Local-First Software
A comprehensive map of local-first software — from foundational philosophy and CRDTs to sync engines, tooling, and real-world production stories.
offline-first
(8)The Local-First Litmus Test: Real Examples Across the Spectrum
by alexander-opalic
Not everything that caches locally is local-first. The real test: does the app still work if the company disappears? A categorized directory of real apps across the spectrum.
The UX of Local-First
by eileen-wagner
The tech for local-first has matured but the UX hasn't — four unsolved design challenges stand between us and mainstream adoption, and they require collective agreement, not individual solutions.
Sync Engines for Vue Developers
by alexander-opalic
Vue already syncs your refs to the DOM. Sync engines extend that same idea to databases — keeping client state and server state in harmony. Here's how Replicache, Zero, Convex, PowerSync, LiveStore, Jazz, and Dexie each approach this differently.
Panel Discussion: The Big Questions of Local-First
by adam-wiggins, martin-kleppmann, aaron-boodman, peter-van-hardenberg
The original local-first essayists and a pragmatic sync-engine builder clash on whether offline writes should ship today or wait for version-control UX — revealing that the real fault line isn't technical but philosophical: who does the tool serve first?
Local-First Software: You Own Your Data, in Spite of the Cloud
by martin-kleppmann, adam-wiggins, peter-van-hardenberg, mark-mcgranaghan
A foundational essay proposing that data ownership and real-time collaboration are not mutually exclusive, introducing CRDTs as the enabling technology for local-first software.
What is Local-first Web Development?
by alexander-opalic
An introduction to local-first web development, a paradigm shift that prioritizes storing data on users' devices first, enabling offline functionality, instant access, and greater user control over their data.
Powering Offline-First Forestry in Europe's Wilds
by alexander-thiele
When your users spend entire days in forests with zero connectivity, local-first isn't a nice-to-have — it's the only architecture that works. OCELL's sync queue proves the pattern, but cascading failures from a single invalid GeoJSON reveal sync's hardest unsolved problem.