Tolaria - Markdown native knowledge base desktop app

One-Sentence Summary

A Markdown-native knowledge base desktop application. Every note is a plain text Markdown file, supporting wikilinks, Git version control, and a local AI agent, with no database, no proprietary format, and no vendor lock-in.

Core Design Philosophy

"Your notes are always yours."

✅ Pure Markdown: each note is a single .md file plus YAML frontmatter
✅ Git native: use git for version control and grep for full-text search
✅ No database: does not depend on any proprietary storage format
✅ Open in any editor: VSCode, vim, Obsidian... choose your favorite
✅ Local AI: built-in local agent, directly connects to AI model providers

Features

Feature	Description
Wikilinks	`[[Note Name]]` internal links, with automatic backlinks
Slash Commands	`/` command palette for quick actions
Whiteboard	Visual note relationship diagram
Block-based Editing	Paragraph-level editing, drag-and-drop reordering
Media Preview	Image and video preview
Table Navigation	Quick table operations
Cmd+K Command Palette	Similar to VS Code, keyboard-driven
Git Integration	Built-in Git version control
Local AI Agents	Local AI assistants, directly connect to Claude/GPT
Multi-vault	Manage multiple knowledge bases in parallel

Use Cases

Scenario	Usage
Personal knowledge base	Use Markdown to manage daily notes, study notes, and idea logs
Project documentation	Team knowledge base synced with Git; everyone uses their preferred editor
Research notes	Use Wikilinks to build a network of relationships between concepts
Writing	Long-form writing + source material management

Installation

macOS

brew install --cask tolaria

Other Platforms

Download the latest version from tolaria.md/download.

Supports macOS (Apple Silicon + Intel), Windows, and Linux.

Comparison with Obsidian

Aspect	Tolaria	Obsidian
Open source	✅ Fully open source	❌ Closed source
Local AI	✅ Built-in Agent	❌ Requires plugin
Git integration	✅ Native built-in	🟡 Requires plugin
Markdown	✅ Plain text	✅ Plain text
Plugin ecosystem	🟡 Relatively new	✅ Mature
Platform	Desktop (Tauri)	Desktop + mobile

💡 If you value open source + native Git + local AI, Tolaria is currently the best choice.

Value to Us

Our memory system already has a complete Markdown document structure (memory/daily/, memory/projects/, MEMORY.md). Tolaria can directly open the entire memory/ directory as a Vault, Wikilinks automatically link related notes, and with Git version control, it complements the existing MemoryHub across desktop + Web.

Tech Stack: Tauri · React · TypeScript · Rust License: Open source | Repo: refactoringhq/tolaria