akaReader

A polished desktop manga reader for Windows — powered by Suwayomi.

akaReader gives you a native, offline-capable reading experience with a built-in Suwayomi runtime. Browse sources, manage your library, and read chapters even without internet — all from a single, self-contained Electron app.

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Features

Reading

• Multiple reading modes — paged, scroll, and webtoon styles
• Chapter preloading — seamless next-chapter continuation
• Progress tracking — remembers exactly where you left off
• Reading stats — time spent reading, history per manga

Library

• Personal library — add manga to your own collection
• Categories — organize with custom tags
• Search & browse — explore any Suwayomi source and extension

Offline

• Download chapters — save pages to IndexedDB
• Read anywhere — chapters load from local storage, no network needed
• Cover and metadata — cached alongside chapter data

Desktop

• Windows installer — one-click NSIS setup
• Portable build — run from anywhere, no install required
• Auto-updates — patches download in the background
• System tray — minimize to tray, keep Suwayomi running
• Source verification — handles browser-challenge sites (Cloudflare, etc.)

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Tech Stack

Layer	Tech
Desktop shell	Electron 30
Frontend	React 18 + Vite 5
Backend proxy	Node.js + Express
Manga runtime	Suwayomi (bundled)
Icons	Lucide React
Packaging	electron-builder
Updates	electron-updater

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Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Windows 10/11 (64-bit)
• Node.js 18+
• Java 17+ (for Suwayomi — auto-installed if missing)

Install dependencies

cd backend
npm install

cd ..\manga-nexus
npm install

Run in development

cd manga-nexus
npm run electron:dev

First run will download the Suwayomi JAR if it's not already present. Give it a minute — it only happens once.

Validate before packaging

cd manga-nexus
npm run validate

Build Windows installer / portable

cd manga-nexus
npm run dist

Output lands in manga-nexus/dist-electron/.

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Project Structure

akaReader/
├── backend/               # Express proxy + Suwayomi JAR
│   ├── server.js          # REST API fronting Suwayomi
│   └── package.json
├── manga-nexus/           # Electron app
│   ├── electron-main.js   # Main process, service startup
│   ├── preload.js         # IPC bridge
│   └── src/                # React renderer
│       ├── App.jsx         # Main state and UI
│       ├── components/     # Reader, extensions, etc.
│       └── views/          # Home, browse, detail views
├── docs/                  # Architecture & dev notes
└── README.md

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Architecture

React renderer → Express proxy (3001) → Suwayomi (4567) → Source extensions
                       ↑
                  Electron main process supervises both

The backend adds caching, retries, and a simplified REST surface. Offline chapters are stored in the renderer's IndexedDB — no backend involvement.

See docs/ARCHITECTURE.md for the full picture.

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Configuration

Settings are stored in localStorage and cover:

• Reading mode defaults (paged / scroll / webtoon)
• Image quality and preload behavior
• Library view preferences
• App-level preferences (tray, minimize behavior)

Suwayomi source extensions are managed through the app's Extensions tab.

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Monetization

akaReader is free and open source. If you want to support development:

• GitHub Sponsors
• Ko-fi
• Convenience features (themes, encrypted settings sync) — never content access

The app does not provide manga content. It depends on user-installed Suwayomi extensions and their upstream sites.

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Contributing

Found a bug or want a feature? Open an issue. PRs welcome — run npm run validate before submitting to catch lint and hook-order issues.

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License

MIT — add a LICENSE file to the repo root to enable.