Research papers are much easier to read when the reader fits the way you work. I wanted a PDF reader that could eventually support bookmarks, notes, annotations, summaries, question answering, text-to-speech, and voice commands.
Rather than trying to write a complete PDF engine from scratch, I started with a small Python prototype. The goal was simple: learn each layer of the application properly, build a working foundation, and only then move toward a desktop application.
This article documents the first stage of that journey: an interactive PDF reader in Jupyter, local persistence for bookmarks and notes, a cleaner module structure, automated tests, and the lessons learned along the way.
The project goal
The long-term goal is a customizable desktop PDF reader for research reading. The eventual application may include:
