TDF
1.0
Research
The Apollo Program
A new medium · TDF 1.0
The web,
kept whole.
A TDF is to dynamic web content what a PDF is to documents—one portable collection you can open, explore, annotate, and share after the live pages change.
- Free Player
- Local-first
- macOS · Windows · Linux
Tree Player
Offline
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Apollo 11
A captured page, preserved with its structure and resources.
01
BOOKMARKS POINT
PDFs FLATTEN
TDF KEEPS THE EXPERIENCE
01 · What is TDF?
A TDF is to dynamic web content
what a PDF is to documents.
It turns a collection of web pages into one document-like artifact: portable, structured, and made to be opened again.
Instead of handing someone a folder of screenshots or a list of links, you hand them a collection they can navigate. The free Player opens it locally. The Grower creates it from the browser session you already use.
Preserve
Keep the page you saw, not merely the address where it used to live.
Explore
Open a collection like a publication and move through its pages naturally.
Curate
Organize sources, add context, and make a body of research intelligible.
Share
Send one portable archive that works without a hosted collection service.
02 · Why it exists
Links are promises.
Documents are possessions.
The live web is excellent at changing. It is less excellent at remembering what mattered to you.
Link rot
A bookmark only works while the destination survives and remains recognizable.
Disappearing content
Pages are edited, paywalled, redesigned, moved, and removed without notice.
Scattered bookmarks
Saved links accumulate. Collections add order, intent, and a reason to return.
Research handoff
Give collaborators the source material behind the conclusion, not a brittle list.
Authenticated context
Capture the pages available in your browser, while keeping the resulting archive local.
Curated knowledge
Turn a trail of web pages into a deliberate, annotated digital publication.
03 · The launch shelf
Small digital publications.
Made from the web.
Two refreshed editions are ready. Apollo and Climate were recreated with the current Grower and checked in Windows Player. Four more editions are being refreshed. Verify collection checksums.
TDF / 001
History · Spaceflight
Apollo 11: Mission and Spacecraft
NASA’s mission overview and the Smithsonian’s guide to the launch vehicle and spacecraft.
TDF / 002
Research · Computing
A Brief History of AI
Foundational papers, defining systems, and the moments that changed what machines could do.
TDF / 003
Design · Technology
The Personal Computer, 1984
Interfaces, industrial design, manuals, and the ideas that brought computing to the desktop.
TDF / 004
Science · Biology
Reading the Human Genome
Primary resources, landmark milestones, and a guided path through the shared code of life.
TDF / 005
Data · Earth
Evidence of a Changing Climate
Berkeley Earth’s global temperature report for 2024 and the IPCC’s AR6 Synthesis Report overview.
>_
TDF / 006
History · Systems
UNIX: Small Tools, Big Ideas
Oral histories, source artifacts, manuals, and the philosophy that shaped modern computing.
04 · Open a TDF
Player is free.
It always should be.
Open `.tdf` collections, browse their pages, and replay captured content locally. No account is required to view a document.
macOS
macOS 13 or later
Windows
Windows 10 or later · x64
Linux
64-bit glibc distribution
Current release: v3.0.1. Every installer contains separate Player and Grower applications; Player is free, while Grower activates with a separate license.
05 · Create collections
Grow a document
from your browser.
Tree Grower captures the pages you choose and shapes them into a portable TDF collection.
Use your normal browser session, organize pages into branches and rings, add annotations, and save the result as one archive.
Grower is $60 every two years with up to three activations, with every update while you are subscribed. Cancel any time and keep the version you have. Player stays free.
Offline replay
Reopen captured pages without depending on the live source.
Browser-session capture
Capture pages available in the browser session you are using.
Annotations
Add the context that turns saved pages into a useful publication.
Tree rings
Keep successive periods of collection work intelligible over time.
Portable archives
Move, back up, and share a single `.tdf` file.
Native tools
Grower and Player run on macOS, Windows, and Linux.
06 · Local first, honestly
Your archive lives
where you put it.
TDF does not require a hosted collection server. Capture and replay happen through your browser, and the resulting archive is a local file.
- ✓No collection account required
Player opens local TDF files without signing into a TDF service.
- ✓Authenticated pages can be captured
The same capability that makes private research useful also makes sharing sensitive.
- !Know what you saved
Grower preserves captured web addresses, response headers, and page contents for replay. Sign out before capture, and review archives before sharing: sensitive information may be present even when it was not visible on the rendered page. Password protection controls who can open the file but does not remove data after opening.
07 · Questions, answered
The short version.
Why not just use bookmarks?+
Bookmarks remember where a page lived. A TDF keeps a captured collection you can reopen after the live page changes or disappears.
Why not save everything as PDF?+
PDF is excellent for fixed documents. TDF is designed for collections of web-native pages where navigation, resources, and surrounding context matter.
Is TDF an archival standard?+
No standards claim is required to find it useful. TDF is a product format focused on practical capture, curation, sharing, and replay. Standards-first institutional workflows may prefer WARC.
Does every website replay perfectly?+
No. TDF preserves captured responses on a best-effort basis. Pages that depend on live APIs, protected media, unusual browser features, or uncaptured state can replay incompletely. See the known limitations.
Can I capture pages behind a login?+
Grower can capture pages available in your browser session. Treat those archives as sensitive and review them before sharing.
Do I need the internet to open a TDF?+
Player is built for local replay. Missing or intentionally uncaptured resources may still affect fidelity, but no hosted TDF service is required.
What does Grower cost?+
Player is free. Grower is $60 every two years with up to three activations, with every update while you are subscribed; if you cancel, the version you have keeps working. Payment and receipts are handled by Stripe. See the EULA.