New in DEVONthink 4

Our new generation of DEVONthink is more modern, smarter, and packed with many new features. Here’s a brief overview of the key improvements.

DEVONthink 4 includes a wide range of new features, including support for generative AI models, automatic versioning, and audit-proof databases. At the same time, we have improved and expanded DEVONthink’s core areas, such as the text editors, the web interface and functionality of DEVONthink Server, the automation capabilities, and the features for building your own personal wiki.

AI Included

The chat assistant, available as a popover or inspector, analyzes selected documents or texts, allows you to interactively work with text, or performs actions. The use of generative AI is optional and supports numerous models such as ChatGPT, Claude or Mistral AI, as well as locally installed models via e.g. Ollama or LM Studio for privacy.


Working with content	Summarize content of any kind from text to images, web pages, PDFs, and more, as text, bullet points, key points, or a table.
Working with text	Transform text with a single click — friendly, professional, or concise.
Tagging	Visualize and choose your tags or let AI add them automatically.
Generating images	Create images matching your materials via popular models such as Dall-E, Flux, or Stable Diffusion.
Capturing text	Let DEVONthink recognize text and handwritten notes in images and extract speech from audio and video files.
Search	Write questions in natural language. The search assistant converts them to valid search queries.
Search	The chat assistant can also search your databases or online, including PubMed or Wikipedia.

Versioning & Archiving

For changes to documents, such as text documents or PDFs, DEVONthink can automatically create versions that you can return to later if necessary. You can set how many versions it should keep, how much space they may use, and how long before DEVONthink removes them.


Archiving	Audit-proof databases restrict editing of documents and log deletions. Suitable for financial documents or other documents with special requirements for audit safety.
Archiving	Convert documents to PDF/A-2u (ISO 19005-2), particularly useful for archiving and audit-proof storage.

Working with Documents


Working with text	Edit Markdown documents with the improved WYSIWYG editor, which now supports links and images, improved spacing, and live scrolling.
Working with text	Use alternate link descriptions in Markdown documents.
Working with text	Stay focused with typewriter mode. The line you’re writing on always remains in the middle of the window.
Working with text	Convert Markdown, EPUB, and web documents (e.g. formatted notes) to other formats with improved conversion methods.
Working with documents	Navigate your PDF, RTF, Markdown and web documents with a table of contents. It’s even editable for non-web formats and allows, e.g., adding bookmarks to PDF pages.
Working with email	Import email attachments with a dedicated tool or smart rule action.

Searching, Linking, Exploring


Search	Similar to Apple’s Live Text, DEVONthink makes your PDFs searchable, without requiring OCR.
Search	On request, DEVONthink uses contextually similar words when searching.
Link	Directly link to sections in other documents.
Link	Quickly create a cross-link by simply typing `>>` followed by the first letter of the name of another document. DEVONthink suggests possible matches.
Explore	Study the connections between documents with the new interactive Graph inspector.

Automating


Actions	Use AI in smart rules and batch processing using new actions and conditions. Ask the AI via prompts with placeholders and use the result to control further processing.
Actions	New actions and placeholders further extend your automation options.
Batch processing	Don’t lose your frequently used actions. Save them as reusable configurations.
Rules	Let new triggers summon your smart rules.
Placeholders	Powerful automations are possible with new AI-driven placeholders that analyze documents and return the results in easy-to-use form.
Scripts	The modernized AppleScript support moves DEVONthink’s automation architecture to a future-proof technical foundation with improved documentation and new commands.
Scripts	Install popular AppleScript libraries from Late Night Software and use their capabilities in your own scripts.

DEVONthink Server

Give controlled access to your databases, even to those on other platforms. Use dark mode, navigate by keyboard. With a newly refined interface, working with shared databases is faster and easier than ever before.


Security	Close inactive sessions after an adjustable time.
Stability	Significantly improved stability, e.g. when navigating through lists with extremely large number of documents.

General Improvements


Help	New, fully integrated help with optional AI integration. Chat with the help and let it interactively show you solutions to your questions. The search supports wildcards and operators now too.
User Interface	More consistent icons and revised inspectors.
User Interface	Navigate more comfortably with the extended path bar.
User Interface	Organize smart groups, smart rules, and favorites into groups.
User Interface	Detach popovers and keep them always at hand.
Reminders	Never miss a reminder again. DEVONthink automatically starts itself one minute before a reminder is due, if necessary.