A community-driven document format. PDF evolved for the era of semantic meaning.

OpenSDL is an open-source specification for documents that are:

1. Semantic — Machine understands meaning (JSON structure)
2. Verifiable — Cryptographically signed, tamper-proof (Ed25519 + SHA256)
3. Portable — Works everywhere (web, mobile, desktop)
4. Auditable — Open format, no proprietary logic

1. SPEC.md — Full specification (what OpenSDL is)
2. GOVERNANCE.md — Community governance (how decisions are made)
3. ROADMAP.md — Path to W3C standard (where we're going)

git clone https://github.com/ydnAkif/opensdl.git
cd opensdl
npm run setup   # Installs dependencies for CLI and Viewer

Want to see it in action immediately?

npm run demo    # Launches the viewer locally

npm run init my-doc           # Create skeleton
npm run set-hash my-doc       # Compute SHA256
npm run sign my-doc           # Ed25519 signature
npm run pack my-doc out.sdl   # Create .sdl file

cd viewer && npm run dev
# Open http://localhost:5173
# Upload out.sdl
# Toggle "Start Edit Mode" to draw structure boxes directly on the document!

See the semantic structure inspection in real-time:

The OpenSDL Viewer rendering a document with pixel-perfect SVG fidelity.

The Inspector showing the connection between the visual element and its semantic JSON structure.

• cli/ — Signing, hashing, packing tools
• viewer/ — Web viewer (React + Vite)
• schema/ — JSON Schema for documents
• examples/ — Sample .sdl documents
• SPEC.md — Formal specification
• GOVERNANCE.md — Community decision-making
• ROADMAP.md — 2026-2028 standardization path

Document created
  ↓
SHA256(meta + structure + pages + assets) → contentHash
  ↓
Sign(contentHash) → Ed25519 signature → pubkey
  ↓
Reader verifies signature + hash
  ↓
✅ Document authentic & unchanged

• Specification: Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 (Applies to SPEC.md, schema/, rfc/, docs/)
• Code: Mozilla Public License 2.0 (MPL 2.0) (Applies to cli/, viewer/, examples/)

Open source, forever free.

1. Read SPEC.md (understand the vision)
2. Try it (create a test document)
3. File issues (questions, suggestions)
4. Propose RFC (see GOVERNANCE.md)
5. Implement (pick your language)
6. Evangelize (tell your network)

• v0.2 (now) → Spec + RFC process
• v0.3 (Q2 2026) → Rust + Python implementations
• v1.0 (Q4 2026) → W3C standardization candidate
• v1.1+ (2027+) → Collaboration, templates, multimedia

See ROADMAP.md for full details.