Caller's Compendium

Now in open beta

Your caller's box,
in the palm of your hand

Caller's Compendium is a free, open-source, local-first dance organizer for contra dance callers. Catalog your dances with structured, searchable figures, plan and share programs, and call from a large-print, stage-ready view — online or offline, on your laptop, tablet, or phone.

Download the beta Join the beta program

Latest beta Local-first Private by default Works fully offline AGPL-3.0

Project status

Caller's Compendium is in open beta. Everything below is available today on Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, and iPhone and iPad, with new releases shipping regularly.

  • Available Collection, search, programs & Perform mode
  • Available Imports — ContraDB, The Caller's Box & Caller's Companion
  • Available Program sharing (send & receive)
  • Available Named-dialect library & per-gig switching
  • Available Venues, free-text figure entry & portable backups
  • Available Per-dance walkthroughs & a reusable snippet library
  • Available Signed, integrity-checked updates
  • Available Multilingual UI — English, German, French, Japanese, Danish & Dutch
  • Available Signed and notarized macOS builds, code-signed Windows builds
  • Experimental Device Sync across your own devices
  • Planned Signed Linux packages through Flathub
  • Planned App Store & Google Play listings

Detailed plans and progress are in the roadmap.

What it does

Collection

Catalog dance transcriptions with structured, searchable figures. Search by title, author, type, formation, level — even “chain then swing in B2” — plus your own custom fields.

Programs

Create, edit, duplicate, and print or email set lists, with alternates, free-text slots, and a programming matrix computed from the choreography itself. Build from a title list or straight from a ContraDB event.

Performance mode

A large-print, high-contrast, stage-ready calling view with wake-lock, program navigation, on-the-fly adjustments, and screen-reader-friendly figure rendering.

Dialect

Your terms, your phrasing. Role names, move and dancer-term substitutions, and discouraged-term flags are editable presentation settings over a canonical vocabulary — so search always works and your data stays portable.

Imports

Bring dances in from The Caller's Box and ContraDB by link or id, and migrate from Caller's Companion — including its binary .USR library — all through a review-and-commit queue.

Local-first & cross-platform

Everything is stored on your device and the app is fully usable offline. No accounts, no tracking — your library stays on your device unless you turn on Device Sync (see the privacy policy). One codebase across Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, and iOS/iPadOS — with the interface available in English, German, French, Japanese, Danish, and Dutch.

See it in action

A look at Caller's Compendium across the surfaces callers actually use.

Desktop The collection browser on desktop, showing a searchable list of dances
Browse and search your collection
Tablet Performance mode on a tablet, showing a dance in a large-print, stage-ready view
Call from a large-print, stage-ready view
Phone The program editor on a phone, showing a set list being built
Build programs anywhere

Download the beta

Latest beta. Pick your platform below. Not sure which file to grab, or hitting a first-launch security prompt? The installation guide walks you through it.

Loading the latest release…

iPhone & iPad

iOS and iPadOS builds are delivered through TestFlight rather than the Releases page. It's an open beta — join directly, no invitation needed.

Every download is checksummed. Compare the sha256 shown here against the file you downloaded (the full SHA256SUMS manifest ships with each release). See all builds and notes on the Releases page.

Join the beta program

We're looking for callers to put the app through real gigs. Taking part is simple: install a build, use it for your calling, and tell us how it held up — what worked, what got in the way, and what's missing.

  • No account or sign-in — download a build and start calling.
  • Local-first & private: no accounts, no tracking, and your library stays on your device unless you turn on Device Sync — see the privacy policy. Feedback is only ever what you choose to share.
  • New? Sign up once so we know you're testing and can line up the right builds.
  • Already testing? Share how it's going through a short feedback form on GitHub, whenever suits you.
  • On iPhone or iPad? Skip the form — join the open TestFlight beta directly. On Android, signing up can add you to the Google Play closed test.
Join the beta Send feedback

User guide

Everything you need to get going and get the most out of the app.

Getting started

Install, add your first dance, and find your way around.

Installation

Per-platform install steps and the first-launch security prompts.

Imports

Bring dances in from ContraDB, The Caller's Box, and Caller's Companion.

Write & edit dances

The dance editor: figures, walkthroughs, credits, and undo.

Programs

Build, print, email, and share set lists for your events.

Performance mode

Call from the large-print, stage-ready view.

Dialects

Make the app speak your terms without breaking search.

Share, print & export

Hand a dance or a whole evening to another caller.

FAQ

Quick answers to the questions callers ask most.

All guides →

The documentation hub, with a task index and every guide.