WordCraft for Mac is one app for both Apple silicon and Intel Macs. Download the disk image (.dmg) above, drag WordCraft into Applications and open it.
What you need
- macOS 11 Big Sur or later. The 0.7.0 app declares macOS 11 as its minimum version.
- Any Apple silicon or Intel Mac. The app is universal: it contains native code for both kinds of processor.
Install
- Download the
.dmgfile from the table above. - Open it. In the window that appears, drag the WordCraft icon onto the Applications folder.
- Eject the WordCraft disk in the Finder sidebar. You can delete the .dmg afterwards.
- Open WordCraft from Applications or Launchpad. The first time, macOS says the app was downloaded from the internet and asks whether to open it. Click Open.
Check that it’s the official app
The app is signed with the Apple Developer ID of Learning Machines LLC (team ID DJ6XS33FX8) and notarized by Apple, so macOS opens it without extra steps. We checked both the 0.7.0 disk image and the app inside it with Apple’s codesign and spctl tools. To check your copy, run this in Terminal:
spctl -a -vv /Applications/WordCraft.app
The answer should say accepted, source=Notarized Developer ID and origin=Developer ID Application: Learning Machines LLC (DJ6XS33FX8).
If macOS instead says the app is damaged, or that it can’t check the app for malicious software, don’t work around the warning. Your copy isn’t the notarized official build, or the download was corrupted. Delete it and download it again from the official release. Is WordCraft safe? explains the other checks.
Open .docx files with WordCraft
WordCraft registers as an alternative app for Word documents and templates (.docx, .dotx, .doc), OpenDocument text (.odt), RTF, Markdown, HTML and plain text, so it appears under Open With in Finder. It doesn’t make itself the default.
To make WordCraft the default for all .docx files, select one in Finder, choose File → Get Info, pick WordCraft under Open with and click Change All.
The command-line tool
The second file, the command-line tool, holds wordcraft-cli for converting and inspecting documents in Terminal. It is signed and notarized too. You only need it for scripts or AI agents. To try it:
unzip wordcraft-cli-0.7.0-macos-universal.zip
cd wordcraft-cli-0.7.0-macos-universal
./wordcraft-cli convert report.docx report.pdf
It converts between .docx, PDF, .odt, .rtf, HTML, Markdown, LaTeX, plain text and PNG page images.
Where settings and logs are kept
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| Settings | ~/Library/Application Support/WordCraft |
| Log file | ~/Library/Application Support/WordCraft/logs/wordcraft.log |
In Finder, choose Go → Go to Folder and paste the path. The log file is what to attach to a bug report, and it never contains the text of your documents.
Uninstall
Drag WordCraft from Applications to the Trash. To remove your settings and logs as well, delete ~/Library/Application Support/WordCraft.
Updating
Download the new .dmg and drag WordCraft into Applications again. When Finder asks, choose Replace. Your settings stay where they are.
If something goes wrong
The WordCraft README doesn’t list Mac-specific start-up problems. If WordCraft crashes or behaves oddly, report it on GitHub Issues and attach the log file.
Before you rely on it
WordCraft is alpha software. Its developers estimate it is about 60% of the way to replacing Word for real work, and crashes and freezes reported by users are high on their own list of gaps. Keep copies of important documents, and check a file in Word or another app before you send it. The features page lists what isn’t supported yet.