Real files. Real links.
Your AI's real memory.
Lightwrite is the open-source, local-first workspace built for people who work with AI: your notes are real files on disk that you and your AI agents read, write, and remember, and anything either of you creates publishes as a live link in one click.
Notion fluidity, Obsidian ownership, built for the AI era.
No signup, no install. The demo is the real app with a seeded vault, running entirely in your browser.
What happens to the pages your AI makes?
In Lightwrite, they become real, permanent links. Claude or ChatGPT just built you an HTML report, a prototype, a little tool? Paste it into Lightwrite and it lives beside your notes as a real .html file: versioned, editable, and published as a live link in one click.
Claude's native share links expire and break. A Lightwrite link is yours: it sits in your vault and stays up as long as you want it to.
Lightwrite is the only notes app where AI artifacts live beside your notes, versioned, and published permanently.
- A whole wiki space for HTML: gallery, sandboxed viewer, CodeMirror source editor.
- AI element editing: hover any element and tell the AI "make this heading bigger".
- Every edit checkpointed in workspace history, so anything is revertable.
Where do your notes actually live?
On your disk, as files you can open with anything. Docs are Markdown (.md). Boards and task lists are JSON (.json). Wiki pages are HTML (.html). Anything Markdown can't express rides along in YAML front-matter, so every file stays clean and portable and renders anywhere.
It's a step past Obsidian: your vault is a folder you can put in git, so your notes are files you can diff, branch, grep, and pipe like the rest of your work.
- Mirror to any folder and sync it however you like, including your own GitHub.
- Full-vault backup and restore, soft-delete trash, version history.
- MIT-licensed, app and sync server both open source. No proprietary format, ever.
How do your AI agents remember anything?
By reading and writing your vault. Lightwrite ships a CLI (lightwrite) and an MCP server (lightwrite-mcp) natively, so Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP client can list, search, read, create, and update your notes: durable agent memory and a RAG corpus, in the box. People duct-tape 24+ community MCP servers onto Obsidian to get this.
And the AI inside the app runs on your terms: bring your own Claude or OpenAI key, run local models over Ollama or LM Studio, or use Apple Intelligence fully on-device. Your notes never touch our servers unless you enable sync.
- One line of config connects Claude Code or Cursor to your vault.
- Every AI surface degrades gracefully offline, no key required to try it.
- Keys stay local. There is no middleman between you and your model.
What else is in the box?
The three pillars sit on a complete, calm workspace: everything a serious notes app needs, with no plugins to wire up.
Infinite canvas
Stickies, docs, shapes, connectors, freehand pen, sections, dot voting. FigJam-style, and your home layout is sacred: AI never moves it.
Layout-preserving AI lenses
"Show me everything due today" gathers notes from everywhere into a focus view, then puts every card back exactly where it was.
Notion-style editor
Type / for tables, lists, images, callouts, embeds. Every doc round-trips as clean Markdown with backlinks and wiki links.
Tasks, three ways
The same cards render as kanban, checklist, or timeline: priorities, assignees, due dates, swimlanes, estimates, custom fields.
Knowledge graph
Nodes are notes, edges are [[links]] and shared tags. Filter by group, click to open, drag to explore.
Voice capture
Speak; AI transcribes, titles, tags, and files it. Ask a question and hear your priorities read back aloud.
Real-time collaboration
Conflict-free Yjs CRDT editing, live cursors, presence, comments. Local-first when offline; nothing requires a server.
AI that acts
Create todos, set status, tag, summarize, brainstorm to canvas, turn text into a flowchart. Every surface has an offline mock mode.
Command palette
⌘K to search notes and pages, jump spaces, create from templates (Daily, Meeting, Standup), and run quick actions.
A misclick never destroys data
Soft-delete trash with undo, per-note version history, workspace checkpoints, and full-vault backup and restore.
Everywhere
Desktop apps for Windows, macOS, and Linux, an installable PWA, and mobile web. One vault across all of them.
Calm, yours
Warm light and dark themes, custom accent color, five paper styles, reduced-motion aware. Fast, quiet, 60fps.
MIT licensed, all the way down
The app and the sync server are open source; the paid cloud is just hosted convenience. Self-host with one command, or run fully local and never touch a server at all.
git clone https://github.com/nekko-labs/lightwrite && npm install && npm run dev
How much does Lightwrite cost?
The whole local-first app is free, forever. You pay only if you want us to run the sync server for you.
Free
- The full app: canvas, editor, tasks, graph, voice
- AI with local models or your own API keys
- CLI + MCP server for your agents
- Git-backed files on your own disk
- Sharing with your collaborators
- No note caps, and the free tier never shrinks
Personal Cloud
- Everything in Free
- Managed sync across your devices
- Public share links, including HTML pages
- More than one editor per team
- 14-day trial, no card required
Team
- Everything in Personal Cloud
- Team vaults with roles (owner, editor, viewer)
- Per-editor seats on one bill
For comparison: Obsidian charges Sync ($4 to $8/mo) and Publish ($8 to $10/mo) separately; Personal Cloud bundles both for less. Notion's full AI plan runs $20+ per user per month; Lightwrite's AI runs on your machine for free.
- Your data is never held hostage: pulling your notes out is never gated.
- Self-hosting is free forever (MIT, server included).
- Early pricing is grandfathered forever.
Frequently asked questions
Short, honest answers. If something is missing, ask on GitHub.
Is Lightwrite really free?
Where are my notes stored?
.md, boards and task lists are .json, wiki pages are .html. You can keep that folder in your own git repo or any synced folder. Nothing touches our servers unless you enable managed sync.Can I self-host the sync server?
docker compose up (or one click on desktop), point Settings at its URL, and you get sync, share links, and live collaboration on your own hardware.How do AI agents connect to my notes?
lightwrite) and a stdio MCP server (lightwrite-mcp) in the box. Add the MCP server to Claude Code, Cursor, or any MCP client and agents can list, search, read, create, and update notes in your vault, so it works as durable agent memory and a RAG corpus.What happens if I stop paying?
Is my data encrypted?
Give your AI a real memory
Open the demo, paste in something your AI made, and publish your first permanent link.