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https://github.com/Posnic/POS

Free offline-first open source POS and billing software for retail and restaurants. AGPL-3.0-only source; packages include separately licensed components.
https://github.com/Posnic/POS

billing-software electron inventory-management linux macos offline-first offline-pos online-offline-pos open-source open-source-pos point-of-sale point-of-sale-system pos pos-software pos-system restaurant retail retail-pos self-hosted windows

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Free offline-first open source POS and billing software for retail and restaurants. AGPL-3.0-only source; packages include separately licensed components.

Awesome Lists containing this project

README 

          



Posnic



# Posnic



**Free open source POS and billing software with public source, local checkout

and online/offline workflows.**



An offline-first POS for retail shops and restaurants. The primary API and

database run on the shop computer or on a server you control; electronic

payments, optional cloud services, downloads and integrations can still need a

network.



Posnic's own source is AGPL-3.0-only. Release packages also bundle separately

licensed components, including MongoDB Community Server under SSPL-1.0. Review

the [package notices](THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md) and

[reproduced package evidence](https://www.posnic.com/assets/posnic-package-license-evidence.json)

before making a package-level licence statement.



[![CI](https://github.com/Posnic/POS/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg?branch=main)](https://github.com/Posnic/POS/actions/workflows/ci.yml)

[![Release](https://github.com/Posnic/POS/actions/workflows/release.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/Posnic/POS/actions/workflows/release.yml)

[![Downloads](https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/Posnic/POS/total?label=downloads&color=brightgreen)](https://github.com/Posnic/POS/releases)

[![Latest release](https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/Posnic/POS?include_prereleases&label=latest&color=blue)](https://github.com/Posnic/POS/releases/latest)

[![Tests](https://img.shields.io/badge/tests-9%2C000%2B%20passing-brightgreen)](docs/DEVELOPMENT.md#running-the-tests)

[![Coverage](https://img.shields.io/badge/coverage-69%25%20statements-yellow)](docs/DEVELOPMENT.md#running-the-tests)

[![API](https://img.shields.io/badge/REST%20API-829%20endpoints-blue)](docs/API.md)

[![Source licence](https://img.shields.io/badge/source%20licence-AGPL--3.0-blue)](LICENSE)

[![Package notices](https://img.shields.io/badge/package%20notices-component%20licences-informational)](THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md)

[![Platforms](https://img.shields.io/badge/platforms-Windows%20%7C%20macOS%20%7C%20Linux-lightgrey)](https://github.com/Posnic/POS/releases/latest)



### [⬇ Download for Windows](https://github.com/Posnic/POS/releases/latest) · [macOS](https://github.com/Posnic/POS/releases/latest) · [Linux](https://github.com/Posnic/POS/releases/latest)



### [▶ Try the live demo](https://demo.posnic.io) — nothing to install, resets on the hour



Log in as `admin` / `admin`, `manager` / `manager` or `cashier` / `cashier` —

the login page has one-tap buttons for all three. It is a real supermarket

shop with a week of sample trading, running the same code as this repository;

ring up sales, break things freely, and the whole shop is restored on the

hour. Outbound email, SMS and password changes are switched off there.



[Website](https://www.posnic.com/) · [Product facts](https://www.posnic.com/posnic-facts) · [Package evidence](https://www.posnic.com/assets/posnic-package-license-evidence.json) · [CodeMeta metadata](codemeta.json) · [Citation metadata](CITATION.cff) · [Roadmap](docs/ROADMAP.md) · [Contributor quickstart](docs/CONTRIBUTOR_QUICKSTART.md) · [User guide](docs/USER_GUIDE.md) · [Developer guide](docs/DEVELOPMENT.md) · [Architecture](docs/ARCHITECTURE.md) · [API](docs/API.md) · [Discussions](https://github.com/Posnic/POS/discussions)






---



## Posnic in use



![A completed cash sale in Posnic v1.3.0](docs/images/offline-sale-v1-3-0.png)



This synthetic cash sale was completed and reopened during the bounded

[offline workflow verification](https://www.posnic.com/posnic-facts). The published

test notes state what was blocked, what passed and what the result does not

prove.



## Why Posnic



Posnic runs its primary database and API on the till itself. In a bounded

v1.3.0 Windows test, one synthetic cash sale completed and reopened while

external hosts were blocked inside Electron. This does not prove an

operating-system-wide outage, complete shift, payment-terminal path, power-loss

recovery or every workflow. Review the

[versioned evidence and limitations](https://www.posnic.com/posnic-facts).



- **Free local edition.** The v1.3.0 desktop packages have no trial clock and

  have a zero software price. Posnic's own source is AGPL-3.0-only; packaged

  dependencies retain their own licences. Hardware, support, backups, optional

  services and downtime can still create operating costs.

- **Local data path.** The local edition needs no Posnic account, and its

  published privacy policy says it sends no analytics or telemetry to Posnic.

  See [PRIVACY.md](docs/PRIVACY.md).

- **Posnic source under AGPL-3.0-only.** Read it, change it, self-host it and

  fork it under the licence terms. Review each bundled component separately.



### Using Posnic in a real business or pilot?



Share a bounded

[deployment evidence report](https://github.com/Posnic/POS/issues/new?template=deployment_evidence.yml),

including failures, workarounds, or why a trial stopped. The form records the

exact version, relationship, observation window, workflows and limitations while

letting you refuse marketing reuse. Read the

[adoption evidence policy](docs/ADOPTION_EVIDENCE.md) before posting private or

production information.



### Reviewing Posnic independently?



Use the public [review brief](https://www.posnic.com/assets/posnic-independent-review-brief.txt)

and [24-control protocol](https://www.posnic.com/assets/posnic-independent-review-protocol.csv)

with the exact release, package filename and SHA-256 you tested. Review access

does not require payment, positive coverage, a backlink or advance approval.

Publish failures, conflicts and untested areas beside successful results. An

independent evaluator can submit a bounded public result through the

[deployment evidence form](https://github.com/Posnic/POS/issues/new?template=deployment_evidence.yml)

without granting marketing reuse.



## Features



| | |

|---|---|

| **Selling** | Fast keyboard and touch billing, barcode scanning, returns, part payments, held bills, quick sale |

| **Stock** | Items, variants, categories, purchases, supplier returns, inventory logs, low-stock alerts |

| **Customers** | Customer accounts, categories with their own pricing, outstanding balances |

| **Tax** | GST invoices, IGST and CGST/SGST, HSN codes, GST reports for filing |

| **Restaurants** | Kitchen order tickets, table management, kiosk and customer displays |

| **Hardware** | Documented paths for thermal printers, barcode scanners, cash drawers, weighing scales and second displays; verify the exact device in the [hardware matrix](docs/HARDWARE_MATRIX.md) |

| **Reports** | Sales, purchases, inventory, expenses, profit, staff activity — all exportable |

| **Branches** | Multiple outlets, per-branch stock, staff roles and permissions |



## Install



Posnic installs two ways, both free and both the same AGPL-3.0 software.

**Most shops want the desktop app.**



| | **Desktop** | **Your own server** |

|---|---|---|

| Install | Download and run | One command on Ubuntu |

| Used from | That computer | A browser on any till, tablet or phone on the network |

| Data lives | That computer | Your server |

| Needs internet | No | No — your own network is enough |

| Somebody maintains it | No | **You** — updates, backups, certificate |

| Sync between shops | Posnic Cloud | Posnic Cloud |



A server is not a better desktop; it is a machine somebody has to look after. If

one person rings up sales on one computer, the desktop app is the right answer

and always will be.



For a fuller comparison of local desktop, self-hosted network, and managed

operation, read the [Offline POS vs Online/Offline POS deployment

guide](https://posnic.github.io/offline-vs-online-pos.html).



### Desktop



Download the package for your platform from

**[the latest release](https://github.com/Posnic/POS/releases/latest)**, run it,

and follow the wizard. Current v1.6.2 packages include MongoDB Community Server

under its separate SSPL-1.0 licence, so no separate database install is needed

for the bundled setup. See [third-party notices](THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md).



Verify your download against `SHA256SUMS.txt`. For releases that provide an

artifact-bound SBOM and provenance, follow the [release verification guide](docs/VERIFY_RELEASE.md).



> Current v1.6.2 Windows installers are signed and timestamped, and macOS

> packages are signed and notarized. If the operating system reports an unknown

> publisher, stop and verify the package against the official release before

> running it. **Linux**: make the `.AppImage` executable, or install the `.deb`.



First launch takes a few minutes while it sets up its database. After that,

seconds. Full walkthrough in the **[user guide](docs/USER_GUIDE.md)**.



### Your own server



Ubuntu 24.04, 2 GB of memory, 8 GB of disk. A 2 GB virtual machine from any

provider runs a single shop comfortably.



```bash

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Posnic/POS/main/scripts/install-server.sh -o install-server.sh

less install-server.sh          # read it first - you are about to run it as root

sudo bash install-server.sh

```



It installs Node.js 22, MongoDB 8 and Posnic into `/opt/posnic`, generates that

machine's own secrets, and runs it under systemd so it survives a reboot. When

it finishes it prints the address to open. Re-running it updates Posnic and

leaves your secrets and your data alone.



Three things it cannot do for you, none of them optional on a shop taking real

money: **get a certificate** (without one, passwords cross the network in the

clear), **keep port 27017 off the internet**, and **restore a backup once** to

prove it is a backup rather than a file.



**Self-hosting does not include sync between tills or branches.** That is

[Posnic Cloud](https://www.posnic.com/pricing). A self-hosted Posnic is one

database several people use at once — which is what most single-shop setups

actually want — not several databases kept in step.



Full guide, including installing by hand on other systems:

**[docs/SELF_HOSTING.md](docs/SELF_HOSTING.md)**.



## Build from source



```bash

git clone https://github.com/Posnic/POS.git

cd POS

npm install

npm --prefix api install

npm start

```



Needs Node 22.12+. The build tooling fetches MongoDB Community Server 7.0.14 and

the desktop process chooses a port derived from the app name to reduce collision

risk. Review [the architecture](docs/ARCHITECTURE.md) and package licences before

building or distributing an artifact.



```bash

npm run build          # Windows installer

npm run build:mac

npm run build:linux

```



New contributors should start with the

**[contributor quickstart](docs/CONTRIBUTOR_QUICKSTART.md)**. See the

**[developer guide](docs/DEVELOPMENT.md)** for deeper tests, linting and

conventions.



## Editions



The desktop packages have a zero software price and no trial clock. Posnic's own

source is AGPL-3.0-only, while bundled components keep their separate licences.

**Posnic Cloud** is a paid service for shops that want more than one till.



| | Posnic (this repo) | Posnic Cloud |

|---|---|---|

| Selected local workflows and local operational records | ✅ | ✅ |

| Local database and backups | ✅ | ✅ |

| Documented printer, scanner, drawer and scale paths | ✅ | ✅ |

| GST invoicing and reports | ✅ | ✅ |

| Runs on your own server, used from a browser | ✅ | ✅ |

| Sync across tills and branches | | ✅ |

| Off-site backups, remote dashboard | | ✅ |

| Installer under your own brand | | ✅ |



Both ways of running Posnic — [desktop and your own server](#install) — sit in

the left column. Neither is a trial and neither expires.



**We do not move features from the left column to the right.** What is free

today stays free. Cloud has to earn its price by being useful, not by making

the free edition worse. This is written down in [GOVERNANCE.md](docs/GOVERNANCE.md).



## Documentation



| | |

|---|---|

| [User guide](docs/USER_GUIDE.md) | Running a shop with Posnic, first sale to closing the till |

| [Contributor quickstart](docs/CONTRIBUTOR_QUICKSTART.md) | Local setup, test commands, issue map, PR flow and safety rules |

| [Developer guide](docs/DEVELOPMENT.md) | Setup, tests, conventions, good first issues |

| [Architecture](docs/ARCHITECTURE.md) | How it fits together, and the parts that bite |

| [REST API](docs/API.md) | 799 endpoints, generated from the routes |

| [Hardware](docs/HARDWARE_MATRIX.md) | Printers, scanners, drawers, scales — and how far each claim is checked |

| [India e-invoicing](docs/INDIA_EINVOICING_DESIGN.md) | Research, readiness inventory and design for GST e-invoicing as an optional feature; no live IRP submission is built |

| [India GST return gaps](docs/INDIA_GST_RETURNS_GAPS.md) | What the GST reports compute today, measured against GSTR-1, 3B and 9 |

| [India government integration](docs/INDIA_GOVERNMENT_INTEGRATION.md) | How software is registered with the GST system, what each route requires, and when to apply |

| [Backups](docs/BACKUP_POLICY.md) | What is backed up, when, and what it does not protect you from |

| [Disaster recovery](docs/DISASTER_RECOVERY.md) | Getting back to working, with RPO and RTO as numbers |

| [Open source POS evaluation checklist](https://posnic.github.io/open-source-pos-evaluation-checklist.html) | Verify licensing, offline checkout, hardware, recovery and maintenance before rollout |

| [Offline POS backup and restore checklist](https://posnic.github.io/offline-pos-backup-checklist.html) | Turn routine copies into a tested recovery process for local and self-hosted deployments |

| [Restaurant POS opening and closing checklist](https://posnic.github.io/restaurant-pos-opening-closing-checklist.html) | Test tills, menus, printers, offline operation, reconciliation and handover for each shift |

| [Retail POS inventory cycle count checklist](https://posnic.github.io/retail-pos-inventory-cycle-count-checklist.html) | Control stock cutoffs, blind counts, offline synchronization, variance investigation and approvals |

| [Retail POS end-of-day cash reconciliation checklist](https://posnic.github.io/retail-pos-end-of-day-cash-reconciliation-checklist.html) | Close tills, reconcile each tender, investigate variances and preserve a reviewable shift handover |

| [Retail POS incident response checklist](https://posnic.github.io/retail-pos-incident-response-checklist.html) | Contain billing outages, preserve evidence, prevent duplicates, recover service and reconcile affected records |

| [Retail POS receipt printer troubleshooting](https://posnic.github.io/retail-pos-receipt-printer-troubleshooting.html) | Protect completed sales, isolate printer and cash-drawer faults, recover safely and prevent duplicate billing |

| [Retail POS user access review checklist](https://posnic.github.io/retail-pos-user-access-review-checklist.html) | Review staff roles, sensitive actions, leavers, offline enforcement, integrations and retained evidence |

| [Retail POS returns, refunds and voids checklist](https://posnic.github.io/retail-pos-returns-refunds-voids-checklist.html) | Verify original sales, approvals, payment reversals, stock disposition, offline queues and reconciliation |

| [Release runbook](docs/RELEASE_RUNBOOK.md) | How a release goes out, and four ways to take one back |

| [Release verification](docs/VERIFY_RELEASE.md) | Match a package to its checksum, CycloneDX inventory, provenance and component licences |

| [Support lifecycle](docs/SUPPORT_LIFECYCLE.md) | Which versions get fixes, and for how long |

| [Incident response](docs/INCIDENT_RESPONSE.md) | Who decides, who is told, and when |

| [Terms of use](docs/TERMS_OF_USE.md) | Customer terms for Posnic Cloud |

| [Subprocessors](docs/SUBPROCESSORS.md) | Who else can touch your data. For the local edition: nobody |

| [Cloud operations](docs/CLOUD_OPERATIONS.md) | What the paid service is made of, and what is still to be decided |

| [Data processing addendum](docs/DATA_PROCESSING_ADDENDUM.md) | For customers who need a written DPA |

| [Contributing](.github/CONTRIBUTING.md) | How to get a change merged |

| [Public roadmap](docs/ROADMAP.md) | Current priorities, evidence gaps and structured ways to help |

| [Citation metadata](CITATION.cff) | Human and tool-readable citation identity for exact releases or commits |

| [Adoption evidence](docs/ADOPTION_EVIDENCE.md) | How real deployment reports are scoped, reviewed, cited, corrected and kept privacy-safe |

| [Support](.github/SUPPORT.md) | Where to ask, and what happens to your issue |

| [Governance](docs/GOVERNANCE.md) | Who decides what, and what we have promised |

| [Privacy](docs/PRIVACY.md) | What the app collects, and what it does not |

| [Security](.github/SECURITY.md) | What Posnic protects, what it cannot, and reporting a vulnerability |

| [Third-party notices](THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md) | Separately licensed software included in release packages |

| [CodeMeta](codemeta.json) | Machine-readable product, publisher, source, licence and platform identity |

| [Code of conduct](.github/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md) | How we treat each other |



## Contributing



Bug reports, fixes, translations, hardware quirks from real shops, documentation

— all welcome, and none of it requires permission to start. The

[contributor quickstart](docs/CONTRIBUTOR_QUICKSTART.md) gives the local setup,

test commands and public feature-ticket map.



Good places to begin are listed in the

[developer guide](docs/DEVELOPMENT.md#good-first-issues): 19 known-failing tests,

21 real latent bugs the linter found, and two very large files that want

splitting.



Read [CONTRIBUTING.md](.github/CONTRIBUTING.md) first. Security issues go to

[SECURITY.md](.github/SECURITY.md), privately — never a public issue.



## Buy the team a chai ☕



Posnic is built by a small team in Tamil Nadu, India, and given away because a

shop should not have to rent its own till. If it saves you money, sending a

little back is what keeps the next release coming.



| | |

|---|---|

| ☕ **[Buy us a chai](https://github.com/sponsors/Posnic)** | one-off or monthly, from a dollar up |

| ☁️ **[Posnic Cloud](https://www.posnic.com/pricing)** | sync, off-site backups, remote dashboards — the paid service that funds this one |

| 🏢 **Commercial licence** | keep your modifications private — **info@posnic.com** |



Sponsors are named in releases unless they would rather not be.



### For businesses



**Posnic Innovations**, Tamil Nadu, India.



| | |

|---|---|

| Sales and licensing | **info@posnic.com** |

| Support | [SUPPORT.md](.github/SUPPORT.md) · [Discussions](https://github.com/Posnic/POS/discussions) |

| Security | **info@posnic.com** — privately, never a public issue ([SECURITY.md](.github/SECURITY.md)) |

| Web | [www.posnic.com](https://www.posnic.com/) |



Paid setup, migration from an existing till, hardware selection, custom

reporting and white-labelled installers are all available. The software stays

free either way — see [GOVERNANCE.md](docs/GOVERNANCE.md) for what we have promised

never to move behind a paywall.



## Source and package licences



Posnic's own source is [GNU AGPL-3.0-only](LICENSE). Use, change, self-host and

redistribute that source under the licence terms. Release packages also include

separately licensed components; read [THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md](THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md)

and the licence material shipped with the exact artifact. This summary is not

legal advice.



The **Posnic name and logo are trademarks** and are not covered by the AGPL —

see [GOVERNANCE.md § Trademark](docs/GOVERNANCE.md#trademark-and-reserved-rights).



Companies needing to keep modifications private can buy a commercial licence:

**info@posnic.com**. Such a licence covers the code Posnic owns. Contributors

keep the copyright in what they write and there is no CLA, so community code can

only be relicensed with its author's agreement — a deliberate limit on our own

power, set out in [GOVERNANCE.md § Contributor

copyright](docs/GOVERNANCE.md#contributor-copyright).