✨ remagic

Make your reMarkable Paper Pro magical.

→ Visit the remagic website

Turn on developer mode, run one command, and you have the AppLoad launcher and a place to run your own apps — no terminal wrangling. Built to lower the barrier for builders and tinkerers. Open source, MIT licensed.

Works on the reMarkable Paper Pro (Ferrari / Chiappa / Tatsu — i.MX8MM, aarch64). Not for the reMarkable 1 or 2.

remagic is also the umbrella for a small family of apps that show what the tablet can do once it's opened up — see The remagic family below.

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Two steps

1. Turn on developer mode

This is the only manual part, and it erases the tablet (a reMarkable security requirement — no tool can skip it), so sync your notebooks to the cloud first. Full walkthrough:

→ docs/DEVELOPER-MODE.md

2. Run the installer

Plug the tablet in over USB and run one line — no git, no compiler, nothing else to install:

Linux / macOS

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/maximerivest/remagic/main/get.sh | sh

Windows (PowerShell)

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/maximerivest/remagic/main/get.ps1 | iex

This downloads the remagic CLI for your machine and runs remagic setup. The tablet is found automatically — USB or Wi-Fi, no address needed (use remagic -host <ip> setup to pick one explicitly).

Prefer the shell-script installer? (Linux/macOS, needs git + ssh)

git clone https://github.com/maximerivest/remagic
cd remagic
./install.sh                      # USB
RM_HOST=<tablet-ip> ./install.sh  # Wi-Fi

Setup:

1. Checks the connection and confirms it's a Paper Pro in developer mode.
2. Installs your SSH key — no more typing the device password.
3. Installs xovi + AppLoad from official upstream releases.
4. Sets up persistence via xovi-tripletap: triple-press the power button to toggle xovi on or off. Survives reboots, needs no computer, and can't bootloop you.
5. Installs the Store app, so from then on you can browse and install apps right on the tablet — no computer needed.

When it finishes, the AppLoad launcher appears on your tablet. You type the device password at most once: setup installs an SSH key (and generates one for you if you've never made one).

After a reMarkable OS update, just run remagic setup again.

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The remagic CLI

Beyond the installer there's a companion CLI — one static Go binary that makes the tablet feel like a normal, friendly device, over USB or Wi-Fi:

remagic setup                     # the whole install, one command
./remagic find                    # discovers tablets (USB + LAN scan)
./remagic doctor                  # health check: stack, SSH, battery, apps
./remagic key                     # passwordless SSH from then on
./remagic wifi on                 # after this, the cable is optional
./remagic install <app|./dir>     # catalog app or local folder → AppLoad
./remagic config <app>            # settings form in your browser + QR for phone
./remagic repair-ssh              # fixes the "connection reset" SSH wedge

Details: cli/README.md.

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Adding apps

Three ways, from easiest to most manual:

1. The Store, on the tablet. Install it once (remagic install store), then browse and install apps right on the device — no computer needed.

2. From your computer: remagic install <app> pulls a checksum-verified app from the catalog, or remagic install ./myapp pushes a local folder straight into AppLoad.

3. By hand: AppLoad apps live in /home/root/xovi/exthome/appload/<app>/. An "external" app (wrapping any aarch64 binary) needs just two files:

   myapp/
   ├── external.manifest.json
   └── icon.png
   

   {
     "name": "My App",
     "application": "myapp",
     "qtfb": true
   }

   Copy the folder over and tap Reload in AppLoad.

Building (or publishing) your own? The full app format — manifest fields, settings schemas, UI conventions, and remagic publish — is specified in docs/APP-SPEC.md.

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Turning it off

• Temporarily: triple-press the power button, or just reboot — you're back to stock reMarkable software instantly. Your apps stay installed.
• Fully: ssh <device> '/home/root/xovi/stock'.
• Back to a clean tablet: disable developer mode via reMarkable's recovery application (this factory-resets again).

Nothing here touches the bootloader or your encrypted data. It is designed to be safe and reversible.

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Advanced: autostart on every boot

By default xovi loads on a power-button triple-press (the safe, recommended way). If you want it to load automatically on every boot with no press, see scripts/99-advanced-autostart.sh — it installs a guarded systemd unit with a crash-loop safety net. It's riskier (upstream advises against naive autostart on the encrypted device), so it's opt-in and separate.

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How it works / layout

Path	What it is
install.sh	Top-level installer; runs the steps below in order.
scripts/lib.sh	Shared helpers: SSH wrappers, device detection, and persist_local_to_rootfs (the /etc-overlay persistence trick).
scripts/01-preflight.sh	Connection + developer-mode + model checks with friendly errors.
scripts/02-ssh-key.sh	Passwordless SSH setup (idempotent).
scripts/03-install-xovi.sh	Downloads and installs xovi + AppLoad + tripletap.
scripts/sources.env	Pinned upstream release URLs (one place to update versions).
scripts/99-advanced-autostart.sh	Optional unattended boot autostart.
get.sh / get.ps1	One-line bootstrap: download the prebuilt CLI, run remagic setup.
cli/	The remagic companion CLI (Go), including remagic setup (the pure-Go installer) and the on-device Store app (cli/store/).
catalog.json	The app catalog: pinned versions, URLs, and sha256 checksums. Feeds remagic install and the Store.
docs/DEVELOPER-MODE.md	The developer-mode walkthrough.
docs/APP-SPEC.md	The remagic app format: manifest, settings schemas, publishing.

Re-run remagic setup (or install.sh) after a reMarkable OS update to refresh the pieces an update can disturb.

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Troubleshooting

ssh/scp says kex_exchange_identification: read: Connection reset by peer. The SSH host-key mount on the tablet got knocked over (upstream tripletap's installer does this on the Paper Pro; the installer now repairs it automatically). One reboot of the tablet fixes it. Not to be confused with the normal ~20 s USB-network dropout whenever the reMarkable UI restarts — that one heals itself.

The tablet stops answering after a minute idle. It's asleep — e-ink devices sleep aggressively. Tap the power button and reconnect.

Wi-Fi ssh refused. The SSH over Wi-Fi toggle (Settings → General → Software → Advanced) resets with developer-mode/factory resets; USB (10.11.99.1) always works when the cable is in. Plug in once and run remagic wifi on to flip it back.

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The remagic family

Once your tablet is open, here's what we build on top of it — install any of them from the Store or with remagic install <app>.

• Chromium — a real browser on e-ink: on-device Chromium driven over CDP. Tap to click, swipe to scroll, type on the built-in keyboard, browse anywhere with the URL bar — ChatGPT-ready. (The app installs from the catalog; the ~830 MB engine installs once with the repo's bootstrap scripts.)
• Riddle — an enchanted diary. Write with the pen; after a pause the page drinks your ink and an answer writes itself back in a flowing hand. A magical blackboard, powered by an LLM.
• Store (in this repo, cli/store/) — browse and install apps right on the tablet, no computer needed.
• PaperTerm — a real terminal emulator with pixel-wise partial e-ink updates and an on-screen keyboard. A shell on your tablet.
• Quill — the low-level takeover display host the takeover apps stand on: it drives the e-ink panel directly through the vendor waveform engine for instant-ink latency. More a library than an app.

Building your own? These are worked examples of an AppLoad app, from a full takeover renderer (Quill/Riddle) to a windowed qtfb app (the Store, Paperterm). Start with docs/APP-SPEC.md.

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Credits

This kit stands on the work of the reMarkable modding community:

• xovi and rm-appload by asivery — the function-hooking loader and app host this kit installs.
• xovi-tripletap by rmitchellscott — the power-button persistence.
• vellum — a fuller package manager for the ecosystem, if you outgrow this kit.

remagic just wires these together into a one-command, beginner-friendly install. Please support the upstream projects.

License

MIT — see LICENSE. This installs third-party software under their own licenses; it does not redistribute reMarkable's proprietary components.

Disclaimer

Not affiliated with reMarkable. Developer mode and third-party software are used at your own risk. This kit avoids the bootloader and your encrypted data and is designed to be reversible, but you are responsible for your device.