What is Corca?
We live in a world where almost every aspect of our lives exists in our computers. Work, communication, entertainment—everything is connected to our devices. We order food, send messages, record videos, and share them in seconds. We’ve digitized money, maps, music, even memories—photos and videos are no longer kept on paper or VHS tapes.
It’s hard to believe that in 2025, we still do math on paper. I can’t even remember the last time I wrote a text by hand, but when it comes to equations, pen and paper is the only option.
Think about math as a universal, logical language—one that almost everyone in the world (yeah, all 7 billion) learns in school. But, there is no 'text editor' for this language. If I asked you to open an app right now and typ e something as simple as:
I bet you couldn’t name one. Because it doesn’t exist. Sure, some professionals might point to LaTeX, but LaTeX is not an app. It’s a layout language, like HTML, designed for formatting, not for actually working on math.
Others might ask about Wolfram or MatLab. But these aren’t math editors either—they’re tools designed for calculations, modeling, and data analysis. If you’re proving a theorem, exploring new ideas, or seeking the equation of everything, you’re still left with pen and paper.
Math lies at the core of everything. It shapes the buildings we live in, powers the machines we use, drives the algorithms behind AI, and even composes the music we hear. Math is how we describe, understand, and shape the world. And yet, we still don’t have an app for that.
What we're building?
We’re building an intuitive collaborative math editor. So simple, a 5th grader can use it.
We see Corca as an IDE for math—because math, like programming, deserves dedicated tools. A place where you can work on math, without special training. Not another calculator, but a workspace for math exploration, creation, and collaboration.
Despite being intuitively simple, Corca designed for rigorous scientific math. Users can create their own notations, rules, and objects, connecting math to data or models. You can even invent entirely new mathematical frameworks and watch them come to life. Corca is more than a tool—it’s a tool for creating tools.
It is a long road and we're early. So currently our main focus is to make a tool that is faster and simpler than paper. And you know, paper is a challenging competitor. We can break it in three parts: typing, layout and collaboration.
1. Typing
Math notations are complex, and this is one of the main reasons people still rely on paper. How do you type matrices, Greek letters, or add limits to an integral on your computer? We’ve spent a lot of hours experimenting and refining our approach. So, how does it work?
Text input in Corca works like a search field. When you type something like 'root' or 'sum,' a suggestion popup appears with relevant options. For instance, typing 'sum' brings up suggestions such as Summation, Plus, Plus-Minus, Dot Plus, and Direct Sum.
Once you select the right option, the result immediately appears, like this:
This means you don’t need to memorize commands or learn anything in advance to start working with Corca. Simply search for what you need. There’s no overwhelming toolbars cluttered with a million buttons to click with your mouse. Instead, everything is streamlined for your keyboard, making it the fastest and most efficient way to write math.
Moreover, Corca seamlessly handles transitions between math and text. If you type 'integral' but want to keep it as plain text, simply ignore the suggestion, press Space, and continue typing. If you do want the integral as math, press Enter, and it will appear as the appropriate mathematical symbol. You can read some editing tricks here.
2. Layout
Sometimes you need to fit an integral into an exponent that's placed inside a matrix and so on. Math demands such flexibility. That's why we’re building the new layout system for math. We want to make it not only readable but also actionable.
Our layout system is designed to handle this complexity. Imagine creating nested structures, resizing components, or aligning multi-line equations dynamically. Eventually we want to create notation editor in witch everyone will be able to create their own notations or change existing.
We have paid special attention to creating our own math font, which we continually refine. Not many fonts are suitable for typesetting mathematical formulas, and this becomes evident when you attempt to use ordinary fonts—yes, we have tried that too. Unlike standard typesetting, in mathematics we deal with symbols (relations, operators, variables) that convey more information. Our font is optimized for clarity—math that looks good and more readable.
Discussion notes on Greek Letters
3. Collaboration
We are used to collaborative apps like Notion, Figma, or Google Docs. It seems obvious that modern tool have to support realtime editing. But science and math in particular lags in collaboration. The best collaborative tool we have is a blackboard. The gap isn't just in real-time collaboration; it spans to chats, documents, online boards, or even social networks.
Corca lets you work together in real-time, like Google Docs for math. Edit equations together, chat about them inline, and share them anywhere. No more "hold on, let me take a picture of this equation.
Why it matters?
Every day, scientists waste hours fighting with tools instead of solving problems. Students struggle with syntax instead of understanding concepts. Researchers photograph whiteboards instead of sharing ideas. It's not just inefficient—it's holding back human progress.
Imagine mathematicians collaborating in real-time across continents, students learning complex concepts without fighting notation. Think about AI researchers sharing algorithms as easily as sending texts.
This isn't just about making math easier to type. It's about democratizing the language of science itself. Because when we make math more accessible, we make the future more accessible.
What next?
Corca is still in its early stages. Right now, it’s a simple note-taking app with a powerful math editor. But this is just the beginning.
Open Source: We really believe that being open and transparent is the only strategy to move forward. Our core engine, formats, notations, and data will be open for everyone.
Interconnectivity: Your work in Corca should connect seamlessly to other software and databases. We don’t want to trap users inside our ecosystem.
Semantic Math: Math in Corca won’t just be symbols—it will carry meaning. That means solving, simplifying, or even integrating it into Python models.
AI Integration: AI is changing how we work with math, and Corca will leverage it. But even AI needs an interface, and Corca is built to be that interface.
Join us
It’s still early, so a lot of stuff isn’t working yet. Some notations, operations, functions might be broken or missing. But we’re working fast to implement everything you might need. That’s why we really need your feedback to make this awesome!
We’re looking for people who are willing to make this happen: mathematicians, developers, designers, etc. Shoot us a message.
Anton Gladkoborodov,
CEO of Corca Research