Local-First Software

A map of the local-first paradigm: software where data lives on the user's device first and servers are optional infrastructure.

Philosophy & Vision

The ideas driving the movement — data ownership, malleable software, and user agency.

local-first-software - The original Ink & Switch essay that defined the seven ideals of local-first
the-past-present-and-future-of-local-first - Kleppmann traces the arc from CRDTs to a proposed definition: software where another computer's availability never blocks the user
local-first-software-pragmatism-vs-idealism - Movements succeed when idealists define the vision and pragmatists build the infrastructure
local-first-the-secret-master-plan - Ink & Switch's three-part endgame: local-first enables version control enables malleable software
file-over-app - Apps are temporary, but plain-text files you control endure
malleable-software - A research agenda for tools users can adapt without relying on developers
home-cooked-software-and-barefoot-programmers - Local-first as default infrastructure for non-programmers building personal software

the-local-first-litmus-test - A directory of real apps across the spectrum: truly local-first, gray zone, and cloud apps marketing as local-first

Starting points for understanding the paradigm.

what-is-local-first-web-development - An introduction to the paradigm shift of storing data on users' devices first
local-first-software-taking-back-control-of-our-data - Local-first as a paradigm where servers become optional and CRDTs enable collaboration without sacrificing ownership
the-big-questions-of-local-first - The original essayists clash on whether offline writes should ship today or wait for version-control UX

What local-first means for users and developers day-to-day.

the-ux-of-local-first - Four unsolved UX challenges standing between local-first and mainstream adoption
unexpected-benefits-of-going-local-first - Beyond offline support: eliminating network error handling and enabling synchronous data access
ux-and-dx-with-sync-engines - Sync engines remove network latency from the user interaction path entirely

Why it's hard to ship and why it matters anyway.

why-local-first-apps-havent-become-popular - Syncing data across distributed devices without losing information is genuinely hard
why-local-first-matters-to-businesses - Reliability, speed, revenue — the trap is optimizing for developer fascination instead of real-world impact
local-first-in-production-fosdem-2026-recap - Production lessons: save the binary as source of truth, never overwrite, always merge

The data structures that make collaboration without coordination possible.

a-gentle-introduction-to-crdts - CRDTs let replicas update independently and merge automatically without conflicts
crdts-solved-conflicts-not-sync - CRDTs are a solid substrate, but transport reliability and distributed deletes are the harder engineering challenges
conflict-resolution-x-notion-blocks - Notion had to invent text slices and search labels because their block model breaks standard CRDT assumptions
implementing-fractional-indexing - Maintaining ordered sequences in collaborative systems using string-based keys

The infrastructure layer between local data and remote peers.

a-map-of-sync - Nine dimensions map where every sync platform sits and why no single engine wins everywhere
object-sync-engine - The architecture Linear, Figma, and Asana independently converged on
general-purpose-sync-with-ivm - Query-driven sync at interactive speeds using a novel incremental view maintenance approach
can-sync-be-network-optional - The real prize of peer-to-peer isn't ideology — it's sublinear scaling
sync-engines-for-vue-developers - How Replicache, Zero, Convex, PowerSync, LiveStore, Jazz, and Dexie each approach sync differently
unleashing-the-power-of-sync - Sync engines extend naturally to AI agents reading and writing directly to local databases
sync-panel-discussion - Where you draw the line between server authority and client autonomy defines your trade-offs
an-interactive-guide-to-tanstack-db - TanStack DB adds collections, live queries, and transactional mutations as a drop-in upgrade over TanStack Query

Specific libraries and products for building local-first apps.

livestore - Client-centric state management combining reactive SQLite with event sourcing and built-in sync
basic-likes-feature-with-livestore - Define an event, a materializer, and a reactive query — LiveStore handles offline and cross-device sync
native-grade-web-apps-with-local-first-data - Replace server-centric data with client-side SQLite and sync engines to eliminate loading states
the-why-and-how-of-building-a-local-first-music-app - Treating the web as a game engine problem with custom schedulers, canvas rendering, and event-sourced SQLite
rstore - A reactive normalized cache for Vue and Nuxt — the missing data layer between Pinia and full sync engines
alkalye - A local-first markdown editor PWA with E2EE and collaborative editing

Storage, security, and the low-level building blocks.

sqlite-persistence-on-the-web - SQLite in the browser is production-ready — OPFS with synchronous access handles solved the persistence problem
safe-in-the-keyhive - Capability-based certificate chains and a membership CRDT make auth travel with data
powering-offline-first-forestry-in-europes-wilds - When users spend entire days offline, local-first isn't optional — it's the only architecture that works

Where local-first meets social software, AI agents, and decentralization.

local-first-social-software-in-the-era-of-llms - Owning your communication channels becomes the foundation for a trustworthy multi-agent future
a-social-filesystem - User-generated social data should behave like files: portable, owned, and platform-independent
i-built-a-context7-local-first-alternative-with-claude-code - Pre-built SQLite databases eliminate rate limits and keep AI queries private