Developers
Refine developer resources
Build writing-host integrations for Refine, the private offline writing assistant for macOS.
Release candidate
Integration Protocol 1.0 is not final yet
The public protocol repository is an unreleased release candidate. Use it for evaluation and development, but do not claim final Protocol 1.0 compatibility until a v1.0.0 artifact is published.
Know the integration boundary
Use the protocol for
A writing-host client running as the same macOS user can connect to an already-running Refine app over its local Unix-domain socket. The client owns editor observation, presentation, and applying accepted changes.
Not a hosted developer service
Refine does not provide a public hosted REST API, OpenAPI document, developer webhooks, remote network transport, or MCP server. The website's internal API routes are not a public integration surface.
Protocol resources
Start with the overview, then use the normative specification and schemas as the source of truth.
- Repository overviewStatus, package contents, verification commands, and normative authority.Open resource
- Normative protocol specificationWire framing, discovery, handshake, state, ordering, recovery, security, and limits.Open resource
- JSON SchemasNormative shapes for descriptors, handshakes, envelopes, commands, events, and shared data.Open resource
- Conformance runnerOffline verification, client socket scenarios, and the production-server adapter contract.Open resource
- TypeScript reference clientA dependency-free, nonnormative transport-session example for Node.js 22.18 or newer.Open resource
Official Refine plugins
Use a first-party plugin when your writing host is already supported.