/01
Table view
The core screen. A virtualized grid with a pinned row-number column, movable and resizable columns, undo, redo, cut, copy, paste, and find and replace on Ctrl+F.
column layout persists per project
Open source collections software · desktop · AGPL-3.0
One file holds the whole catalogue.
Collection metadata, notes and every linked scan, in one .qrate file on your own disk. No account, no server, works offline.
1 file
per project
4
export formats
0
accounts required
FileEditViewDataPlugins
field_model
field_description
edtf_date
8
Paged Content
Correspondence, two leaves, ink on paper
1939
9
Paged Content
Correspondence, envelope retained
1946
10
Image
Watercolour painting of a fictionalized character
2016?
11
Image
News clipping: a ballot placed in a ballot box
1947-06-01
12
Image
Front page of a Canadian passport
1928-09-01
13
Image
Agent's stub for a third-class ocean liner ticket
1928-11-29
14
Image
Three people on the shore in front of a ship
1932
15
Image
Two men walking across a rail line
1910
⊗ 1490 ⚠ 5330Row 14, Col 7, 17 words
↑ rendered live in Qrate Light · every theme that ships with the app
The window
Grid, preview and problems, docked together.
Details · grid · problems, docked in one windowQrate Light
Features
Every screen, and what it is for.
/02
Problems panel
Errors, warnings and notes counted on the status bar, filterable by source, click to jump to the cell. A Fixes menu offers the concrete replacement.
dates · spelling · LCSH · GeoNames · Wikidata · broken links
/03
New project wizard
Name, files, link, columns, create. Point at a CSV or Sheet and a folder, match rows to files by filename or a pattern, then derive the columns or load a config.
five steps · matched N of M files
/04
Gallery view
The same records as thumbnails, sharing the grid's filter and selection. Ctrl+2, or the view switcher tabs.
built for photo-heavy collections
/05
Details panel
The selected row's photo and every field as an editable list. Select several rows and one edit writes the same value down the selection.
left dock
/06
Fullscreen viewer
Click a preview for a zoom and pan overlay, with page navigation and in-document find. Images, PDF, video frames, audio, Office, eBook and text.
PDFium · ffmpeg · type icon fallback
/07
Agent panel
A read-only bridge. One tab logs what an external agent read or was refused, the other is where it runs. Nothing writes a cell until the archivist clicks it.
right dock · off unless you enable it
/08
Export
CSV, JSON-LD and CSL-JSON whenever you want them. Google Sheets export and sync stay hidden until you opt in, and authenticate on-device.
File ▸ Export · loopback + PKCE OAuth
Gallery view
Look at the thing you are describing.
Switch the grid for a gallery, open an item full size, and keep editing its fields beside it. Images, documents, audio and video preview in place.
JPG · TIFF · PDF · WAV · MP4
PDF via PDFium · video frames via ffmpeg
/05 Plugins
Find an extension, or make your own.
Plugins are Luau, sandboxed, and add validation, column rules, menus and suggestions. Network access stays off until you switch it on. Manual folder installation remains available.
Is
listedIslandora controlled vocabularies
Checks spreadsheet values against controlled vocabularies published by an Islandora site.
devnull03view plugin →
{ }
templatePlugin template
Where a new plugin starts: a worked example plus type definitions for every capability the host offers, so your editor tells you what a plugin can and cannot do.
devnull03/qrate-plugin-templatestart here →
↯
yoursWrite your own
Validation, suggestions, column configuration, menu items and status or title bar entries with inline markup. No io, no os, no package: a plugin only reaches what qrate hands it.
Package · release · submitpublishing guide →
1 listed plugin. The template carries type definitions for the whole plugin API.
The way it is now
metadata.xlsx · 3 conflicting copies
scans/ · 14,203 files, no links
naming-rules.docx · last opened 2023
email thread · 61 replies
The way it should be
collection.qrate
Records, field definitions, authority lists, notes, validation state and the path to every linked file. Export to CSV, JSON-LD, CSL-JSON or a ZIP. Copy it, back it up, hand it to a colleague. It opens the same on every platform.