Local, private, lean software for going solo

Born out of frustration and need for a spreadsheet that was local, cross-platform, lightweight, and whose data was parsable. The same needs for a Typst editor with polytonic support soon followed. And so SoloGrove was conceived — and is provided freely for others who may have the same frustrations and needs.

Link one .sheet to another the way wikis link pages: wrap the file name in [[double brackets]] inside any formula.

When .sheet files and folders are moved, copied, or renamed inside SoloSheet, the program detects the change and updates the links automatically. When those same changes happen outside SoloSheet — in the file manager or shell — SoloSheet has no way to know what moved or where it went, so the links can't be repaired automatically. In those cases, repair the link manually.

No — by design. SoloSheet uses the JSON-based .sheet format only, with no proprietary or third-party format libraries. To move data between SoloSheet and other spreadsheet programs, use CSV import and export.

No — by design. Just as Markdown is simpler than Word, SoloSheet is simpler than Excel. If you use Markdown, you understand the trade-off: fewer features means simpler, faster, more portable, and future-proof. If you need pivot tables, macros, or million-row datasets, a traditional office suite will serve you better.

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight, human-readable way to structure and store data — the lingua franca of modern software. It maps directly onto the data it describes, with none of XML's tag soup, namespaces, or schema ceremony. That makes .sheet files smaller, easier to read, and trivially parsable by any script, program, or AI.

Under the hood a .sheet file is JSON — a custom structure optimized for spreadsheet data. A dedicated extension lets your OS open spreadsheets in SoloSheet without hijacking .json, which countless other programs already use for their own files.

Parsable means any program, script, or AI can access, analyze, and interpret the data. Lock-in is the opposite: data stored so that only the vendor's own program can reliably read it — keeping you tied to that vendor.

Nearly every mainstream spreadsheet format today — proprietary and open alike — is an XML blob: dozens of layered XML files zipped into a container. The open branch traces back to StarOffice, open-sourced in 2000, whose XML format grew into today's open-document standard; the proprietary formats wrap their own XML layers the same way. Proprietary or open, parsing an XML blob is a major challenge.

.sheet uses parsable JSON instead: one clean, readable, structured file — no XML, no lock-in, no ceremony.

Absolutely — .sheet files are just files — save them anywhere. SoloSheet opens and saves files in cloud folders synced to your computer (Nextcloud, Dropbox, Tresorit clients) and on network drives. SoloSheet doesn't do cloud sync itself — that's the local-first philosophy — but your files work with any cloud service you choose.

No — one user at a time. Storing a .sheet on a network drive does not make it simultaneously editable; editing simultaneously would risk data loss and file conflicts.

Any AI that can parse JSON: Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, Lumo, and more. Just upload your file — no libraries or setup needed.

No — by design. No SoloGrove product has AI built in. The choice to use AI is yours, with your AI. The .sheet format is AI-readable because it is structured JSON that any AI can natively parse — not because anything is built into it.

That's macOS, not SoloGrove. macOS protects user folders (Documents, Pictures, Downloads, Desktop) and requires your consent before any app touches them — even Apple's own programs ask the same. SoloGrove apps only ever read and write the files you open and save.

.sheet files are plain JSON — not encrypted by default. For sensitive data, use full-disk encryption (FileVault, BitLocker, LUKS) or an encrypted container (VeraCrypt).