Questions and answers
The things people ask before they try Cairn, answered in plain words.
What is Cairn, in plain words?
Cairn is your team’s handbook. It lets everyone search, read and write documentation pages that are kept as ordinary files in a shared folder you already have, such as a network drive. You use it in your normal web browser.
Is Cairn like a wiki?
A little. Like a wiki, Cairn gives your team pages that link to each other, with search and a page tree. The difference is that there is no website to run: the pages are plain Markdown files in a shared folder, and each person opens them with a small program on their own computer, even offline.
How is Cairn different from Word files on a shared drive?
Word files have to be opened one at a time, get locked while someone edits, and pile up as copies. Cairn lets you search every page at once, shows who is editing, keeps earlier versions, and keeps links working when pages move. Your pages stay on the same shared drive.
Do we need a server, accounts or the internet?
No server and no accounts. Each person runs a small program on their own computer and points it at the shared folder. It works fully offline: its fonts and scripts are built in, and the only thing it ever looks up online is a once-a-day check for a newer version, which you can switch off.
What happens to our pages if we stop using Cairn?
Nothing is lost. Your pages are plain Markdown text files, and your pictures are normal picture files, all in folders you control. If you stop using Cairn, your documentation is still just a folder.
Will it work with our shared drive?
It works on normal disks and on SMB2 or SMB3 network shares, which is what most office drives are. It is not safe for several editors on folders kept in OneDrive, Dropbox or Google Drive, or on some NAS devices. Cairn warns you when you open one of those.
What if two of us want to edit the same page?
One person edits at a time. Everyone else can keep reading and sees a note such as “Being edited by Alex since 2:30 PM”. If two sets of changes ever clash, Cairn shows both versions side by side instead of overwriting either.
What if I make a mistake or delete something?
Every page keeps its earlier versions, and you can restore one. Deleted pages and folders wait in Recently deleted. When you publish, Cairn shows what changed before anything goes live.
Why does Windows or my Mac warn me when I open it?
Cairn is free and open source, and its downloads are not signed with a paid certificate, so Windows SmartScreen and Mac Gatekeeper show a caution. On Windows choose More info, then Run anyway. On a Mac choose Open Anyway once, in System Settings. Each download also comes with a checksum and a signature file you can check.
Do I need administrator rights to install it?
No. The Windows installer installs just for you and does not ask for an administrator password.
Which computers does it run on?
Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit), Mac with macOS 11 or newer (Apple silicon and Intel), and 64-bit Linux. The Mac and Linux versions are new in version 1.0.
Can I bring in our existing Word documents?
Not automatically. Cairn does not import .docx files. Most teams start new pages in Cairn and move over the ones people use most.
Who can see our pages?
Cairn only opens on your own computer, at a private address that nobody else on the network can reach. Who can read or change the pages is decided by the shared folder’s own permissions, the same as any file on that drive.
How does it update?
It checks once a day for a new version and can install it for you, after checking its signature. You can turn the check off, and you can go back to the previous version. A copy that is run from a network drive does not update itself.
Is it really free?
Yes. Cairn is free and open source under the MIT licence, and the code is public on GitHub.
Where do I report a problem or ask for something?
On the Cairn project page on GitHub, under Issues. Security problems should be reported privately through the project’s security page.
Not here? Ask on GitHub.