside this device.
2. Read the storage tip on the same page. It gives advice specific to your browser: install the app in Chrome or Edge, add it to the Dock or Home Screen in Safari, or keep visiting it in Firefox.
3. Keep a second copy. The browser app can’t yet save a whole-workspace export, and automatic restore points are a desktop feature, so sync to another device and export important Objects as Markdown or PDF from the Object’s Export… action.

More detail is in Backup & restore and Local-first & encryption.

More than one tab

You can open Lar in a second tab. The first tab leads and the others follow it, so both stay live. In a browser that does not support shared workers, the second tab shows Lar is open in another tab until you close the first. Some actions, such as erasing the browser’s copy or joining another workspace, ask you to close your other Lar tabs first.

Desktop and mobile apps

Signed desktop installers and native iPhone, iPad, and Android apps are in preparation. Until then, the browser app is the way to use Lar.

The desktop app adds features that need direct access to your computer:

• the full three-pane layout in a dedicated window, with automatic updates;
• more than one workspace, with a workspace switcher;
• your workspace key held in the operating system’s keychain;
• your own AI provider key, and local semantic search;
• full-workspace export and import, automatic export to a folder, and automatic local database backups;
• sharing an Object with another person, and publishing a read-only web page;
• connecting Google, Microsoft, or CalDAV calendars, and a local server that lets AI agents read your workspace over MCP (the Model Context Protocol).

See Desktop, web, and mobile for the full comparison.

License and source

Lar is licensed AGPL-3.0; the source release is in preparation. There is no public repository yet. If you already have a server address, Self-hosting Lar shows how to connect the app to it; a deployment guide will arrive with the source release.