Interactive lessons
Lessons combine text, images and interactive visualizations. Read an explanation and step through its examples in the same view.
Free and open source · for Mac
Learn anything, locally
Study courses and PDFs, keep your own notebooks, and talk through ideas with Coach. Practice with quizzes, flashcards and code, or create a course of your own.
- MIT licensed
- No account needed
- Offline study · optional sync
Courses can cover any subject
- Data science
- Operating systems
- French for travel
- LLVM and compilers
- Statistics
- Music theory
- Python
- Organic chemistry
- Photography
- Linear algebra
- C programming
- World history
- Machine learning
- Public speaking
- SQL
- Philosophy of mind
Read, write,
practice and review
Keep downloaded courses, PDFs and personal notebooks on your Mac. Connect a learning server to continue enrolled reading on the web; AI features require an internet connection.
Coding exercises with checks
Write and run Python in the built-in editor and terminal. Each exercise includes checks you can run on your Mac, using the bundled interpreter.
Ask about a lesson
Highlight a passage and ask a question in the side chat. The assistant can find relevant course passages, with quiz answers and exercise solutions excluded.
Voice practice with Coach
Open the floating Coaches button and start talking. Your coach can read the lesson, PDF, notebook or selection you are working on, search accessible learning material, and keep its own memory between conversations.
Flashcards with spaced review
Review cards from completed lessons and rate how well you remember each answer. Your ratings determine when each card is due again.
Read and ask about PDFs
Import PDFs into Documents, find passages and navigate the outline. Highlight text to ask a question, with page references that take you back to the source.
Explore DocumentsPersonal Markdown notebooks
Write in separate windows with autosaving pages and pasted or dropped images. Search across your notebooks, link one to a course or PDF, and ask about your notes without AI changing them.
Start a notebookContinue learning on the web
A connected server keeps enrolled progress and reading conversations in sync. Read courses and PDFs, take quizzes and review flashcards in its browser player.
Desktop and webCustom themes
Change the app's colours, fonts and background images. Import a theme or create one using the documented theme format.
Documents
Bring your reading material
Keep PDFs beside your courses. Search the text, follow the outline and reopen where you left off. Ask about a selected passage or let reading chat retrieve relevant pages.
- Local imports and server document catalogs
- Page references you can open from chat
- Personal notebooks linked to your reading
Coach in 0.7.0
Talk about what you are learning
Your coaches are a click away while you read or write. Start a spoken conversation, ask about what is on screen, and keep studying as the coach follows your context.
- Reads lessons, PDF pages and selected passages
- Includes open notebook edits when reading a page
- Searches your library and accessible server content
Practice
Write, run and check Python code
Programming exercises open in a workbench with an editor, a terminal and the course's own checks. Run them as often as you like; when they pass, the exercise is done.
- Python in a virtual environment per course
- Bundled Python, with no interpreter installation
- Executable Python notebooks, plus projects with your own tools
Review
Quizzes with answer explanations
Check your understanding with quizzes and review the explanation for each answer. Lessons can include objectives and key takeaways to help you revisit the material.
- Single and multiple choice, with explanations
- Flashcards with spaced review
- Projects that span several lessons
Authoring
Turn an idea into a course
Write by hand or ask AI to draft and revise lessons, quizzes and exercises. Review the course in a live preview; edits stay in memory until you save.
Create your first course
Create and share courses
Write and preview a course, use AI to draft or revise it, then export a ZIP or publish to a learning server. Share PDFs too. Learners choose when to accept new versions.
Data and privacy
Local storage and optional connections
Local study, optional server sync. Imported courses, PDFs, personal notebooks and Coach memory live on your Mac. Enrolled server content synchronizes progress and reading conversations with that server.
Separate AI connections. Local chat, notebooks, Coach and authoring use your local OpenAI connection. Reading chat for server content uses credentials configured on that server, without falling back to your local key.
No usage analytics. The app and website do not collect usage analytics. Catalog connections and app update checks are optional.
Open source
Source code and documentation
The app, learning server, file formats and website are maintained in one MIT-licensed repository. You can read the code, report issues and contribute changes on GitHub.
- Stars
- 2
- License
- MIT
- Platform
- macOS
- Price
- Free
Good to know
Is OpenCourse free?
Yes. The desktop app and learning server are free and open source under the MIT License. Optional local AI uses your OpenAI API key or ChatGPT connection; provider charges and plan limits apply. Reading chat for server content uses a separate API key configured on that server.
Which Macs does it run on?
Macs with Apple silicon, on macOS 13 Ventura or later.
Do I need an account?
No account is needed to import courses or PDFs, write personal notebooks, or create courses. Enrolling in or publishing content on a server requires an account there. Registration availability depends on the server.
Where does learning material come from?
Import a course ZIP or PDF, add courses and documents from a connected server, or write a course in the built-in editor. The editor can also draft and revise a course with AI. You review the changes and choose when to save.
What can Coach see?
When you use Coach, it can inspect your current lesson, PDF page, selections and open notebooks, including unsaved notebook edits. It can search and read local material and accessible content on connected servers, with quiz answers and exercise solutions excluded. Each coach keeps its own memory between conversations. Open it from the floating Coaches button; there is no separate Coach workspace or file browser.
Are personal notebooks the same as Python notebooks?
No. Personal notebooks are autosaving Markdown pages in their own windows, with images, search and optional read-only AI chat. They stay on your Mac and can link to a course or PDF. Python notebooks belong to a course and run code using its Python environment.
Can I study in a browser?
Yes. A connected learning server provides a web reader for courses and PDFs, quizzes, flashcards and reading chat, with enrolled progress and reading conversations synchronized with the desktop app. Coding exercises, projects, Python notebooks, personal notebooks, course authoring and Coach use the desktop app.
Is it only for programming?
No. Lessons, pictures, interactive visualizations, quizzes and flashcards work for any subject. Programming courses also get checked Python exercises and executable notebooks with bundled Python. Projects can use other languages with tools you set up yourself.
What happens to my data?
Imported content, personal notebooks, Coach memory and local conversations stay on your Mac unless you use AI or explicitly publish content. Enrolled server content synchronizes progress and reading conversations with that server. AI sends relevant material to OpenAI; Coach can also read accessible server material through your local AI connection. The app collects no usage analytics.
Can I run my own server?
Yes. The learning server is part of the same open-source project. Run it with Docker for a class, team or community, with course and PDF publishing, accounts, web learning, synchronization and administration. The self-hosting guide covers setup and backups.
Download OpenCourse
Courses, PDFs, notebooks and a coach, together on your Mac.