The Daily Edit

Your world. Your paper.

A personal newspaper that brings together the news you follow, your inbox, calendar and markets. Cline reporters write from collected sources; an editor reviews, requests revisions and selects stories for publication. Your location, current activity and interests shape the paper’s name, priorities and pages.

Started at the Cline hackathon in San Francisco.

Features

• A complete newspaper: a front page and multiple inside pages, column layouts, photography, page navigation and an unfolded reading view.
• Your own editorial teams: built-in news, inbox, calendar and markets sections, plus custom teams following public YouTube channels or RSS/Atom feeds.
• Natural-language settings: describe what you want to read, how much space it deserves and when to update; review the editor’s proposed plan before applying it.
• Visible editorial work: open a story’s sources, reporter drafts, editor decisions and revisions. Related reading connects supporting sources and nearby topics.
• Personal context: issue names and editorial priorities use the context you provide. Keep a name, edit it manually or let the editor update it when your context changes.
• Gmail and calendars: read selected Gmail messages and Google Calendar or synced iCloud events. Calendar pages can calculate Apple Maps routes and suggested departure times.
• Saved editions: reopen a published paper with its original name, date, timezone, articles, sources, layout and available local images.
• Translation and export: English by default, on-demand Korean article translation, full-edition printing and individual page PNG capture.
• Scheduled and partial updates: refresh enabled sources on your schedule, update prices independently and retain the last successful content when a source fails.

Requirements

• Node.js 24 is recommended (minimum 24) with npm, plus Git to clone the repository. A .nvmrc is included for Node version managers. Without a version manager, install Node 24 from nodejs.org and confirm node --version in your terminal.
• Cline CLI 3.0.73, signed in to the Cline provider with a model configured and available credits. This integration uses its bundled ClineCore 0.0.95. A ChatGPT login alone does not configure the app’s current adapter.
• macOS 14+ and Xcode Command Line Tools for the optional iCloud Calendar and Apple Maps helpers. The full application has been verified on macOS; other platforms have not been verified end to end.

Run locally

Clone the repository and enter the project directory. With nvm, run nvm install and nvm use after cloning to select the included Node version.

git clone https://github.com/mansuiki/TheDailyEdit.git
cd TheDailyEdit
npm ci
npm install -g cline@3.0.73  # Skip if already installed at this version
cline auth                  # Choose Cline, sign in, and configure a model
npm run doctor              # Check local prerequisites without using model credits
npm run dev

Open http://127.0.0.1:4310. A fresh checkout starts with no personal data or published issues.

The CLI and the app must run as the same operating-system user so they share the Cline sign-in. Each new user needs their own Cline account/model setup and credits; the repository contains no credentials or connected accounts. A successful doctor check confirms local configuration, not token validity or credit balance. If global npm installation reports a permissions error, use a user-owned Node installation such as nvm and retry without sudo.

1. Your world: enter your location, activity, interests and edition timezone.
2. Your pages: choose the sections and page counts. The starter paper has Technology and World, with three pages including the cover.
3. Your accounts: optionally connect Gmail and a calendar. Connecting an account includes its page; you can turn that page off before publishing.
4. To the presses: review the plan and select Publish my first edition.

Automatic updates start disabled. Account status checks do not read messages or events; collection starts when you publish enabled pages. Selected email/calendar excerpts are sent to your configured Cline model to write those stories.

For a production build on your computer:

npm run build
npm start

Stop the development server with Ctrl+C before starting the production server on the same port. If you want both at once, create .env from .env.example, change PORT for one checkout and open the address printed by that server. A missing .env notice is normal when using defaults.

Optional services

The app starts without a .env file. Copy .env.example to .env only if you need custom configuration; preserve an existing file.

Variable	Purpose	Default
PORT	Local HTTP port	4310
CLINE_BIN	Absolute path to the Cline executable	Find cline on PATH
NEWSROOM_DATA_DIR	Edition database and archive asset directory	.data
NEWSROOM_PREVIEW_PORT	Port for a separate empty-workspace preview	4311
PARALLEL_API_KEY	Authenticated public-page extraction and image search	Anonymous extraction fallback; image search disabled
FINNHUB_API_KEY	Stock quotes through Finnhub	Yahoo Finance quotes

Keys stay on the server. Do not use VITE_* variables for credentials. Gmail and Google Calendar use Cline’s Composio connection; no separate Composio key is configured in this app.

For iCloud and Apple Maps, build the optional native helpers once on your Mac:

npm run calendar:setup
npm run maps:setup

If the Swift compiler is missing, install Xcode Command Line Tools with xcode-select --install and finish that installation before building the helpers.

Gmail and Google Calendar

In Your accounts, select Connect Gmail, or choose Google Calendar and connect it. Follow Continue with Google, approve access in Google's sign-in flow, then return and select I've approved access — check again. Review the included pages before publishing. If already connected, select Use Gmail or the corresponding calendar action.

For an existing newspaper, use Settings → Connected services → Connect account, then Check after authorization. Enable Your Inbox or Your Week in the page plan, save preferences and publish.

iCloud Calendar and Apple Maps

Enable iCloud Calendars on your Mac and confirm the events appear in Apple Calendar. After building the helper, choose iCloud · Apple Calendar on this Mac in Your accounts, select Connect iCloud Calendar and approve the native macOS permission prompt. Return and check access again, then publish with Your Week included.

Apple requires full calendar access to read events; the helper implements reads only. It recognizes synced accounts named iCloud or 아이클라우드. An existing approved helper can be reused. Its legacy name, Daily Me Calendar, is intentionally retained to preserve authorization. Do not rebuild it merely because the service name changed. Permissions can be managed in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Calendars.

After building the maps helper, select an event in Your Week, enter a starting location and choose Calculate with Apple Maps. An event location supplies the destination when available. Apple receives the route locations, mode and appointment time, not email text or event titles. Maps use entered locations rather than device geolocation, and current route estimates are disabled in archived editions.

Commands

Command	Purpose
npm run dev	Start the Express + Vite development server
npm test	Run isolated tests without network or model calls
npm run doctor	Check local Node/Cline setup and optional helper availability without network or model calls
npm run build	Build the browser app into dist/
npm start	Serve the production build and API locally; build first
npm run preview:fresh	Build and serve a separate empty workspace on port 4311
npm run preflight	Check public feeds, connector status and a short paid Cline call
npm run calendar:setup	Build the optional macOS EventKit helper
npm run maps:setup	Build the optional macOS MapKit helper

Stop the server with Ctrl+C. Restarting preserves preferences, connections and editions. Scheduling runs only while the server is running and the computer is awake. preview:fresh creates a new .data/previews/first-run-* directory without clearing the main newspaper; it reuses this machine’s Cline login and native helpers.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to check
Node cannot load node:sqlite	Run node --version and use Node 24+ in the same terminal as the server
Cline installation or model not found	Run npm run doctor, check cline --version, use CLI 3.0.73, and run cline auth with the Cline provider and a configured model; set CLINE_BIN if needed
Production build not found	Run npm run build before npm start
Port already in use	Stop the previous server or set a different PORT in .env; for a fresh preview, set NEWSROOM_PREVIEW_PORT
Google access pending or expired	Reconnect through the account card, complete sign-in and check authorization again
iCloud not configured, denied or empty	Build the helper, check macOS Calendar permissions and confirm the iCloud account is synced in Apple Calendar
Publication fails	Review the displayed error and Newsroom status; check Cline login/credits and retry. Use Finish incomplete pages for failed page assignments
Optional source unavailable	Check its key or source status; other available sources remain usable

npm run preflight makes real network requests and a small Cline model call. It checks connector status without reading email or calendar content; it does not check the native iCloud helper.

Sources and limits

Section	Data collected per refresh
News	Up to 36 Hacker News items, 36 Google News headlines and 12 BBC items per enabled World/Business/Science/Culture section
Custom follows	Up to 12 entries per public YouTube or RSS/Atom source
Inbox	Up to 12 Gmail inbox messages from the last 3 days
Calendar	Up to 30 events from the selected calendar source over the next 7 days
Markets	Coinbase crypto spot prices; Yahoo Finance or optional Finnhub stock quotes
Images	Publisher Open Graph images and optional Parallel Image Search for public stories

YouTube sources provide public titles, descriptions, links and dates, not video transcripts. Google News supplies regional headlines, not a private Google feed. Missing sources do not generate invented personal content. Prices can be delayed; published articles retain their price snapshots while the current quote strip updates separately.

A paper supports up to 20 inside pages, four pages per section and six custom sections with up to five sources each. Each inside page can contain up to three edited stories. Collected evidence stays available in the source register even when it is not featured in an article.

Storage and privacy

The application is a local, single-user service bound to 127.0.0.1. It has no public-server authentication or multi-user isolation.

Local state is stored in .data/newsroom.sqlite, with archive assets under .data/publication-assets/. Published issues are immutable snapshots, separate from the last 20 internal desk checkpoints; saved issues are not automatically pruned. Current preferences, live news and current travel estimates do not overwrite past editions.

.data/, .env, .runtime/, node_modules/ and dist/ are excluded from Git. Cline keeps its own credentials and model session records. Necessary personal excerpts and requested translations go to the configured Cline model provider. Private evidence is not sent to Parallel or public image search. Gmail and calendar tools are restricted to reads.

Keep the existing database, credentials and native helper when updating. The package name is the-daily-edit; legacy runtime identifiers remain compatible with existing accounts and saved papers.

Development

The stack is React + Vite, Express, Node’s built-in SQLite, and ClineCore. The app owns collection, scheduling, validation and publication; reporters and editors run in isolated Node processes with tools and plugins disabled.

Path	Responsibility
src/	Newspaper reader, setup, settings, archive and newsroom UI
src/typography.css	Instrument Serif title styling
server/	API, source collection, Cline calls, editorial workflow and storage
shared/	Page budgets, date/context rules and onboarding logic
native/, scripts/	macOS helpers, preflight and fresh-workspace preview
tests/	Isolated tests with temporary stores and stubbed model calls
public/fonts/	Self-hosted fonts and their licenses

Titles use Instrument Serif Regular, 400, with font-synthesis: none and a subtle 0.2px text stroke. Page and paper backgrounds are #FDFDFC; title ink is #0D0D0D. Body and interface fonts retain their separate roles. The layout uses newspaper columns and ObsidianUI controls.

License

Project code is MIT licensed. Component and font attribution, including the Instrument Serif OFL license, is preserved in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md. Publisher articles and images remain attributable to their sources.