Press Space. See the molecule.
Preview PDB, CIF, SDF, XYZ, trajectories and chemistry tables straight from Finder — then open the same file in a full workspace.
Free and open source · Nothing leaves your Mac · Apple Silicon and Intel · macOS 12+
Structures, reactions, trajectories, spectra, and tables.
- PDB
- CIF
- MMCIF
- SDF
- MOL2
- XYZ
- GRO
- SMILES
- SMI
- CSV
- TSV
- SD
- DWAR
- RXN
- RDF
- CUBE
- LOG
- OUT
- PSI4
- VASP
- MAE
The workspace picks up where the preview stops.
Same renderers, more room: a tab per file, molecule grids you can filter and export, a chemical space map built on the Mac's own GPU, and local calculations that never ask for an account.
Inspect a structure before opening an app.
Finder previews open in interactive 3D: chains, residues, ligands, and surfaces are visible before you decide what to do with the file.
- Viewport selection
- Draw a lasso across the viewport to select and isolate residues and ligands directly in 3D. Pick a binding pocket without hunting a sequence list. The selection carries into measurements, isolation, and export.
- Mol* trajectories
- Multi-frame XYZ and MD trajectories play back in place. Prev / Next / All and a frame counter drive the native Mol* trajectory controls, so a run reads like a short clip.
Triage whole libraries as a grid.
Open SDF, SMILES, CSV, TSV, DataWarrior, RXN, or RDF as a searchable grid: filter, edit, analyze, compare reactions, map Chemical Space, review activity cliffs, and export.
Map molecular libraries, then act on what you find.
Build an exact Metal Tanimoto neighbour graph, explore UMAP or TMAP views, cluster with Butina, colour by activity, and surface activity cliffs. Selections stay linked to the molecule grid for review and export.
- 10,000-molecule benchmark
- 2D + 3D
- CPU-checked Metal results
- Ketcher
- ⌘P
- iPhone app
Let Codex operate the same molecular workspace.
The Burette plugin combines focused workflow skills with a local stdio MCP server. Codex can open a structure, observe the workspace, run allowlisted Mol* actions, author MolViewSpec Stories, control Ketcher, and render bounded review panels.
- Open structures
- Inspect scene state
- Control Mol*
- Author Stories
- Control Ketcher
- Render reports
- 01burette.get_context
- 02burette.open_workspace
- 03burette.observe_workspace
- 04burette.control_viewer
Two lines with Homebrew.
Install the cask, then open Burette once so macOS registers the Quick Look extension. If previews don't appear, run Reset Quick Look from the command palette. Public downloads are ad-hoc signed rather than Apple-notarized, so macOS may ask you to approve the first launch.
- Homebrew cask
- MIT License
- macOS 12+
- Local-first
- 01
$ brew tap SergeiNikolenko/burette - 02
- 03Open Burette once to register Quick Look.
Read it, run it, fix it.
Install notes, platform guides, target-aware drag and drop, molecule collections, local xTB and CREST workflows, and recovery steps.
- 01Getting started
Install, first launch, and how Quick Look picks up the extension.
Install guide - 02Formats & engines
Which extension routes to Mol*, RDKit grids or xyzrender.
Reference - 03Troubleshooting
Previews not showing? Run burette doctor or reset Quick Look.
Fix previews - 04Codex plugin & MCP
Install the local plugin and review its typed molecular tool surface.
Plugin guide - 05Drag & collections
Route drops by target, then append, merge, edit, and export molecular collections safely.
Workflow guide - 06xTB & CREST
Install local engines, configure bounded jobs, and review reports, ensembles, and recovery artifacts.
Calculation guide
Keyboard
- Quick Look preview
- Space
- Command palette
- ⌘ P
- Next / previous frame
- ← →
- Cycle tabs
- ⌘ ⇥
- Toggle theme
- ⌘ ⇧ L
Fix previews
Command palette → Reset Quick Look
What Burette does on your Mac — and what it never does.
brew install --cask burette and it works.Press Space. See the molecule.
Install once, and every PDB, CIF, SDF, XYZ, trajectory and chemistry table in Finder opens in interactive 3D. Open the workspace when you need tabs, grids, sketching or local xTB.