LocalBrainLocalBrain runs on a folder of markdown files on your machine. There is nothing to sign up for and nothing to upload. You point it at a folder, and it opens your notes directly in the browser.
Before you begin
LocalBrain uses the File System Access API to read and write your files, which is available in Chrome and Edge on desktop. Other browsers can load the interface but cannot open a local folder. You do not need an account, and you do not need an API key to browse and edit. A key is only needed for the AI features.
1. Open a vault
Open the app and click Open Vault. Pick any folder of markdown files, or an empty folder to start fresh. Your browser will ask permission to access that folder; this is what keeps everything local. Changes save straight to disk as you edit, so your files are always just files.
LocalBrain shows every file in that folder, not only markdown. Your PDFs, spreadsheets, code, and images appear alongside your notes, and all of them show up in the knowledge graph. You can run a whole project from the app without leaving to find files elsewhere.
2. Add your API key (optional)
To turn on the AI features, open Settings and paste an Anthropic API key. The key is stored locally in your browser and used to call the model directly. You bring your own key, so your model choice stays yours, and everything that does not need a model keeps working without one.
3. Turn on Autopilot
In Settings, enable Autopilot. From then on, as you edit and add notes, LocalBrain works quietly in the background: it fills in metadata, links related notes, and when it sees a meeting transcript, it extracts the participants, decisions, and action items into the note. You keep writing; the structure appears.
Everything Autopilot does is visible and reversible. Open the activity panel to see each change with a plain summary and a confidence level, and revert any of them in one click. If you want a note or folder left completely alone, mark it protected and Autopilot will skip it.
4. Install it as an app
In Chrome or Edge, use the install icon in the address bar to add LocalBrain to your dock. It opens in its own window and works fully offline. Your notes are on your disk, so they are available with or without a connection; the AI features simply wait until you are back online.
What happens next
As your vault grows, LocalBrain compiles what it learns into context pages, one per project and person, kept under .memory/context/. These are ordinary markdown files, generated for you and safe to delete, that give you and your AI a current picture of what was decided and what is still open. Open the app each day to a brief of your open loops instead of a blank screen.
That is the whole idea: you keep your notes in plain files you own, and LocalBrain keeps them structured and current in the background. Next, read about what a context engine is, or watch it run by dropping a transcript into your vault.