Releases: emilmsh/pdf-scholar
Releases · emilmsh/pdf-scholar
Release list
PDF Scholar v0.53.0
What's new in 0.53.0
The assistant can run on your ChatGPT plan — no API key, no API bill
- Sign in with ChatGPT. In the AI settings, Sign in with ChatGPT opens OpenAI's own sign-in page in your browser. Once you are back, the assistant runs on your ChatGPT Plus or Pro plan's allowance instead of a paid API key: GPT-6 Astra, GPT-6 Sol (the default) and GPT-6 Luna, with the same cited answers, figure questions and document search as before. Desktop app only — the browser extension cannot receive the sign-in.
- Know what it is. This is an unofficial route: the same sign-in OpenAI's Codex tool and opencode use, which OpenAI allows today but offers no program for, so it may stop working if OpenAI changes that. What you send is handled under ChatGPT's terms rather than the API's, so your ChatGPT account's own model-training setting applies. The privacy policy says the same. API keys keep working exactly as before, side by side.
- Plain answers when the plan says no. When the plan's allowance is used up for now, the assistant says so — and, when OpenAI reports it, how long until it refills — instead of showing a raw error. An expired sign-in asks you to sign in again. Sign out removes the stored sign-in.
- The sign-in is stored like an API key: encrypted by the operating system's key store and never shown to the rest of the app.
Downloads — which file do I need?
| Platform | Download |
|---|---|
| Windows 10/11 (x64 & arm64) | PDF-Scholar-Setup-0.53.0.exe |
| Windows — portable, no install | PDF-Scholar-0.53.0-portable-x64.zip · arm64 (extract and run; settings live in a data folder beside the exe) |
| macOS — Apple Silicon (M1 and newer) | PDF-Scholar-0.53.0-arm64.dmg |
| macOS — Intel | PDF-Scholar-0.53.0-x64.dmg |
| Linux — any distribution | PDF-Scholar-0.53.0.AppImage (make executable and run — no install needed) |
| Linux — Debian/Ubuntu | PDF-Scholar-0.53.0.deb |
| Browser extension — Edge/Chrome | pdf-scholar-extension.zip (unzip, then "Load unpacked" at edge://extensions) |
The remaining files are plumbing: latest*.yml + .exe.blockmap drive the built-in auto-updater, and pdf-scholar-extension-store.zip is the store-submission variant. You never need to download them.
Full Changelog: v0.52.0...v0.53.0
PDF Scholar v0.52.0
What's new in 0.52.0
Figures that come out whole, a Print button that prints, and this month's AI models
- Copy or save a figure at the file's own resolution. Copy image … — in the page's right-click menu and under the save menu's arrow — outlines every picture in the document. Click one and it comes out whole at its own pixel size: a 240×160 figure is 240×160, whatever zoom you are reading at. Drag a box instead and you get exactly that region, so vector figures, tables and equations work too, at 300 dpi. You see the capture before it goes anywhere, then copy it (Word and PowerPoint paste it as a picture) or save it as PNG. The reading theme never comes along: a figure taken in night mode keeps its own colours. (#21)
- Print works on Windows. The Print button did nothing, not even an error: the Electron build the app shipped on cannot print on Windows. The app now runs on one that can, and the minimum version is pinned so a fresh install cannot land on the broken one again. (#22)
- Current AI models. Claude Opus 5.5 replaces Opus 5, GPT-6 Sol and GPT-6 Luna replace GPT-5.6 Sol and Luna, and Grok 4.7 replaces Grok 4.6. The retired models stay selectable for anyone who already uses them.
- New defaults. A fresh setup now starts on Claude Opus 5.5 (Anthropic) or GPT-6 Sol (OpenAI). A model you have already picked stays picked.
- "Answered by …" When Claude Opus 5.5 or Opus 5 declines a question on safety grounds, Anthropic now retries it on the model it recommends for that case instead of leaving you with nothing, and the answer says which model wrote it.
- Reasoning set to Off sends what each model accepts. GPT-6 Astra, Grok 4.5–4.7 and GPT-OSS cannot stop reasoning, so Off now asks for their lowest effort instead of a value they reject; and Opus 5 stops thinking on Off even before the app has fetched its model list.
Downloads — which file do I need?
| Platform | Download |
|---|---|
| Windows 10/11 (x64 & arm64) | PDF-Scholar-Setup-0.52.0.exe |
| Windows — portable, no install | PDF-Scholar-0.52.0-portable-x64.zip · arm64 (extract and run; settings live in a data folder beside the exe) |
| macOS — Apple Silicon (M1 and newer) | PDF-Scholar-0.52.0-arm64.dmg |
| macOS — Intel | PDF-Scholar-0.52.0-x64.dmg |
| Linux — any distribution | PDF-Scholar-0.52.0.AppImage (make executable and run — no install needed) |
| Linux — Debian/Ubuntu | PDF-Scholar-0.52.0.deb |
| Browser extension — Edge/Chrome | pdf-scholar-extension.zip (unzip, then "Load unpacked" at edge://extensions) |
The remaining files are plumbing: latest*.yml + .exe.blockmap drive the built-in auto-updater, and pdf-scholar-extension-store.zip is the store-submission variant. You never need to download them.
Full Changelog: v0.51.0...v0.52.0
PDF Scholar v0.51.0
What's new in 0.51.0
XFA forms open for reading
- Dynamic XFA forms show their content. A form made in Adobe LiveCycle / AEM Forms used to open as the one-page "Please wait…" placeholder the file carries. PDF Scholar now lays the form out from its XML — the same renderer Firefox uses for these forms — so government and institutional forms of this kind can be opened and read. Search, text selection and copying, and the assistant all work on the form's text.
- Read-only, and it says so. Filling in, annotating and saving are not offered for these documents: the pages on screen are not PDF pages, and XFA was deprecated in PDF 2.0. The annotation tools stand down for the document and an «XFA-skjema» badge in the toolbar explains what works and what does not. Chrome and Edge do not open these forms at all.
- Every other document loads exactly as before — checked in CI against the sample document (same pages, sizes, text and annotations with the new code path on).
Downloads — which file do I need?
| Platform | Download |
|---|---|
| Windows 10/11 (x64 & arm64) | PDF-Scholar-Setup-0.51.0.exe |
| Windows — portable, no install | PDF-Scholar-0.51.0-portable-x64.zip · arm64 (extract and run; settings live in a data folder beside the exe) |
| macOS — Apple Silicon (M1 and newer) | PDF-Scholar-0.51.0-arm64.dmg |
| macOS — Intel | PDF-Scholar-0.51.0-x64.dmg |
| Linux — any distribution | PDF-Scholar-0.51.0.AppImage (make executable and run — no install needed) |
| Linux — Debian/Ubuntu | PDF-Scholar-0.51.0.deb |
| Browser extension — Edge/Chrome | pdf-scholar-extension.zip (unzip, then "Load unpacked" at edge://extensions) |
The remaining files are plumbing: latest*.yml + .exe.blockmap drive the built-in auto-updater, and pdf-scholar-extension-store.zip is the store-submission variant. You never need to download them.
Full Changelog: v0.50.0...v0.51.0
PDF Scholar v0.50.0
What's new in 0.50.0
Browser extension
- The document row drags as a file. The sidebar's document row (the one with the file name) can be dragged into a folder, onto the desktop or into Outlook, and the drop is the PDF as last saved. A web page's upload field in the same browser (ChatGPT, webmail) does not receive it — Chromium hands its own drag to its own pages without the file — so go via Explorer there — the extension's counterpart to dragging a tab out of the desktop app (0.49.0). Drop it into another PDF Scholar tab and that tab opens it. Works with a finger or a pen too.
- The address bar reads the document's address. A viewer tab now shows
viewer.html?rawfile=https://host/paper.pdfinstead of an encoded?file=https%3A%2F%2F…, and local files no longer show doubled%25-escapes in their path.
Downloads — which file do I need?
| Platform | Download |
|---|---|
| Windows 10/11 (x64 & arm64) | PDF-Scholar-Setup-0.50.0.exe |
| Windows — portable, no install | PDF-Scholar-0.50.0-portable-x64.zip · arm64 (extract and run; settings live in a data folder beside the exe) |
| macOS — Apple Silicon (M1 and newer) | PDF-Scholar-0.50.0-arm64.dmg |
| macOS — Intel | PDF-Scholar-0.50.0-x64.dmg |
| Linux — any distribution | PDF-Scholar-0.50.0.AppImage (make executable and run — no install needed) |
| Linux — Debian/Ubuntu | PDF-Scholar-0.50.0.deb |
| Browser extension — Edge/Chrome | pdf-scholar-extension.zip (unzip, then "Load unpacked" at edge://extensions) |
The remaining files are plumbing: latest*.yml + .exe.blockmap drive the built-in auto-updater, and pdf-scholar-extension-store.zip is the store-submission variant. You never need to download them.
Full Changelog: v0.49.0...v0.50.0
PDF Scholar v0.49.0
What's new
- A tab drags like a file. Drag a tab out of the strip and drop it wherever a PDF can go: another PDF Scholar window (it opens there, straight into split view if you drop it on a column), a browser's upload field, an e-mail, a chat, a folder. It is the same drag Explorer starts, so the file itself travels; unsaved annotations follow the document into the other window as before.
- Ctrl+drag keeps the in-app move (Cmd on macOS): onto another window, or out onto the desktop for a window of its own — the one thing a file drag cannot do, since a drop outside the app belongs to the OS then. "Move to new window" in the tab menu does the same. Both gestures are listed under the fixed keys in the shortcuts dialog. With a finger or pen the tab always drags the in-app way.
Downloads — which file do I need?
| Platform | Download |
|---|---|
| Windows 10/11 (x64 & arm64) | PDF-Scholar-Setup-0.49.0.exe |
| Windows — portable, no install | PDF-Scholar-0.49.0-portable-x64.zip · arm64 (extract and run; settings live in a data folder beside the exe) |
| macOS — Apple Silicon (M1 and newer) | PDF-Scholar-0.49.0-arm64.dmg |
| macOS — Intel | PDF-Scholar-0.49.0-x64.dmg |
| Linux — any distribution | PDF-Scholar-0.49.0.AppImage (make executable and run — no install needed) |
| Linux — Debian/Ubuntu | PDF-Scholar-0.49.0.deb |
| Browser extension — Edge/Chrome | pdf-scholar-extension.zip (unzip, then "Load unpacked" at edge://extensions) |
The remaining files are plumbing: latest*.yml + .exe.blockmap drive the built-in auto-updater, and pdf-scholar-extension-store.zip is the store-submission variant. You never need to download them.
Full Changelog: v0.48.1...v0.49.0
PDF Scholar v0.48.1
What's new
- Sticky notes from other apps keep their icon when moved (#19). A note made in Acrobat used to come back from a drag with a different icon, fully opaque and in a smaller box — the move now shifts the note's box alone and leaves its appearance untouched.
- Moving or recolouring an existing annotation lands at once. The repaint afterwards re-read the annotations of every page in the document (about 0.6 s on a 100-page paper); it now re-reads only the page you changed.
Downloads — which file do I need?
| Platform | Download |
|---|---|
| Windows 10/11 (x64 & arm64) | PDF-Scholar-Setup-0.48.1.exe |
| Windows — portable, no install | PDF-Scholar-0.48.1-portable-x64.zip · arm64 (extract and run; settings live in a data folder beside the exe) |
| macOS — Apple Silicon (M1 and newer) | PDF-Scholar-0.48.1-arm64.dmg |
| macOS — Intel | PDF-Scholar-0.48.1-x64.dmg |
| Linux — any distribution | PDF-Scholar-0.48.1.AppImage (make executable and run — no install needed) |
| Linux — Debian/Ubuntu | PDF-Scholar-0.48.1.deb |
| Browser extension — Edge/Chrome | pdf-scholar-extension.zip (unzip, then "Load unpacked" at edge://extensions) |
The remaining files are plumbing: latest*.yml + .exe.blockmap drive the built-in auto-updater, and pdf-scholar-extension-store.zip is the store-submission variant. You never need to download them.
Full Changelog: v0.48.0...v0.48.1
PDF Scholar v0.48.0
Downloads — which file do I need?
| Platform | Download |
|---|---|
| Windows 10/11 (x64 & arm64) | PDF-Scholar-Setup-0.48.0.exe |
| Windows — portable, no install | PDF-Scholar-0.48.0-portable-x64.zip · arm64 (extract and run; settings live in a data folder beside the exe) |
| macOS — Apple Silicon (M1 and newer) | PDF-Scholar-0.48.0-arm64.dmg |
| macOS — Intel | PDF-Scholar-0.48.0-x64.dmg |
| Linux — any distribution | PDF-Scholar-0.48.0.AppImage (make executable and run — no install needed) |
| Linux — Debian/Ubuntu | PDF-Scholar-0.48.0.deb |
| Browser extension — Edge/Chrome | pdf-scholar-extension.zip (unzip, then "Load unpacked" at edge://extensions) |
The remaining files are plumbing: latest*.yml + .exe.blockmap drive the built-in auto-updater, and pdf-scholar-extension-store.zip is the store-submission variant. You never need to download them.
The assistant on a big document
Asking the assistant about a large document could fail with a rejection that no
amount of waiting would fix: the document sat well inside the model's context
window, but one request was bigger than the whole per-minute token quota behind
your API key. This release makes that case work.
- A request refused for being larger than the account's whole minute of quota
now says so — and says outright that waiting cannot fix it — instead of being
reported as an ordinary rate limit. The provider's own numbers (the limit, and
what the request asked for) stay readable under the advice. - The app learns the token ceiling your key actually has, from the provider's
own rate-limit headers, and remembers it per model. It learns from answers as
well as refusals, so an ordinary small question is usually enough for the next
big one to go through on the first try. - The excerpt that carries a too-large document is now selected by paragraph
rather than by whole page, and budgeted against whichever ceiling is tighter —
the model's context window or your account's quota. Front matter can no longer
eat a narrow budget on its own, citations still point at real page numbers, and
text left out inside a page is marked.
On a 400-page report, an account limited to 30k tokens a minute now gets an
answer built from 14 pages including the relevant passage, where before the
request was simply refused. Nothing changes below a known ceiling.
What's Changed
Full Changelog: v0.47.0...v0.48.0
Contributors
claude
Assets 14
PDF Scholar v0.47.0
Downloads — which file do I need?
| Platform | Download |
|---|---|
| Windows 10/11 (x64 & arm64) | PDF-Scholar-Setup-0.47.0.exe |
| Windows — portable, no install | PDF-Scholar-0.47.0-portable-x64.zip · arm64 (extract and run; settings live in a data folder beside the exe) |
| macOS — Apple Silicon (M1 and newer) | PDF-Scholar-0.47.0-arm64.dmg |
| macOS — Intel | PDF-Scholar-0.47.0-x64.dmg |
| Linux — any distribution | PDF-Scholar-0.47.0.AppImage (make executable and run — no install needed) |
| Linux — Debian/Ubuntu | PDF-Scholar-0.47.0.deb |
| Browser extension — Edge/Chrome | pdf-scholar-extension.zip (unzip, then "Load unpacked" at edge://extensions) |
The remaining files are plumbing: latest*.yml + .exe.blockmap drive the built-in auto-updater, and pdf-scholar-extension-store.zip is the store-submission variant. You never need to download them.
Full Changelog: v0.46.2...v0.47.0
PDF Scholar v0.46.2
Downloads — which file do I need?
| Platform | Download |
|---|---|
| Windows 10/11 (x64 & arm64) | PDF-Scholar-Setup-0.46.2.exe |
| macOS — Apple Silicon (M1 and newer) | PDF-Scholar-0.46.2-arm64.dmg |
| macOS — Intel | PDF-Scholar-0.46.2-x64.dmg |
| Linux — any distribution | PDF-Scholar-0.46.2.AppImage (make executable and run — no install needed) |
| Linux — Debian/Ubuntu | PDF-Scholar-0.46.2.deb |
| Browser extension — Edge/Chrome | pdf-scholar-extension.zip (unzip, then "Load unpacked" at edge://extensions) |
The remaining files are plumbing: latest*.yml + .exe.blockmap drive the built-in auto-updater, and pdf-scholar-extension-store.zip is the store-submission variant. You never need to download them.
Full Changelog: v0.46.1...v0.46.2
PDF Scholar v0.46.1
Downloads — which file do I need?
| Platform | Download |
|---|---|
| Windows 10/11 (x64 & arm64) | PDF-Scholar-Setup-0.46.1.exe |
| macOS — Apple Silicon (M1 and newer) | PDF-Scholar-0.46.1-arm64.dmg |
| macOS — Intel | PDF-Scholar-0.46.1-x64.dmg |
| Linux — any distribution | PDF-Scholar-0.46.1.AppImage (make executable and run — no install needed) |
| Linux — Debian/Ubuntu | PDF-Scholar-0.46.1.deb |
| Browser extension — Edge/Chrome | pdf-scholar-extension.zip (unzip, then "Load unpacked" at edge://extensions) |
The remaining files are plumbing: latest*.yml + .exe.blockmap drive the built-in auto-updater, and pdf-scholar-extension-store.zip is the store-submission variant. You never need to download them.
Full Changelog: v0.46.0...v0.46.1