Bionic Reader

Read text with emphasis on the beginnings of words.

Bionic Reader works with text streams, Markdown documents, and interactive shell sessions. It runs locally and keeps your words intact. Try different emphasis settings to find what feels comfortable; no reading-speed improvement is promised.

Bionic Reader emphasizes word beginnings.

Installation

The first release and package-manager publications are pending. Cargo's Git installation works now. The commands below describe the release packages and registry channels once published; installation details include direct-download alternatives and platform requirements.

Homebrew

brew install arturoaviles/tap/bionic-reader

Linux

# Debian / Ubuntu
curl -fL "https://github.com/arturoaviles/bionic-reader/releases/latest/download/bionic-reader-linux-$(dpkg --print-architecture).deb" -o bionic-reader.deb
sudo apt install ./bionic-reader.deb

# Fedora
curl -fL "https://github.com/arturoaviles/bionic-reader/releases/latest/download/bionic-reader-linux-$(rpm --eval '%{_arch}').rpm" -o bionic-reader.rpm
sudo dnf install --nogpgcheck ./bionic-reader.rpm

# Arch Linux
curl -fL "https://github.com/arturoaviles/bionic-reader/releases/latest/download/bionic-reader-linux-$(uname -m).pkg.tar.zst" -o bionic-reader.pkg.tar.zst
sudo pacman -U ./bionic-reader.pkg.tar.zst

Python and Node.js

# pip (in a virtual environment) or uv
pip install bionic-reader
uv tool install bionic-reader

# npm, Yarn, or pnpm
npm install --global @arturoaviles/bionic-reader
yarn add @arturoaviles/bionic-reader
pnpm add --global @arturoaviles/bionic-reader

Cargo and Snap

cargo install --git https://github.com/arturoaviles/bionic-reader.git --locked bionic-reader

# Snap currently installs a repository-built file; see the build guide.
sudo snap install --dangerous --classic ./dist/local/snap/bionic-reader_*.snap

Yarn installs into the current project; run it with yarn bionic-reader. Package managers select the CPU architecture automatically. Linux release filenames use the native architecture query shown above. Snap build instructions live in BUILD.md. You can also download native binaries from GitHub Releases.

The reader

bionic-reader read article.txt
cat article.txt | bionic-reader read

Scroll with the arrow keys or j/k, search with /, and press q to leave. Use ? for all shortcuts. Adjust emphasis while you read with +/-, or try settings interactively with bionic-reader preview.

The CLI

bionic-reader -t 'Make long passages easier to follow.'
cat article.txt | bionic-reader
bionic-reader --input-format markdown --style always < article.md

# Change the reading style.
bionic-reader --profile subtle -t 'A lighter touch.'
bionic-reader --fraction 0.6 --every 2 -t 'Choose your own emphasis.'

# Export HTML or Markdown.
bionic-reader --format html < article.txt > article.html
bionic-reader --format markdown < article.txt > emphasized.md

See bionic-reader --help and the usage guide for formats, profiles, safe terminal controls, and reader shortcuts.

Shell integration

Start a reading session with bionic-reader session. Known editors, pagers, and full-screen applications use passthrough. Inside a session, use bionic-reader off, on, or toggle to control emphasis, and exit to leave.

For automatic sessions, add one initializer to your shell configuration:

# ~/.bashrc
eval "$(bionic-reader init bash)"
# ~/.zshrc
eval "$(bionic-reader init zsh)"

Bash, Zsh, fish, shell completions, and seven framework adapters are covered in the shell guide.

Configuration

Save preferences in ~/.config/bionic-reader/config.toml, or beneath an absolute XDG_CONFIG_HOME:

profile = "balanced"
fraction = 0.5
emphasis = "bold"

Command-line settings override the file. See the configuration guide for all options and precedence.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development checks, BUILD.md for source builds, and RELEASE.md for release and package publication.

License

MIT.