the time everyone afterwards spends discovering it was made
The argument for writing the decision down, not for deciding faster.
architecture-notes.dev · 2 days ago
Own what you read.
Highlight any page on the web, say why it mattered, and keep every note in one file on your own machine — shared across every Chromium browser you use.
Download for macOS
macOS · Chromium browser · Node 24+
freehold — your library
Freehold
412 highlights · 96 pages
Find a highlight, or something you wrote about one
HighlightsPages
All sites
a green suite nobody has tried to break is a green suite nobody should trust
Counter to the 100% coverage argument. Use in the RFC.
testing-weekly.com · 5 days ago
private to that application, which is a feature right up until you install a second one
Exactly the problem this solves. Good framing to steal.
local-first.org · last week
0Runtime dependencies, and no server to talk to.
4Colours, each one nameable to mean whatever you need.
7Daily backups kept, each a single consistent file.
21.0 MBExport at 50,000 highlights, streamed at flat memory.
Name your colours
Four colours you already click, given meaning
Call yellow “use in an RFC” and pink “I disagree”, and the names show on the toolbar as you pick, on the filters, and on every entry. A tag system with nothing to maintain.
name your colours
What each colour means
Use in an RFC
Agree, cite later
I disagree
Look this up
The page you are on
A quick look without leaving the article
The popup lists what you marked on this page, tells you when a highlight has been orphaned by an edit, and exports just this page if that is all you want.
extension popup
Freehold
Library3 highlights on this page.
Save this pageExport this page
the time everyone afterwards spends discovering it was made
a green suite nobody has tried to break is a green suite nobody should trust
Why not just
What the alternatives do better, and where they stop
Instead of bookmarks
- Better at
- Getting the whole page back later, in one click, with nothing to install.
- Stops at
- A bookmark saves the page, not the sentence, and never the reason. You reopen three thousand words to find one line.
Instead of a notes app
- Better at
- Writing at length, structure, linking. Freehold does not replace one and does not try to.
- Stops at
- A quote you paste in loses its place. Nothing takes you back to where it sat on the page, and copying is a step you have to remember.
Instead of a hosted highlighter
- Better at
- Reading on your phone, sharing with other people, and syncing between machines. Freehold does none of those.
- Stops at
- Your highlights live on someone else's server, behind an account, under their retention policy and their pricing.
Install
Two steps, and one of them is per browser
Freehold is not in the Chrome Web Store, because the store cannot install the local program. So it installs from a release.
Load it into each browser
Download the latest release and unzip it. Open
brave://extensionsorarc://extensions, turn on Developer mode, choose Load unpacked and select the unzipped folder. Copy the ID shown on the Freehold card.Register the host
Pass every ID you collected. The installer writes one small JSON file per browser and touches nothing else. Restart the browser afterwards.
./install.sh <arc-id> <brave-id>
Questions
The things worth knowing before you install it
Can I sync between machines?
No. The database is local by design. Syncing would mean running a server, which is a different product with a different promise.
What happens if I remove the extension?
Nothing happens to your highlights. The database sits outside every browser profile, so removing the extension does not touch it — put the extension back and your library is still there.
Firefox or Safari?
Not yet. Both need different packaging — Safari in particular has to be wrapped in an Xcode project and signed.
What if the page changes?
Usually nothing, because a highlight is anchored to the words around it. If the text is deleted or rewritten past recognition the highlight orphans: it stays in your library, stops painting on the page, and the popup tells you.
Does it change the pages I read?
Only where you highlighted. Each one wraps that text in a freehold-mark element that inherits the page’s own font and colour. Nothing else on the page is touched, and nothing is injected on pages you have never marked.
Start keeping the reason.
Download for macOS
macOS · Chromium browser · Node 24+
Freehold
A web highlighter that keeps your notes in one SQLite file on your own machine, shared across every Chromium browser you use.
Newsreader and IBM Plex under the SIL Open Font License 1.1