Documentation

Current reference for the Windows beta. Features and installation details may change before the first public release.

What Compfiled is

A desktop LaTeX studio. It puts the conversion tools, a compiling editor, an AI workspace and a set of PDF utilities in one window, so a scan can become a compiled PDF without leaving the application.

Your documents live on your disk and the app never syncs them anywhere. The one thing that does leave the machine is an AI request you make yourself, and only to the provider you picked — point it at a local model through Ollama or LM Studio and even that stays put. See Privacy for the exact breakdown.

The tools are wired to each other. Every result carries a Send to menu that lists only the tools which actually accept that kind of payload — a converted table can go straight to the editor, a compiled PDF straight to the PDF tools, and either can be saved to a project or dropped into a Workspace conversation.

Requirements and install

The Windows installer includes the local backend, Tectonic, SyncTeX and the WebView2 bootstrapper. You do not need Python or a separate TeX installation for the default setup.

• Tectonic is the default for a new installation. Its first compile may need internet to download LaTeX packages, which it then caches locally.
• MiKTeX is optional. Install it when a document needs packages or workflows that Tectonic does not handle well, then choose MiKTeX and its engine in Settings.

Open Settings, Projects, LaTeX compiler to choose Tectonic or MiKTeX, detect compilers again, download MiKTeX, or open MiKTeX Console. Compiler and engine are separate choices: MiKTeX offers Automatic, pdfLaTeX, XeLaTeX and LuaLaTeX; Tectonic uses its own XeTeX engine.

Installing the unsigned Windows beta

The beta installer will not have a Windows code-signing certificate. SmartScreen can therefore show Windows protected your PC even when the installer is unchanged.

1. Download the installer only from this site's official Windows download link.
2. Open the .exe. If SmartScreen appears, choose More info.
3. Check that the app name is Compfiled, then choose Run anyway.

If the file came from another site or its name/version differs from the download page, do not run it.

Your first compile

1. Open Projects and create a new project, blank or from a template.
2. Write LaTeX in the editor, or send in a converted document from one of the tools.
3. Press Ctrl+Enter. The PDF appears in the preview beside the source.
4. Double-click text in the PDF to jump to the matching source line. Moving in the source keeps the compiled preview in sync when SyncTeX data is available.

You can also start inside a converter and save its output as a new project when you like the result.

Converters

Converters and generators sit in the sidebar. Tools, All Tools shows the full grid, where tools can be pinned or renamed.

• Image to LaTeX — drop, paste with Ctrl+V, or pick a JPEG or PNG of a formula, table or page.
• PDF to LaTeX — pick pages from a PDF and get editable source.
• arXiv to LaTeX — fetch a paper's own source files.
• Excel to LaTeX and Table to LaTeX — spreadsheets and pasted tables into a tabular.
• TikZ Converter — a sketch or a written description into a TikZ figure.
• LaTeX to Markdown — source out to Markdown.
• PDF to Word and Word to PDF — with a preview inside the app.
• Image Extractor — pull the images and diagrams out of a PDF.
• Table Generator, Matrix Generator and Bibliography — build the markup without hand-formatting it.

LaTeX editor

Source, project files and PDF output share one tab. The editor stays local and uses the project's real files.

• Autocomplete for commands, environments, labels and project files.
• Auto-compile, autosave, spell check, line wrapping, code font and tab size live in Settings, Editors and in the editor gear where appropriate.
• SyncTeX works both ways when the compiler produced SyncTeX data. Double-click the PDF to land on the source word.
• The PDF can open in a separate Compfiled window. The source editor then expands to use the freed space, and later compiles refresh the detached PDF.
• A side rail carries the compile log, find and replace, and document outline. Errors show a count on the toggle.
• Saving a project writes a version snapshot. Open Version history from the project's menu to read or restore an earlier one.

The menu next to Compile also provides:

• Download PDF, with a warning when the PDF is older than the source.
• PNG for the current PDF page, every page, or the LaTeX code; the current page can also be copied to the clipboard.
• Open in Overleaf, which sends the current document to Overleaf only when you choose it.
• Export to Markdown (.md), HTML (.html) or plain text (.txt).

AI Workspace

A chat that persists, organised into vaults. Each vault keeps its own conversation, attachments and context, and is still there after you close the app.

• Attach images, PDFs, Word documents, spreadsheets and text files.
• Ask about attached material, or ask for LaTeX and TikZ changes.
• Stop a reply while it is being written, or regenerate it.
• Open a code block straight in the tool that handles it.
• Select text in supported previews, choose Mark, then click its chip above the composer to preview, edit or remove the exact context before it is sent.

Projects, Vaults and Clips

Projects hold the source files and the generated output together, with previews, templates, export, version history, and recovery from the Trash.

Vaults are the Workspace's conversations and their attachments. They can be downloaded to a folder of your choice, set in Settings, Workspace.

Clips is a scratch area that keeps recent tool output around, for when several results have to be fed one at a time into another tool.

PDF tools

Merge PDFs, Split PDF, Extract Pages, Rotate Pages and the PDF Editor. All of them run locally with no model and no network. The result downloads, saves to a project, or goes on to the next tool through Send to.

Compiler settings

All of this lives in Settings, Projects, LaTeX compiler:

• Compiler — MiKTeX or Tectonic.
• Engine — Automatic (XeLaTeX, then LuaLaTeX, then pdfLaTeX), or pin pdfLaTeX, XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX. Tectonic always uses its own XeTeX engine, so the choice disappears when it is selected.
• Document font — Classic LaTeX (Computer Modern), whatever the document itself asks for, Times New Roman, or Arial.
• Detected installation and SyncTeX — show what was found on this machine.
• Detect compilers again refreshes the result after installation. MiKTeX can be downloaded or opened from the same section.

Updates

The app contains an update screen, but the signed update feed is not configured for the current development beta. Until public releases begin, install newer test builds manually. Create a backup before moving important data between beta versions.

Models and API keys

Cloud models are discovered from supported Google Gemini and Anthropic Claude providers instead of being fixed in this guide. Local text models run through Ollama or LM Studio. Image and PDF conversion still needs a model with a compatible vision input.

Paste a key into Settings, AI, API Keys — one field for both providers, the provider is recognised from the key itself. Keys are stored with Windows DPAPI, tied to your Windows user, and are never sent to a Compfiled server. After saving, the interface only ever shows a masked value; the local backend opens the real key in memory only when a provider call needs it.

Settings, AI also sets the default model, chooses what new conversions start with, and shows token usage.

Backups and Trash

Settings, Workspace, Backup takes a full backup: the database with projects, vaults and conversations, the encrypted API keys, and the vaults' attachment files. An automatic copy is kept weekly in a backups/ folder next to the database, and a safety backup of the current data is taken before every restore.

Deleted projects and vaults go to Settings, Projects, Trash, where they can be restored or removed for good.

Keyboard shortcuts

The full list is also shown in Settings, Shortcuts. Current public testing targets Windows.

• Ctrl+K — Command palette
• Ctrl+S — Save
• Ctrl+Enter — Compile
• Ctrl+F — Find and replace, in the editor
• Ctrl+N — New document
• Ctrl+W — Close tab
• Ctrl+Tab — Next tab
• Ctrl+Shift+Tab — Previous tab
• Ctrl+, — Settings

Privacy

There is no cloud sync. Projects, vaults, conversations and metadata live in a local SQLite database; the attachment files themselves sit in a local blobs folder that the database points at.

What touches the network, feature by feature — the same breakdown Compfiled shows in Settings, Privacy:

• Projects and vaults — no network, unless you deliberately send something to AI.
• Editor, generators and PDF tools — local; the core operations need no internet at all.
• LaTeX compile — runs through local MiKTeX or bundled Tectonic. Either compiler may download missing packages, depending on its configuration, then reuse its local cache.
• AI conversions and Workspace — with Ollama or LM Studio the request stays on your computer. With Gemini or Claude, the text, images or pages you selected go to that provider.
• arXiv and bibliography — lookups contact arXiv or Crossref. What you save stays local.

Common questions

Do I need an internet connection?

Not for editing, projects, generators or most PDF tools. You need it for cloud AI, arXiv downloads, bibliography lookups, and whenever Tectonic or MiKTeX must download a missing package.

Do I need an API key?

Only for Gemini or Claude. Ollama and LM Studio run locally, and everything that is not AI works with no key at all.

Do I need Python or a TeX installation?

No Python and no separate TeX installation for the default setup: the Windows installer includes the backend and Tectonic. MiKTeX is an optional compatibility upgrade.

Is Compfiled free?

Yes, and there is no account. If you point it at Gemini or Claude, those providers bill you for their own API usage; local and non-AI features never create such a charge.

Is my data sent anywhere?

Never to a Compfiled document server — there isn't one. Outbound traffic comes from actions that need an external service: cloud AI, arXiv, Crossref, Overleaf, or a compiler downloading a missing package.