Odyssey

Odyssey is a PDF reader with spaced repetition built in. Annotations become FSRS-scheduled review cards.

Reading and remembering usually live in separate apps: PDFs in Preview, notes in Notion, flashcards in Anki. Odyssey is one place for all three.

Features

• Annotations are cards. No separate authoring step.
• Cloze deletions with [[double brackets]]. Multiple blanks on one card reveal and grade together.
• Images, diagrams, and LaTeX render inline in card bodies.
• FSRS scheduling instead of SM-2. Fewer reviews for the same retention than Anki.
• Local-first. PDFs, annotations, and review history stay on the machine. No account, no sync.

Available as a web app or a native macOS app. Both talk to the same local server.

Run it

cp .env.example .env
podman compose up -d --build

Web UI at http://localhost:3000, API at http://localhost:8000. For the native Mac app: swift run inside apps/mac/OdysseyMacApp/.

Optional: set GEMINI_API_KEY in .env to have uploads auto-extract title / author / excerpt (free-tier Gemini). Restart the api service with podman compose up -d api after editing .env.

Local dev without containers: see apps/api/README.md and apps/webapp/README.md.

Credits

Inspired by Andy Matuschak's Orbit and the mnemonic medium. FSRS by open-spaced-repetition.