Releases

What's new

A new version of Rhetoric ships every Wednesday. You can find the full list of changes here.

1.6.1

Link to this release
May 28, 2026
  • Calibri is now supported as a font. Documents using Calibri will render correctly, substituting the metrically-compatible Carlito font.
  • TIFF images are now supported when inserting images into a document.
  • Form field controls (plain text) are now imported from Word documents.
  • Highlights are now imported from Word documents, translated to background color on the relevant text.
  • The document font is now used as the default when no explicit font is set in a paragraph.
  • Dark mode now correctly applies separate themes to document content and the application chrome, improving contrast and consistency.
  • Inserting a citation or other element at the start of a paragraph via slash command now works correctly.
  • Cursor placement during paragraph deletion and at the end of pages has been refined to prevent duplicate or incorrect positions.
  • Clicking near a node no longer selects it unless the click lands within the node’s bounds.
  • Headers that exceed the top margin now correctly adjust the content area below them.

1.6.0

Link to this release
May 27, 2026
  • Double-clicking a word now selects it.
  • Triple-clicking selects the entire paragraph.
  • Citations that reference a source that does not exist are now flagged with a visual indicator.
  • The toolbar now accurately reflects the style of the current selection. When the selection spans text with mixed values for a given property, the toolbar shows a mixed state rather than an incorrect single value.

1.5.0

Link to this release
May 20, 2026
  • Added keyboard shortcuts for common editor actions: new document, close document, rename, search, settings, print, and quit. Shortcuts are context-aware and will not fire when typing in dialogs or other input fields.
  • Tab now indents the current paragraph. You can also navigate to the start and end of the current line using keyboard shortcuts.
  • Added floating images: images can now be positioned inline or set to float with text wrapping around them.
  • Added date and time fields. Insert a date or time into your document and click it to change the display format.
  • Added header and footer controls for multi-section documents: link to previous, different first page, and page number start.
  • Significantly improved Word import fidelity: named text styles, default paragraph styles, default tab stops, paragraph indents in table cells, and padded Arabic list markers now all import correctly.
  • The cursor now scales correctly on high-DPI displays.

1.4.0

Link to this release
April 29, 2026
  • Added support for tables, including customizable borders, margins, alignment, and column widths. The table launch includes support for import from and export to Word and export to PDF.
  • Named styles (e.g. Normal, Heading 1) and document-level defaults from Word are now applied on import, improving visual accuracy.
  • Whitespace is now preserved correctly when importing Word documents.
  • Hovering over a placeholder or short-form citation now shows a tooltip with the full citation details.
  • Fixed bug on macOS which prevented Cmd+A and Cmd+U keyboard shortcuts from firing when the document canvas was focused.

1.3.0

Link to this release
April 22, 2026

  • Added image support for documents.

  • Added support for printing directly from the editor.

  • Added the ability to tag paragraphs as headings.

  • Added outline view panel with for navigating document headings.

  • Added the citation menu: type / to insert existing citations from a searchable palette, including id. to refer to the previous citation.

  • Added placeholder citations; placeholder citations are shown with an amber visual treatment to distinguish them from resolved ones.

  • Added paragraph placement settings: keep lines together, keep with next, widow/orphan control, and page break before.

  • Set default line spacing to 1.15 to match Word’s default.

  • Improved text justification by ignoring trailing spaces on justified lines.

  • Added kerning for character pairs.

1.2.1

Link to this release
April 14, 2026
  • Fixed empty paragraph and text node handling on Word import.
  • Made the save shortcut cross-platform.

1.2.0

Link to this release
April 13, 2026
  • Added import from Word (.docx) with support for run styles, breaks, links, lists, headers, and footers.
  • Added button to duplicate a document.
  • Added settings dialog with theme control.
  • Added print color setting.
  • Spacing and margins are now preserved on Word import.
  • Added baseline offset support on Word import and export.

1.1.3

Link to this release
April 7, 2026
  • Applied smart quotes to case names, parentheticals, and case source.
  • Added download page to the website.

1.0.0

Link to this release
April 3, 2026
  • Added workspace sidebar with document management.
  • Switched to cloud save and load.
  • Added user authentication.
  • Added invite-only access.
  • Added citation short form and id. at form.
  • Citations now automatically use the correct form.
  • Added case name abbreviations and geographical term abbreviations to citation resolution.
  • Added page range elision.
  • Added support for multiple citation sources, including reporter.
  • Added citation signals.
  • Added disposition to citations.
  • Added controls to jump to a pinpoint from case preview.
  • Added rich text copy and paste.
  • Added drag-to-resize sidebar.
  • Redesigned search modal and simplified sidebar.
  • Text style is now preserved when splitting a paragraph.
  • Cursor now scrolls into view automatically.
  • Made keyboard shortcuts case-insensitive and cross-platform.

1.1.0

Link to this release
April 3, 2026
  • Added in-app update notifications.
  • Added automatic updates.
  • Made app download available from the website.

0.8.0

Link to this release
February 17, 2026
  • Added headers and footers with Word export support.
  • Added option to use a different first-page header and footer.
  • Added page numbers with format control and Word export support.
  • Added small caps with PDF and Word export support.
  • Added page breaks with Word export support.
  • Added indent controls and first-line indent.
  • Added zoom controls with keyboard shortcuts.
  • Added lists with multiple marker types, levels, and Word export support.
  • Added support for multiple layout sections.

0.7.0

Link to this release
February 6, 2026
  • Added insert symbol menu.
  • Added parenthetical support for citations.
  • Added predefined court options for citation entry.
  • Case preview now shows multiple opinions when available.
  • Fixed a bug in insert citation.

0.6.1

Link to this release
February 3, 2026
  • Added court name and case citation to case preview.
  • Added loading and error states to case preview.
  • Added controls to add citations to an existing group.
  • Added visual cue to distinguish adjacent citation groups.
  • Added support for merging and splitting citation groups.
  • Cursor now moves to the newly inserted citation automatically.

0.6.0

Link to this release
January 30, 2026
  • Added live case preview powered by CourtListener.
  • Added controls to copy citation text.
  • Added support for inserting and deleting citation groups.
  • Cursor now changes to a pointer when hovering over a citation.
  • Added special styling for citation sentences.
  • Improved rendering sharpness on high-DPI displays.
  • Added direct lateral scroll.

0.5.0

Link to this release
January 9, 2026
  • Added hyperlink support: insert, remove, update, and split.
  • Added link support to PDF and Word export.
  • Fixed link style bleeding when inserting text adjacent to a link.

0.4.0

Link to this release
December 21, 2025
  • Added blinking cursor that hides when the editor loses focus.
  • Added Save As.
  • Added dark mode with theme-aware text decorations.
  • Improved layout performance.
  • Fixed line spacing in Word export.
  • Fixed delete forward and copy off character boundary.

0.3.2

Link to this release
November 27, 2025
  • Redesigned app entry point, crash reporter, watermark, and version tag.
  • Added menubar actions.
  • Documents are now stored in an archive format with metadata.

0.3.1

Link to this release
November 24, 2025
  • Added case preview tab for citations.
  • Added context menu for citations.
  • Added cut, copy, and paste.
  • Improved PDF export with text decoration and dynamic font support.
  • Exported files now open automatically in external apps.
  • Added crash reporter.

0.2.0

Link to this release
November 13, 2025
  • Added app version display.
  • Added vertical and horizontal scrollbars and multi-page rendering with consistent spacing.
  • Added controls for page size and orientation.
  • Added export to Word (.docx) with support for citations, multiple sections, hard breaks, whitespace preservation, and background color.
  • Added export to PDF.
  • Improved rendering performance with glyph caching and background thread rendering.
  • Added paragraph alignment (left, center, right, justify), line spacing, and spacing before and after.
  • Added unicode support.
  • Added bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, and text color.
  • Added select all, cut, copy, and soft break support.
  • Added keyboard navigation across lines and mouse selection.
  • Added citation framework with blended citation styling.
  • Added undo/redo history.
  • Added save shortcut and save-before-close prompt.
  • Added font size control and word-aware line wrapping.