NEO is a purpose-built novel-writing app that runs entirely on your machine and stores books as plain, readable files in ~/Documents/NEO Library (one folder per book, chapters as HTML, metadata as JSON). The interface presents your projects as a bookshelf with labeled shelves and progress bars, and the editor shows a single page with minimal chrome, dark mode, automatic curly quotes and em dashes, drop caps at chapter openings, and automatic renumbering of chapters. Installers are distributed as a macOS .dmg and a Windows .exe (Windows build is less tested and may trigger Defender quarantine), the project has 114 stars and 4 forks, and the app is free under the MIT license.
NEO focuses on keeping writers in flow with workflow features tuned for books rather than short-form content: one Enter makes a paragraph, two create a section break, three start a new chapter; a Darlings tab stores excised passages and can restore them to their original spot; ⌘⇧X inserts placeholders and sticky notes; an Outline tab turns outlines into ghost paragraphs inside the manuscript. Productivity tools include daily word goals, word sprints, and a NaNoWriMo-style progress chart. Real export options cover EPUB 3 with KDP-friendly TOC, .docx, PDF, HTML, Markdown, and plain text; import supports .docx, .md, and .txt but imports are described as rough and better suited for new projects.
The app is deliberately simple under the hood: an Electron shell with main.js, preload.js, and a single-file renderer (app.js, styles.css, index.html). Building from source requires Node.js; the minimal developer flow is git clone, npm install, npm start, and packaging uses electron-builder with npm run package targets for macOS and Windows. Safety features include continuous autosave and daily zip backups kept for two weeks; you can put the library on iCloud if desired. Tradeoffs are explicit: NEO is opinionated by design and avoids Scrivener-level complexity, imports need work, Windows is less tested, and several roadmap items (chapter version history, auto-generated covers, submission tracking) remain aspirational.
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