peerfold-review 0.1.16

Local PDF review with browser UI and Acrobat-compatible highlights

PeerFold

Review PDFs in a native window — embedded WebKit/WebView2 via pywebview, no browser tabs or URL bar. Use --web for your system browser (recommended over SSH). Highlights are written as standard PDF /Highlight annotations — open the saved copy in Acrobat, Preview, or any PDF reader.

Saved reviews: manuscript_VC-2026-06-09.pdf next to the original.

Install

macOS & Linux

curl -fsSL https://vincenzoml.github.io/PeerFold/install.sh | bash

Installs the latest release: macOS → Applications/PeerFold.app; Linux → ~/.local/bin/peerfold.

Windows (PowerShell)

irm https://vincenzoml.github.io/PeerFold/install.ps1 | iex

Installs to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\PeerFold and adds peerfold to your user PATH.

Python 3.10+ (no pipx required)

python3 -m pip install --user peerfold-review
peerfold manuscript.pdf --reviewer RB

Ensure ~/.local/bin is on your PATH, or use a virtual environment:

python3 -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install peerfold-review
peerfold manuscript.pdf --reviewer RB

With pipx (isolated CLI on PATH):

pipx install peerfold-review
peerfold manuscript.pdf --reviewer RB

Sharing with co-authors (same paper repo)

Do not submodule PeerFold — it is a published package. Pick one:

1. One-liner — each co-author runs python3 -m pip install --user peerfold-review once.
2. Repo launcher (recommended for co-authors) — from your paper repo root:

mkdir -p scripts && curl -fsSL https://vincenzoml.github.io/PeerFold/peerfold.py -o scripts/peerfold.py
python3 scripts/peerfold.py review-builds/paper.pdf --reviewer AB

Add .venv-peerfold/ to .gitignore. The launcher pins a PyPI version in PEERFOLD_VERSION so everyone on the repo uses the same build. Upgrade deliberately:

python3 scripts/peerfold.py --update   # bumps the pin — commit scripts/peerfold.py

3. Standalone app — curl -fsSL …/install.sh | bash (macOS/Linux) or the Windows PowerShell installer; no Python needed.

Manual downloads: GitHub Releases.

Install scripts: install.sh · install.ps1

Usage

peerfold paper.pdf                  # native window (default)
peerfold paper.pdf -r VC            # reviewer short name (filename + metadata)
peerfold paper.pdf --port 8765      # fixed port
peerfold paper.pdf --web            # system browser (use over SSH)
peerfold paper.pdf --no-browser     # server only

Environment: PEERFOLD_REVIEWER sets the default reviewer name.

Features

• Span-accurate text highlights with comment threads
• Citation links open DOIs/URLs directly
• Multi-tab sync, autosave, reviewer switching
• Adobe-compatible annotation format

Development

python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e ".[dev]"
peerfold sample.pdf
pytest

License

MIT — see LICENSE. Uses PyMuPDF (AGPL).