Words of Yeshua

Words of Yeshua is a Christ-centred, local-first Bible reader and study companion for Windows and Android. It explores the recorded words of Jesus in biblical context, combining continuous King James Version chapter reading with a searchable catalogue of sayings attributed to Yeshua across Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, and Revelation.

The application does not require an account, subscription, cloud database, or internet connection for its reading, search, saved-passage, and preference features.

Current release

The current Windows release is 0.5.5. The first public Android release is 0.1.0; Android versions use an independent release line so they do not interfere with the Windows updater.

• GitHub releases
• Windows architecture: x64
• Primary installer format: assisted NSIS .exe
• Optional distribution: portable Windows ZIP
• Android application ID: com.mcographics.wordsofyeshua
• Android release line: android-v0.1.0 and newer

Locally built installers are not Authenticode-signed. Windows SmartScreen may therefore identify the publisher as unknown until a code-signing certificate is configured.

Reader and study features

• A clean, continuous Bible reading layout instead of a verse-card-only experience
• Read Chapter Mode with the complete local KJV chapter and previous/next chapter navigation
• Optional Words of Christ in red treatment inside Read Chapter Mode
• Clickable Words of Yeshua passages that open their complete study context
• Full-text search across quotations, complete verses, references, people, places, events, themes, objects, periods, related passages, Greek lemmas, and Strong's numbers
• Exact-reference search such as John 8:12, Acts 9:5, and Revelation 3:20
• Book, event, theme, people, place, object, and timeline filters
• Context sheets describing what was happening, to whom the words were spoken, where the event occurred, and its place in the biblical timeline
• Device-local saved passages with no sign-in
• Device-local preferences for colour theme, text size, Scripture typeface, reading width, result-page size, compact cards, visible study details, reduced motion, startup screen, and red-letter display
• Responsive desktop and narrow-window layouts
• Android phone layout with safe-area-aware navigation, touch-sized controls, and the same local reader, search, bookmarks, settings, and chapter mode
• A rounded, transparent, frameless Electron window with custom minimize and close controls
• Branded executable, taskbar, installer, uninstaller, desktop-shortcut, and Start Menu icons

Biblical catalogue

The generated catalogue currently contains 2,169 speech units across 2,163 KJV New Testament verses:

Book	Speech units	Verses
Matthew	683	681
Mark	276	276
Luke	632	632
John	490	486
Acts	26	26
Revelation	62	62

data/words-of-yeshua contains the generated catalogue, documented speaker corrections, and its TypeScript adapter:

data/words-of-yeshua/generated-catalogue.json
data/words-of-yeshua/speaker-overrides.json
data/words-of-yeshua/sayings.ts

The generator reads the local public-domain KJV DOCX and enriches catalogue records with locally retained cross-references, Strong's-tagged New Testament data, N1904 alignment, Vine's entries, and optional topic-score data. The copied data/speaker_segments directory from the earlier Bible project is not required: when it is absent, the generator reconstructs source ranges from the current reviewed Words of Yeshua catalogue and applies the documented speaker overrides.

Every generated saying includes its quotation, complete KJV verse, event heading, themes, audience, place, objects, biblical period, context, related references, and available Greek lexical connections.

Acts and Revelation use a conservative reviewed allowlist. It includes passages where Jesus is explicitly identified as the speaker or His words are explicitly quoted, while excluding speech attributed to the Father, Holy Spirit, angels, narrators, worshippers, and other speakers. This catalogue remains an editorial study aid and is not presented as a substitute for reading each passage in its complete scriptural context.

Regenerate and validate the catalogue with:

npm run content:build
npm run content:check

Application stack

• Electron 43.3.0 desktop runtime
• React 18 renderer
• Vite 6 production build and development server
• TypeScript application and biblical-content model
• C++20 Node-API search and ranking engine
• Narrow, context-isolated preload bridge
• electron-builder with NSIS for Windows installers
• Capacitor 8 Android shell with a small native updater plugin

The renderer has no Node.js or filesystem authority. Search requests and window controls use a narrow preload API. The Electron main process validates window-control senders before minimizing or closing a BrowserWindow. If the interface is opened through the ordinary Vite browser preview, search falls back to the JavaScript implementation and Electron-only window controls are not rendered.

Packaged builds retain the existing security controls:

• contextIsolation: true
• nodeIntegration: false
• sandbox: true
• webSecurity: true
• blocked unexpected navigation and new windows
• custom secure woy:// application protocol
• Electron security fuses
• embedded ASAR integrity validation
• application code loaded only from app.asar

The C++ addon is packaged as resources/words_of_yeshua_native.node outside app.asar, and the main process loads it only from the application resources directory.

Local development

Windows development requires:

• Node.js 22.12 or newer
• npm
• Visual Studio 2022 with the Desktop development with C++ workload
• CMake tooling used by cmake-js

Install dependencies and launch Vite plus Electron:

npm install
npm run dev

npm run dev regenerates and validates the biblical content, compiles the C++ addon for Electron 43.3.0 x64, starts Vite on 127.0.0.1:5173, and launches the isolated Electron desktop window.

Web-only and Electron-only development commands are also available:

npm run dev:web
npm run dev:electron

Android development

Android uses the same built React reader inside a Capacitor shell. The Android project is included under android/ and uses its own version code/name so Android releases do not interfere with Windows auto-updates. Android is a phone-first build: its Settings screen does not expose Windows DPI, display-scale, or window-resolution controls.

Requirements are Android Studio or the Android SDK with API 36, a supported JDK (the build helper selects JDK 21 when installed), and an Android device or emulator for installation testing:

npm run android:debug
adb install -r android\app\build\outputs\apk\debug\app-debug.apk
npm run android:release

The debug APK is suitable for local device testing. The release command uses the project’s local Android signing configuration when it is available and otherwise produces an unsigned APK; an unsigned APK must not be published as a production update.

Verification

Run the source, native, and Electron verification suite with:

npm run lint
npm test -- --run
npm run build
npm run native:smoke
npm run electron:smoke

The packaged application should also be smoke-tested from releases/nsis/win-unpacked/WordsOfYeshua.exe before publishing an installer. A successful packaged smoke verifies the real renderer, preload bridge, C++ engine, search behavior, settings behavior, and ASAR-packaged application path.

Windows installer

Build the assisted NSIS installer:

npm run make

The installer is written to:

releases/nsis/Words-of-Yeshua-Setup-<version>.exe

The NSIS installer provides a conventional Windows wizard, selectable installation directory, per-user installation by default, elevation support when needed, branded installer and uninstaller icons, and desktop and Start Menu shortcuts. Uninstalling does not delete the user's saved passages and preferences.

Automatic updates

The installed Windows app includes an App updates section under Settings:

• Check for update checks only stable Windows releases tagged v<major>.<minor>.<patch> and downloads a newer installer when one is available. Android tags such as android-v0.1.0 are excluded.
• Install Update installs an already-downloaded release, or performs the check and download first when needed. The app closes for installation and reopens automatically.
• View Latest on GitHub opens the latest release page for release notes and files.
• The update panel reports the current and available versions and shows live percentage, transferred size, total size, and download speed.

For automatic updates to work, each public GitHub release must include the NSIS installer, its .blockmap, and latest.yml generated by electron-builder. The update connection is used only when the user invokes an update action; Bible reading, search, saved passages, and preferences remain local and offline-capable.

Android updates

The Android app uses the same explicit update principle as the companion mobile release workflow:

• Check for update reads the public android-v<version> release line from GitHub and selects the newest stable release only.
• Install Update checks first when needed, validates the exact Words-of-Yeshua-Android-<version>.apk asset, downloads it with a visible progress bar, and opens Android’s package installer for the final approval.
• View Latest on GitHub opens the selected Android release page.

The native updater accepts only the exact official GitHub download URL, rejects unexpected redirects and oversized packages, and never receives arbitrary URLs from the renderer. The first installation of a signed public release and every later update must use the same Android signing key; the local unsigned release output is intentionally not presented as a publishable update.

The public Android release is published separately from the Windows release:

Tag:   android-v0.1.0
Asset: Words-of-Yeshua-Android-0.1.0.apk

The Android package is signed with the project release key and can be installed manually from the GitHub release page. Android may ask for permission to install an APK from the browser or file manager used to open the download. The application does not silently grant that permission or bypass Android’s installer confirmation.

Build the optional portable ZIP separately:

npm run make:portable

The Windows distribution no longer uses Squirrel. New NSIS builds do not contain the Squirrel Update.exe, version-folder launcher, package cache, or .nupkg payload structure.

npm run package creates an unpacked electron-builder application when a directly runnable package is useful for diagnostics. Release installers are produced by npm run make.

Windows branding

The source branding files are:

Assets/icon.png
Assets/icon.ico
Assets/logo.png

• logo.png is the optimized transparent logo used inside the React interface; it is derived from logo_upscaled.png.
• icon.png is the full-resolution transparent source artwork for the Windows icon set; it is derived from icon_upscaled.png.
• icon.ico is embedded into the executable, Electron window, taskbar identity, NSIS installer, uninstaller, and shortcuts.
• public/icon-192.png and public/icon-512.png provide the same icon artwork to the browser favicon and web-app manifest.

Regenerate the multi-resolution ICO after replacing Assets/icon.png:

npm run icon:build

The generated ICO includes 16, 20, 24, 32, 40, 48, 64, 128, and 256 pixel frames. The icon source should be a simple square composition that remains recognizable at taskbar size; poster text and fine detail will become unreadable when reduced to 16–32 pixels.

Repository and local data

The repository tracks the runtime KJV source and generated application catalogue. The larger translation/reference library under data is intentionally kept on development machines and excluded from ordinary Git and packaged-application output. Generated Windows artifacts under releases/, legacy package output under out/, renderer output under dist/, and native build output under native/build/ are also ignored.

The electron-builder files allowlist includes only the compiled renderer, Electron runtime files, and package metadata. Raw research data, translation PDFs, personal notes, and unrelated copied resources are not distributed with the application.

Platform architecture

Words of Yeshua has separate platform shells around the same local-first React reader:

• Windows uses Electron with the native C++ search engine, frameless window controls, Windows installer, and Windows update channel.
• Android uses Capacitor with the phone layout, native Android package installer handoff, Android update channel, and touch-sized navigation.

The platform-specific settings remain separate. Windows exposes DPI, display scale, and window resolution because those are desktop concerns. Android uses the phone’s native display and does not present those controls.

Scripture, provenance, and editorial responsibility

Scripture quotations and complete chapter text are generated from the local public-domain King James Version source. Speech segmentation, speaker attribution outside the four Gospels, contextual summaries, taxonomy metadata, and source connections require continued human editorial review.

Words of Yeshua is intended to encourage careful reading of Scripture in context. Generated metadata, search connections, and editorial classifications should be checked against the biblical text rather than treated as independent authority.