Chytanka

Chytanka is a lightweight, privacy-friendly PWA for reading manga, comics, and visual stories — from online sources, your own server, or local files.

No accounts. No tracking. Just reading.

🚀 Get Started

👉 https://chytanka.ink

⚡ Why Chytanka?

• 🌍 Open anything — links, APIs, or local files
• 📂 No uploads — your files stay on your device
• 🧠 Smart behavior — auto-detect reading mode via tags
• 🎮 Gamepad ready — full control without mouse
• 🌓 Comfort first — night filter, fullscreen, responsive

🖼️ Preview

Features

🖥️ Read Episodes Online

Chytanka supports opening episodes from the following platforms:

• Blankary (image support has been discontinued)
• Comick (baned)
• Imgur
• Mangadex
• Nhentai
• Pixiv
• Reddit
• Telegra.ph
• Yande.re Pool
• Zenko
• ImageChest
• Bluesky

🌐 Custom JSON API

Chytanka can open episodes from any custom JSON API returning the following format:

{
"title": "Title of the episode",
"nsfw": false,
"images": [
  {
    "src": "full-link-to-image-1"
  },
  {
    "src": "full-link-to-image-2"
  },
  {
    "src": "full-link-to-image-n"
  }
]
}

📚 Create and Share Readlists

Compile a readlist using Chytanka Readlist Creator:

1. Paste supported links into the input field.
2. Edit titles (optional; automatic retrieval supported).
3. Generate and publish a JSON readlist on Rentry, Gist, or your server.
4. Use the generated link to start reading with your custom readlist.

📂 Open Local Files

Chytanka supports opening the following file formats from your device:

• ZIP/CBZ
• PDF
• MOBI
• DJVU
• RAR/CBR

📖 Three Reading Modes

1. Vertical: Perfect for webtoons.
2. Horizontal (RTL): Best for manga.
3. Horizontal (LTR): Ideal for comics.

🌓 Blue Light Filter

Read comfortably at night with Chytanka's built-in blue light filter.

📱 Responsive Viewing

• In horizontal mode with landscape orientation: view two pages side by side.
• In portrait orientation: view one page at a time.

🖥️ Fullscreen Mode

Immerse yourself in reading with a fullscreen option.

🕒 Viewing History

• Tracks history of supported links.
• File history support is planned.

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts

On the Start Page

• F1 — Open FAQ
• F2 — Open Settings
• Ctrl+H — Open History
• Ctrl+O — Open File

While Reading

• A, D, ArrowLeft, ArrowRight — Navigate pages in horizontal mode
• W, S, ArrowUp, ArrowDown — Navigate pages in vertical mode
• Ctrl+O — Open File
• Ctrl+E — Share (copy link or embed code)
• F — Toggle Fullscreen

🎮 Gamepad Support

Chytanka includes built-in support for gamepads (tested with PlayStation-style controllers). This allows full navigation and interaction without a mouse or keyboard.

Navigation & Scrolling

• ⬅️ L1 / D-Pad Left → Scroll left
• ➡️ R1 / D-Pad Right → Scroll right
• ⬆️ D-Pad Up → Scroll up
• ⬇️ D-Pad Down → Scroll down

Cursor & Interaction

• 🕹️ Left Stick → Move cursor
• 🕹️ Right Stick → Scroll (both X and Y axes)
• 🔘 Cross (✕) → Click / Select
• 🔘 Circle (○) → Escape (Cancel / Close dialog)

Actions

• 🔘 Square (□) → Toggle fullscreen
• 🔘 Triangle (△) → Toggle View Mode
• ☰ Options → Toggle overlay
• 📤 Share → Share (copy link or embed code)

Notes

• Gamepad support relies on the browser's Gamepad API.
• Button mapping may vary slightly between browsers.

🔞 NSFW Content Warning

If supported by the API, Chytanka warns users about NSFW content.

🏷️ Tags in Titles

Chytanka supports special tags inside file names or episode titles to automatically control viewer behavior.

Tags are parsed from the title and applied on load.

📌 Supported Tags

You can include any of the following words in the title:

rtl, ltr, ver, long, scroll, nsfw, sfw, color, bw, demo, extra

Example:

My Manga Vol.1 [rtl][nsfw]
Chapter 5 - [long][scroll]
Demo Episode [ltr]

🎯 What Tags Do

📖 View Mode

These tags control how pages are displayed:

Tag	Description	Mode
[rtl]	Right-to-left reading	1
[ltr]	Left-to-right reading	2
[ver]	Vertical / webtoon mode	3
[long]	Vertical / long strip	3
[scroll]	Vertical scrolling	3

If multiple tags are present, the first matched tag wins.

🔞 Content Flags

Tag	Effect
[nsfw]	Marks episode as NSFW
[sfw]	(Reserved / optional)

🎨 Additional Tags (for future use)

These tags are parsed but may be used later:

• [color] – colored pages
• [bw] – black & white
• [demo] – demo content
• [extra] – bonus materials

⚙️ How It Works

• Tags are case-insensitive
• Tags are detected as standalone words (e.g. rtl, not ultra)
• Parsed automatically from:
  • file name
  • episode title

💡 Example

Attack on Titan - Chapter 1 [rtl][nsfw].cbz

Result:

• View mode → Right-to-left
• NSFW flag → enabled

🧠 Notes

• Tags are processed on episode load
• They override default viewer settings
• Designed for compatibility with local files (.cbz, .zip) and remote sources

🖇️ Embed Chytanka on Your Website

You can embed Chytanka into your website and control it via postMessage.

Perfect for:

• manga sites
• blogs
• personal collections

Learn more in the Embedding Guide.

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🧠 Architecture

Explore the system design:

👉 docs/architecture/README.md

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🛠️ Development

Chytanka requires a proxy server for handling some external sources. Proxy repository: https://github.com/chytanka/proxy

⚠️ Important: Both Chytanka and the proxy must run on the same host.

▶️ Run locally on Windows

# Start proxy on the same host
set NODE_ENV=dev&& set HOST=192.168.0.0 && node index.js

# Start Chytanka app
ng serve --host 192.168.0.0

💡 Notes

• The proxy handles CORS and headers for external image sources.
• Make sure both services use the same host IP (e.g., 192.168.0.0).
• Adjust the host if your network requires a different local IP.

🧠 Why a Proxy?

• Bypasses CORS restrictions from image hosts
• Normalizes headers
• Ensures safe and consistent fetching of external content

🔗 Other Chytanka Projects

Chytanka is more than just a reader — it’s an ecosystem. Check out these companion projects:

Project	What it does	Repository
Meta Image Generator	Generates social preview images (meta tags) for episodes	chytanka-meta-image
Chytanka Helper	Browser extension: adds a button to open supported site links directly in Chytanka	chytanka-helper
Opera GX Theme	Custom theme for Opera GX tailored to Chytanka	chytanka-gx-mod
Chytanka Make	Create and edit CBZ files from images, reorder pages, add metadata	chytanka-make