Features
Every screenshot here is the real app at work on public-domain art. The credits are in ATTRIBUTION.md.
Get started
On a Mac with Apple Silicon, download the .dmg, open it and drag Falcon to Applications. Falcon isn't notarised, so the first time you open it, click Open Anyway in System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security; the download page lists the other ways.
On 64-bit Windows, download the installer and run it. It installs for you alone, without admin rights. Or get the portable .zip, unzip it anywhere and run Falcon\falcon-app.exe, with nothing to install. Falcon isn't code-signed, so on first run Windows SmartScreen warns you: click More info, then Run anyway. Some features aren't on Windows yet; the download page lists them.
On Linux, download the AppImage (any distribution) or the .deb (Ubuntu, Debian). Some features aren't on Linux yet; the download page lists them.
To build it, you need Rust 1.89 or newer. On Debian or Ubuntu, also run sudo apt install pkg-config libasound2-dev. Video on Linux needs FFmpeg from scripts/build-ffmpeg.sh, which also takes nasm, zlib1g-dev and python3-venv. On Windows, use Rust for MSVC with Visual Studio's C++ build tools, and run the two scripts in an MSYS2 UCRT64 shell; the download page lists the packages.
git clone https://github.com/AhmedKhan-GH/falcon
cd falcon
cargo run --release -p falcon-app # choose or create a library on first launch
scripts/bundle.sh # macOS: build target/release/Falcon.app
scripts/package-macos.sh # macOS: build the .dmg in target/macos
scripts/package-linux.sh # Linux: build the AppImage and .deb in target/linux
scripts/package-windows.sh # Windows: build the installer and portable zip in target/windows
The falcon command-line tool creates a library, imports files into it, describes it and serves its HTTP API:
cargo run -p falcon -- new ~/Pictures/Inspiration.library
cargo run -p falcon -- import ~/Pictures/Inspiration.library photo.jpg --tag moodboard
cargo run -p falcon -- info ~/Pictures/Inspiration.library
cargo run -p falcon -- serve ~/Pictures/Inspiration.library # local HTTP API on 127.0.0.1:41596
Under the hood
| Crate | What it does |
|---|
falcon-library | The library format: loading and byte-identical saving, import, thumbnails (WebP), colour palettes (median cut), editing, search, smart folders |
falcon-server | A local JSON HTTP API for scripts and tools, also built into the app |
falcon-video | Video playback and frame decoding through macOS's AVFoundation, falling back to falcon-ffmpeg, used by the app's viewer |
falcon-ffmpeg | The fallback video decoder and player over an LGPL FFmpeg opened at run time |
falcon-pdf | PDF pages, text, search and selection through macOS's PDFKit, used by the app's PDF reader |
falcon-clip | AI Search: on-device CLIP embeddings through candle, the model's download, the index and its worker |
falcon-app | The desktop app, drawn with egui |
falcon | The command-line tool |
- Plain files: a library is a folder of plain files: one
metadata.json per item, next to the original file and its thumbnail. There is no database to corrupt, and you can back a library up with any copy tool.
- Eagle libraries: falcon reads and writes the Eagle library format, so existing Eagle libraries open in falcon unchanged.
- Documentation: the book explains each part, and the API docs cover the crates.
Status
Falcon is early alpha and unsigned: the everyday workflow works, about 99% of Eagle's local features are done, and the roadmap lists what is left. PARITY.md checks every feature against Eagle 4.0.0, FORMATS.md lists the file formats and PLUGINS.md lists Eagle's plugins, which falcon does not have; Actions and Export in Format are built in. Back up a library before trying it, and don't edit the same library in two apps at once.
Falcon is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Eagle or its developers. "Eagle" is a trademark of its respective owner and appears here only to describe file-format compatibility.
License
Licensed under either of
at your option. Unless you explicitly state otherwise, any contribution you submit for inclusion in this work, as defined in the Apache-2.0 license, is dual licensed as above, without any additional terms or conditions.
