Everything you want to know
about Lekhanam

Lekhanam is a professional book writing studio built exclusively for macOS. It gives serious authors everything they need in one focused app — a full-featured writing environment, local AI assistance, offline voice dictation, a cover designer, iCloud sync, and professional PDF export.

Everything runs entirely on your Mac. No cloud processing, no account required, no one reading your drafts.

Lekhanam is available on the Mac App Store. Simply search for "Lekhanam" or click the download button on this page.

Download Lekhanam on the Mac App Store →

All your books, chapters, characters, and covers are stored locally in ~/Documents/Lekhanam/ by default. With iCloud Sync enabled, they move to your iCloud Drive for seamless multi-Mac access.

• books.json — your book index
• books/{bookId}/ — individual book data, characters, and chapters

You can view the current storage location in Settings → Storage at any time.

Lekhanam supports unlimited books, each completely independent. You switch between them using the book library on the home screen. Each book has its own chapters, characters, cover, snapshots, and word history.

Yes — Lekhanam auto-saves everything as you type. Chapter content is written to disk within 500ms of each keystroke. Plan data, notes, and summaries save automatically on any change.

A save status indicator (unsaved → saving → saved) is always visible in the chapter editor. You will never lose your work.

For the Mac App Store version, drag Lekhanam from /Applications to Trash. Your writing data in ~/Documents/Lekhanam/ is preserved — reinstall anytime and pick up where you left off.

Lekhanam runs its AI entirely on your Mac — no cloud, no accounts, no internet required. The model catalog includes:

• Lekha AI 2B (default, ~1.5 GB) — purpose-built for long-form fiction
• Qwen 2.5 Micro (1.5B) — lightest, quickest responses
• Qwen 2.5 Lite (3B) — balanced quality and speed
• Qwen 2.5 Standard (7B) — highest quality; best on 16 GB+ RAM
• Apple Intelligence (macOS 26+) — zero download, uses Apple's Neural Engine

Switch models anytime from the AI panel. Every model runs on Metal and never sends your writing anywhere.

Apple Intelligence (v1.5.0) is now a selectable AI model in Lekhanam — no model download required. It uses Apple's Foundation Models framework, which runs on the Neural Engine built into Apple Silicon.

Requirements: macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later. To use it: open the AI panel → Model → select Apple Intelligence. All AI features (Ghostwriter, Editor, Character Interview) work with it identically.

Ghostwriter turns your story beats into polished prose. Write your scene as bullet-point beats — who's present, what happens, what emotions are at play — then click Generate. The AI produces vivid, continuous prose from your notes.

You choose a writing style first: Cinematic, Introspective, Minimalist, or Poetic. The result is editable text you can copy or refine however you like.

Enable "Assist Writing" in the AI panel, then select any passage in your chapter. A floating menu appears with three choices:

• Expand — adds sensory detail and emotional depth
• Shorten — trims the passage to its essential meaning
• Sensory Boost — rewrites with vivid sight, sound, smell, texture, and temperature

The result can replace your selected text or be inserted at the cursor.

Character Interview lets you have a multi-turn conversation with any character in your book. The AI reads the character's full profile — psychology, ghost, lie, truth, voice patterns, and motivations — then responds in first person as that character. Great for discovering authentic voice before writing a scene.

Lekhanam's AI supports four writing styles, switchable at any time:

• Cinematic — visual precision, action beats, kinetic energy
• Introspective — character psychology, internal conflict, emotional nuance
• Minimalist — Hemingway-style brevity, iceberg theory
• Poetic — rich metaphor, sensory imagery, rhythmic cadence

Start with Lekha AI 2B — the default, tuned for writers, runs on any 8 GB+ Apple Silicon Mac. If you're on macOS 26, try Apple Intelligence — it requires no download and uses the Neural Engine so it doesn't compete with your RAM.

• Lekha AI 2B — 8 GB RAM, ~1.5 GB download, tuned for fiction
• Apple Intelligence — macOS 26+, zero download
• Qwen 2.5 Lite — 12 GB RAM, good quality-speed balance
• Qwen 2.5 Standard — 16 GB RAM, highest quality prose

No. Every AI model runs directly on your Mac. Once a model is downloaded, it works entirely offline. Apple Intelligence also runs on-device via Apple's Neural Engine. No data is ever sent to any external service.

Internet is only used for the initial one-time model download (not needed for Apple Intelligence).

When generating a full chapter, Lekhanam uses a three-phase pipeline:

1. Architect — reviews story context, checks character consistency, identifies beats
2. Ghostwriter — writes the actual prose in your chosen style
3. Editor — polishes the output, fixing weak constructions and pacing issues

• Lekha AI 2B — ~1.5 GB (default)
• Qwen 2.5 Micro — ~1 GB
• Qwen 2.5 Lite — ~2 GB
• Qwen 2.5 Standard — ~5 GB
• Apple Intelligence — 0 GB (built into macOS 26)

Remove any model from Settings → AI to reclaim disk space.

Each chapter has four dedicated tabs:

• Write — rich text editor with formatting, AI assist, voice input, and word count
• Plan — set a chapter goal, POV character, and story beats as a checkable list
• Notes — free-form research, reminders, and ideas
• Summary — a short chapter summary for quick reference

All four tabs auto-save as you type.

The editor supports full rich text formatting: headings (H1–H3), bold, italic, underline, bullet lists, numbered lists, blockquotes, tables, images, footnotes, and inline annotations. All formatting exports correctly to PDF, Word, and ePub.

Lekhanam includes fully offline voice dictation — no internet required, no audio ever leaves your Mac.

• Vosk — real-time interim transcription as you speak (words appear live)
• Whisper — high-accuracy final pass at the end

Tap the microphone button in any chapter tab and start speaking. Text inserts at your cursor position.

Lekhanam supports full book structure with three sections:

• Front Matter — Half Title, Title Page, Copyright, Dedication, Table of Contents
• Body — regular chapters and Part/Section breaks
• Back Matter — Appendix, Glossary, Bibliography, Index, Author Bio

The Table of Contents is auto-generated from your chapter list.

• List — all chapters with word count, status badges, drag-drop reorder
• Corkboard — visual index cards for planning scenes at a glance
• Outliner — nested tree of acts, sections, and chapters
• Read — continuous distraction-free prose reader; click any chapter title to jump to the editor

Yes. Press ⌘F inside any chapter for inline find. For global search across your entire book, use the Find & Replace button in the Chapters tab toolbar (⌘H).

Global Find & Replace shows which chapters contain your search term and lets you replace all occurrences at once — ideal for a character name change across a full manuscript.

Yes. Use Import DOCX in the Chapters tab toolbar. Lekhanam splits the file at Heading 1 boundaries into chapters and preserves rich formatting — bold, italic, tables, and images.

Snapshots are Lekhanam's version control. Save a named snapshot at any point — before a major rewrite, at the end of a draft, or when experimenting with alternate directions.

Preview every chapter inside any snapshot, restore it (reverts your entire book to that state), or delete it. Nothing is overwritten without confirmation.

Yes. From the Dashboard you can set daily, weekly, or monthly word count goals. A visual progress bar shows today's count vs. your target, and you can see the past 7 days at a glance. Word count is tracked live in the chapter editor.

Yes. Deleted chapters go to the book's local trash bin — nothing is permanently removed immediately. Open the Dashboard tab → Trash to restore any deleted chapter or character.

Focus Mode (⌘⇧F) hides the header, sidebar, and all panels so you see nothing but your writing. Combined with Typewriter Mode, the active line stays centred on screen and surrounding paragraphs dim. Press Escape to exit.

• Tables — insert from the toolbar, with full header row and cell editing
• Footnotes — numbered footnotes that export correctly to DOCX and PDF
• Annotations — inline comments highlighted in red, automatically stripped from exports

iCloud Sync (v1.5.0) moves your books to iCloud Drive, making them available on all your Macs signed in to the same Apple ID. Toggle it in Settings → iCloud Sync.

When two Macs edit the same book offline, Lekhanam detects conflicted copies and shows a review banner. You can keep the original, the conflicted version, or both.

Available only in the Mac App Store version.

Auto-save is enabled by default and can be toggled from the Dashboard. When on, chapter content, character profiles, and storyboard edits save automatically within 1 second of any change. A save status indicator is always visible in the editor toolbar.

• Basic — name, age, gender, hair colour, eye colour, skin tone, build
• Psychology — Ghost (core wound), Lie (false belief), Truth (where they're heading)
• Story role — motivation, stakes, role in the narrative
• Voice — speaking patterns, dialect, mannerisms, behavioural traits

The AI uses every detail in Character Interview to respond in that character's authentic voice.

• Ghost — the core wound that shaped who the character became; drives their fears
• Lie — the false belief they hold as a result (e.g. "I am unlovable")
• Truth — the realisation they need to reach by the end of their arc to grow

Filling these in makes Character Interview responses feel psychologically authentic rather than generic.

Yes — it's a multi-turn session. The AI maintains context across all messages so the character remembers what was said earlier. Clear the chat to start fresh, or Reset to switch to a different character.

There is no limit. Create as many characters as your story needs. Each book maintains its own independent character list.

Yes. The Characters tab has a search field that filters your cast by name in real time — useful for large ensembles.

Every chapter has a status badge visible on the Storyboard — click it to cycle through Draft, Revised, and Final. Colour-coded: amber for draft, blue for revised, green for final. Track your editing progress at a glance.

The built-in cover designer includes: front and back canvas with bleed and safe zone guides, text layers (font, size, colour, rotation), image layers with filters, background fills, rectangle shapes, full layer panel, zoom, snap-to-centre alignment, and undo/redo.

Export as 300 DPI PNG — print-ready for KDP, IngramSpark, or Lulu.

• PDF — fully typeset with front/back matter, page numbers, and your chosen font/margin settings (always free)
• Word (.docx) — compatible with Microsoft Word and Google Docs (Pro)
• ePub — reflowable ebook for Kindle, Apple Books, and Kobo (Pro)

All formats generated entirely on your Mac. Pro is currently free for early adopters.

A complete print-ready PDF including: front matter (title page, copyright, dedication, table of contents), all body chapters in sequence, back matter (appendix, glossary, author bio), automatic page numbering (Roman for front matter, Arabic for body), and optional running headers.

A print preview shows scaled page thumbnails before you export.

Yes. Use up/down arrows or drag-and-drop to reorder chapters in the Export tab. This order is used for the generated file and doesn't affect your main chapter list.

• Paperback — standard trade paperback dimensions
• Hardcover — slightly larger hardcover page size
• Ebook — reflowable digital format dimensions

Select the format from your book's Dashboard tab.

Yes. The Cover Designer renders at 300 DPI — the standard for professional print. The exported PNG includes bleed zones, ready to upload directly to KDP, IngramSpark, or Lulu.

The cover designer includes a curated selection suited to book covers: EB Garamond, Georgia, Times New Roman, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, Courier New, and Impact.

No. Your writing never leaves your Mac. All storage is local JSON files, every AI model runs on-device, and voice transcription is fully offline. Lekhanam collects no analytics, telemetry, or usage data. No account, no login, no internet required for any core feature.

When iCloud Sync is on, your books are stored in your personal iCloud Drive — not on Lekhanam's servers.

The AI only receives the context you explicitly provide for a given task — the beats in Ghostwriter, the selected text you want to expand, or the character profile for an interview. Your full manuscript is never bulk-sent to the model.

Either way, all AI runs on your Mac — nothing is transmitted to any external service.

Yes. Lekhanam supports Touch ID biometric locking. Enable it in Dashboard → Settings. The app requires your fingerprint before opening, keeping your drafts private on shared Macs.

Everything lives in ~/Documents/Lekhanam/ (or your iCloud Drive if sync is on). Back it up any way you like:

• Time Machine — automatically included since it's inside Documents
• iCloud Sync — enable in Settings for automatic multi-Mac sync and cloud backup
• Manual copy — duplicate the folder to an external drive

Yes. Lekhanam is signed with a Developer ID Application certificate and notarised by Apple. macOS Gatekeeper verifies the app before it runs — no "unidentified developer" warnings, and macOS confirms the app hasn't been tampered with.

Lekhanam Core (editor, AI, cover design, PDF export) is free.

Lekhanam Pro (Word and ePub export) is a one-time purchase of $9.99 — but during the early adopter period, Pro is completely free. No subscription, no recurring fees. Download now before the price goes up.

Early adopters get Lekhanam Pro free for life. That includes Word (.docx) and ePub export — normally $9.99 one-time. Download now from the Mac App Store while it's still free. The price will increase as we add more features.

Yes. Lekhanam is available on the Mac App Store. Search for "Lekhanam" or use the download button on our website. The App Store version also includes iCloud Sync, which requires the App Store distribution for entitlements.

Yes. Install on any Mac signed in to your Apple ID. With iCloud Sync enabled (Settings → iCloud Sync), your books automatically appear on all your Macs. No manual copying required.

Model files survive typical app updates. In rare cases where a model format changes significantly, a re-download may be needed — this would be clearly communicated in the release notes.

Lekhanam requires an Apple Silicon Mac (M1, M2, M3, or M4) running macOS 14 Sonoma or later. Intel Macs are not supported — Apple Silicon is required for Metal GPU acceleration that powers local AI and voice transcription.

8 GB minimum — enough for the default Lekha AI 2B model and Qwen Micro. 12 GB recommended for Qwen Lite, 16 GB+ for Qwen Standard (7B).

Writing, cover design, export, and all non-AI features run comfortably on 8 GB. The RAM requirement only matters for larger AI models.

Yes. Lekhanam is compatible with macOS 14 Sonoma, macOS 15 Sequoia, and macOS 26 Tahoe. All features work on all three. Apple Intelligence additionally requires macOS 26.

To run local AI models:

• Apple Silicon Mac (M1, M2, M3, or M4)
• macOS 14 Sonoma or later
• 8 GB RAM (minimum, for Lekha AI 2B and Qwen Micro)
• ~2 GB disk space for the default model

Apple Intelligence additionally requires macOS 26 — no download needed for it.

The Lekhanam app is under 200 MB. Books and covers are tiny — even large manuscripts rarely exceed a few hundred MB.

AI models are the largest files: Lekha AI 2B ~1.5 GB, Qwen Micro ~1 GB, Qwen Lite ~2 GB, Qwen Standard ~5 GB. Voice models (Vosk + Whisper) add ~1 GB. Delete any from Settings → AI to reclaim space.