Codiko is a desktop writing and story-planning application for macOS and Windows, bringing manuscripts, characters, timelines, worldbuilding and optional AI assistance together in one workspace.

I conceived, designed and developed Codiko as an independent product under Apoko, taking it from an initial idea through to a commercial software release. The project covers everything from product architecture and UI/UX design to branding, AI integrations, licensing, payments and distribution.

It started with a personal problem. I wanted to write a sprawling novel with branching timelines and more characters than I could comfortably keep track of. Existing tools were great at individual tasks, but keeping everything connected was another matter.

So I decided to build something that could do it all.

Writing a novel involves considerably more than writing prose.

Characters evolve, timelines overlap, relationships change and ideas develop as a story progresses. Writers often end up juggling documents, spreadsheets, notes and specialist planning tools to keep everything organised.

AI introduced another possibility, but conventional chat interfaces have limited awareness of an entire writing project.

The challenge was to build a flexible workspace that connected all these elements without forcing writers into a particular workflow, while keeping their work private and under their control.

Rather than building another text editor, I designed Codiko around a connected model of a story.

Manuscripts, characters, locations, events and relationships are represented as structured information that can be explored, linked and referenced throughout a project.

The interface accommodates different approaches to writing. Users can start with a blank manuscript, build an outline, develop characters, organise research or import an existing novel.

AI assistance is available throughout the application, but remains entirely optional.

Codiko grew from a functional prototype into a fully designed desktop application, with a consistent visual language, custom iconography and flexible navigation.

The interface brings together several ways of working:

• A manuscript editor with chapters, scenes and contextual information.
• Visual timelines, outlines and planning boards.
• Character, location and worldbuilding management.
• Relationship graphs and connected story information.
• Research notes, project search and writing tools.

One of the biggest design challenges was making a feature-rich application approachable to someone opening it for the first time.

To address this, I developed guided onboarding, contextual help and flexible starting points, allowing users to explore the features relevant to their writing process.

Codiko is built with Tauri, Rust, React and TypeScript, providing a native desktop application for macOS and Windows.

The architecture is local-first. Projects are stored on the user's computer rather than requiring a cloud account or remote database.

Structured project data allows information to be shared across different views and features, while Git-backed version history provides a way to track manuscript changes and restore earlier revisions.

Developing for both operating systems introduced additional challenges around native integration, installers, code signing, notarisation, updates and compatibility.

One of the more interesting technical challenges was making AI assistance aware of an entire writing project rather than just the current conversation.

Codiko combines structured story data, project indexing and semantic retrieval to provide relevant context to supported AI models.

This powers several workflows:

• Project-aware chat: Ask questions about characters, events, timelines and manuscript content.
• Manuscript analysis: Import existing writing and extract characters, locations, events and relationships.
• AI-assisted planning: Brainstorm ideas and turn conversations into structured project information.

The application supports OpenAI and Anthropic APIs, alongside local models through Ollama.

Users choose their own AI provider, and AI features aren't required to use the core application.