openreader/README.md

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# 📄🔊 OpenReader

OpenReader is an open source, self-host-friendly text-to-speech document reader built with Next.js for **EPUB, PDF, TXT, MD, and DOCX** with synchronized read-along playback.

> Previously named **OpenReader-WebUI**.

> **Get started in the [docs](https://docs.openreader.richardr.dev/)**.

## ✨ Highlights

- 🧱 **Layout-aware PDF parsing** with PP-DocLayoutV3 (ONNX) — structured block detection, cross-page stitching, and geometry-based highlighting for precise read-along sync.
- ⏱️ **Word-by-word highlighting** via ONNX Whisper alignment through the compute worker control plane (NATS JetStream-backed).
- ⚡ **Segment-based read-along** for EPUB, PDF, TXT, MD, and DOCX — sentence-aware TTS with cached audio segments, background preloading, and resumable playback.
- 🎯 **Multi-provider TTS** — self-hosted OpenAI-compatible servers (Kokoro-FastAPI, KittenTTS-FastAPI, Orpheus-FastAPI) or cloud APIs (OpenAI, Replicate, DeepInfra).
- 🎧 **Audiobook export** in `m4b`/`mp3` with resumable chapter processing.
- 🗂️ **Flexible backend** — embedded SeaweedFS or S3-compatible storage, SQLite or Postgres, server library import, and device sync.
- 🐳 **Self-host friendly** — Docker (amd64/arm64), optional auth, and automatic startup migrations.

## 🚀 Start Here

| Goal | Link |
| --- | --- |
| Run with Docker | [Docker Quick Start](https://docs.openreader.richardr.dev/docker-quick-start) |
| Deploy on Vercel | [Vercel Deployment](https://docs.openreader.richardr.dev/deploy/vercel-deployment) |
| Deploy external compute worker | [Compute Worker (NATS JetStream)](https://docs.openreader.richardr.dev/deploy/compute-worker) |
| Develop locally | [Local Development](https://docs.openreader.richardr.dev/deploy/local-development) |
| Configure auth | [Auth](https://docs.openreader.richardr.dev/configure/auth) |
| Configure SQL database | [Database and Migrations](https://docs.openreader.richardr.dev/configure/database) |
| Configure object storage | [Object / Blob Storage](https://docs.openreader.richardr.dev/configure/object-blob-storage) |
| Configure TTS providers | [TTS Providers](https://docs.openreader.richardr.dev/configure/tts-providers) |
| Run Kokoro locally | [Kokoro-FastAPI](https://docs.openreader.richardr.dev/configure/tts-provider-guides/kokoro-fastapi) |
| Run KittenTTS locally | [KittenTTS-FastAPI](https://docs.openreader.richardr.dev/configure/tts-provider-guides/kitten-tts-fastapi) |
| Get support or contribute | [Support and Contributing](https://docs.openreader.richardr.dev/about/support-and-contributing) |

## 🧭 Community

- Questions and ideas: [GitHub Discussions](https://github.com/richardr1126/openreader/discussions)
- Bug reports: [GitHub Issues](https://github.com/richardr1126/openreader/issues)
- Contributions: open a pull request

## 📜 License

MIT. See [LICENSE](LICENSE).