Linkwarden is a self-hosted, open-source bookmark manager designed for individuals and teams who want to collect, organize, and preserve important web content beyond the fragility of live links. With link rot being a pervasive issue, Linkwarden automatically captures screenshots and PDFs of saved pages, ensuring long-term access to critical information. It blends the simplicity of read-it-later tools with the durability of web archiving, adding powerful annotation and collaboration features. Whether you’re a researcher saving academic papers, a developer collecting reference materials, or a team managing shared knowledge bases, Linkwarden provides a unified platform to curate digital resources with full fidelity and accessibility.
The application supports both cloud-hosted and self-hosted deployments, making it ideal for users who value data sovereignty or need enterprise-grade controls like SSO and user administration. With native mobile apps, browser extensions, and API access, Linkwarden integrates seamlessly into existing workflows while offering robust offline preservation capabilities.
What You Get
- Auto screenshot and PDF capture - Every saved link is automatically converted into a screenshot, PDF, and single HTML file to preserve content even if the original page goes offline.
- Reader view with annotations - Read saved pages in a distraction-free reader mode and highlight or add notes directly on the archived content.
- Wayback Machine integration - Optionally send saved links to archive.org for additional long-term archival through the Internet Archive.
- Local AI tagging - Automatically generate tags based on page content to improve searchability and organization without requiring external APIs.
- Collaborative collections - Share bookmark collections with team members and assign granular permissions to control who can view, edit, or manage content.
- Browser extension and Floccus sync - Save links directly from your browser with a one-click extension, or synchronize bookmarks using Floccus for cross-browser consistency.
- Mobile apps for iOS and Android - Native mobile applications allow saving and reading bookmarks on the go, with offline access to preserved content.
- Full-text search and filtering - Search saved links by title, tags, annotations, or content using advanced filters and sorting options.
- SSO integration - Enterprise and self-hosted users can enable SSO (SAML/OAuth) for centralized authentication and user management.
- RSS feed subscription - Subscribe to RSS feeds of your collections to stay updated on new additions without manual checks.
- Bulk actions and API access - Perform bulk edits, deletions, or imports via the web interface or programmatically using documented API keys.
- Image and PDF uploads - Upload local files directly into collections alongside web links for a unified knowledge repository.
- Custom icons and i18n support - Assign custom icons to links and collections, with full translation support for multiple languages via Crowdin.
Common Use Cases
- Building a research knowledge base - Academics and students save academic papers, blog posts, and news articles with annotations, ensuring references remain accessible even if journals paywall or remove content.
- Creating a team knowledge hub for engineering teams - DevOps and product teams use Linkwarden to centralize documentation, troubleshooting guides, and tool tutorials with annotations and versioned captures for onboarding and reference.
- Problem: Lost bookmarks after site shutdown → Solution: Linkwarden preserves snapshots - When a blog or tutorial disappears, users recover the exact content via saved PDFs and screenshots instead of broken links.
- Team workflow for content curators - Marketing teams collaborate on saving and tagging industry reports, competitor analyses, and campaign resources with shared collections and role-based permissions.
Under The Hood
Linkwarden is a modern, cross-platform link management solution designed for both web and mobile environments, offering a unified experience through shared components and state management. It emphasizes developer-friendly practices with a monorepo structure and modular architecture.
Architecture
Linkwarden follows a monorepo approach with distinct applications for web and mobile, enabling shared logic while maintaining platform-specific UIs.
- The project adopts a monolithic structure with separate web and mobile applications, each managing its own dependencies and UI components
- Module organization is well-defined with clear distinctions between core logic, UI components, and platform-specific implementations
- Design patterns such as component-based architecture and layout management are evident in both web and mobile applications
- Component interactions show a consistent pattern of centralized state management and shared libraries across platforms
Tech Stack
The project leverages a modern TypeScript-based stack focused on cross-platform development with React and React Native.
- Primary language and frameworks: Built with TypeScript, leveraging React for web and mobile interfaces, Next.js for the web frontend, and Expo for mobile development
- Key dependencies and libraries: Integrates a wide range of libraries including TanStack Query for data fetching, React Navigation for routing, Tailwind CSS with NativeWind for styling, and various UI components from Radix UI and Phosphor Icons
- Build/development tools: Utilizes Yarn for package management, Docker for containerization, and Next.js with Expo for streamlined builds and deployment
- Testing frameworks: Employs Playwright for end-to-end testing, Jest for unit testing, and includes linting with ESLint and formatting via Prettier
Code Quality
The codebase reflects a moderate level of quality with an emphasis on testing and error handling, although some technical debt persists.
- The project maintains a comprehensive test framework with extensive end-to-end and unit testing coverage
- Error handling is consistently applied across components and modules, improving robustness
- Code linting and formatting tools are configured to support consistent style and maintainability
- While the structure supports clean code practices, some areas show signs of technical debt that may impact long-term scalability
What Makes It Unique
Linkwarden distinguishes itself through its cross-platform design and integration of modern development patterns.
- Cross-platform consistency with shared components and state management between mobile (React Native) and web (Next.js) apps
- Innovative use of native UI libraries like Nativewind alongside web-first frameworks for a cohesive design system
- Emphasis on offline-first capabilities with query persistence and caching strategies that enhance usability in low-connectivity scenarios
- Developer-centric architecture that supports rapid iteration with EAS builds and modular component design