A powerful desktop application for laboratory data management and experiment organization

Which problem is solved by this tool

MetaFold simplifies laboratory data management through easy-to-use templates that create reproducible metadata.
It reduces manual steps by automatically generating folder structures and metadata files at multiple locations simultaneously.
Thanks to its integration with OMERO, ELNs, and RSpace, microscopy data can be automatically imported based on the existing metadata — saving researchers significant time and effort.

• ⚠️ Development Status: PROTOTYPE
• ✨ Key Features
• Live demo
• 🚀 Installation
  • Option 1: Pre-built Binaries (Recommended for Most Users)
  • Option 2: Development Setup
    • Prerequisites
    • Installation Steps
    • Building for Production
• 📝 Getting Started with Templates
  • Using Example Templates
    • Method 1: Import via User Interface (Recommended)
    • Method 2: Manual Installation
• 🛡️ Admin User and User Management
• 🔧 Core Concepts
  • Templates
  • Projects
  • Discovery
• 🎯 Target Audience
• 🤝 Contributing
• 📄 Acknowledgements
• 🔗 Links

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⚠️ Development Status: PROTOTYPE

Disclaimer:
This project was completely developed with the assistance of claude.ai.
It is currently in a prototype stage — use at your own risk.
Contributions, reviews, and testing are highly appreciated.

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✨ Key Features

🗂️ Template-Based Project Creation

• Create standardized folder structures and metadata forms from configurable templates
• Create .json and .html metadata files.
• Send your metadata to different systems like electronic lab notebooks (elabFTW, RSpace) and special Databases (OMERO).

👥 Multi-User Support

• Secure user and group management with credential storage
• User-specific templates and settings
• Group-based access control

🔗 Laboratory Integrations

• elabFTW: Direct experiment creation with metadata based on templates
• RSpace: Direct experiment creation with metadata based on templates
• OMERO: Dataset creation with map annotations / metadata annotation
• Directly linking of all integrations

📊 Project Discovery & Visualization

• Recursive scanning of existing projects
• Interactive data visualization with JSONCrack

🎨 Modern Interface

• Responsive design for different screen sizes

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Live demo

https://youtu.be/OV1vB6SOis8 (early state & and first try(I will remove / exchange it soon)

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🚀 Installation

Option 1: Pre-built Binaries (Recommended for Most Users)

Download the latest release for your operating system:

1. Visit the Releases page
2. Download the latest release for your platform:
   • Windows: MetaFold-Setup-x.x.x.exe
   • macOS: MetaFold-x.x.x.dmg or MetaFold-x.x.x.pkg
   • Linux: MetaFold-x.x.x.AppImage or MetaFold-x.x.x.deb
3. Install the application:
   • Windows: Run the .exe installer and follow the setup wizard
   • macOS: Open the .dmg file and drag MetaFold to Applications
   • Linux:
     • For .AppImage: Make executable (chmod +x) and run directly
     • For .deb: Install with sudo dpkg -i MetaFold-x.x.x.deb
4. Launch MetaFold from your applications menu

Option 2: Development Setup

For developers who want to run from source:

Prerequisites

• Node.js (Latest LTS version)
• Download from: https://nodejs.org

Installation Steps

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/ThZobel/MetaFold.git
   cd MetaFold/src
   

2. Install dependencies

   npm install

3. Start the application

   npm start

Building for Production

Create platform-specific executables:

npm run build

Builds will be available in the dist/ folder for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

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📝 Getting Started with Templates

Using Example Templates

MetaFold provides example templates to help you get started quickly:

Method 1: Import via User Interface (Recommended)

1. Launch MetaFold
2. Navigate to the Action Menu:
   • Click on the Action Menu button (usually in the top bar)
   • Select More → Import Template
3. Download example templates:
   • Visit the /templates folder on GitHub
   • Download the .json template files you need
4. Import the template:
   • In the import dialog, select the downloaded .json file
   • The template will be added to your templates list
5. Start using the template:
   • Create new projects using the imported template

Method 2: Manual Installation

1. Download example templates:
   • Visit the /templates folder on GitHub
   • Download the .json template files you need
2. Locate your MetaFold configuration directory:
   • Windows: C:\Users\<YourUsername>\MetaFold\<group>\<user>\
   • macOS: /Users/<YourUsername>/MetaFold/<group>/<user>/
   • Linux: /home/<YourUsername>/MetaFold/<group>/<user>/
3. Copy template files:
   • Copy the downloaded .json files into the directory above
4. Restart MetaFold:
   • The templates will be automatically loaded on next launch

Note: Replace <group> and <user> with your actual group and username as configured in MetaFold.

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🛡️ Admin User and User Management

Admin User Password: admin To manage users and their passwords, switch to the Admin user (the default password is admin). After switching, you can manage all users — for example, change their groups or reset their passwords.

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🔧 Core Concepts

Templates

Define reusable project structures with:

• Custom folder hierarchies
• Metadata schemas with validation
• Integration settings for elabFTW/RSpace/OMERO

Projects

Create standardized experiments with:

• Automated folder structure generation
• JSON metadata files
• Direct integration with lab systems

Discovery

Analyze existing projects with:

• Recursive project scanning
• Statistical analysis and visualization
• Export capabilities for further analysis

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🎯 Target Audience

MetaFold is designed for:

• Life Sciences Researchers organizing experiments
• Laboratory Managers standardizing workflows
• Research Data Managers implementing FAIR principles
• NFDI4BioImage community members

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🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! - Development setup guides

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📄 Acknowledgements

Inspiration

MetaFold is inspired by the excellent RDM-Desktop Tool by T. Haraszti:

• Repository: tomio13/RDM-Desktop
• License: CC BY 4.0

We thank T. Haraszti for the inspiration and foundation.

Development

This project was developed with the assistance of claude.ai

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🔗 Links

• 📦 Download Latest Release
• 📝 Example Templates
• 🐛 Report Issues
• 🌐 NFDI4BioImage