Show HN: OpenKnowledge – open source AI-first alternative to Obsidian/Notion
OpenKnowledge launches as a new open-source, AI-first alternative to Obsidian and Notion, emphasizing a 'what you see is what you get' markdown editing experience. This 'Show HN' captures attention by addressing common pain points with existing knowledge bases, integrating deeply with modern AI agents like Claude and Codex. Its local-first, git-powered, and collaborative features make it particularly appealing to developers seeking a powerful and private 'second brain' solution.
The Lowdown
OpenKnowledge is a newly launched open-source project presenting itself as an AI-native, local-first markdown editor and LLM wiki, aiming to provide a superior alternative to tools like Obsidian and Notion. Developed by Inkeep, it promises a 'what you see is what you get' (WYSIWYG) editing experience akin to Google Docs, specifically designed for writing and sharing markdown files with deep AI integrations.
Key features and architectural highlights include:
- A WYSIWYG markdown editor built on Tiptap/ProseMirror, ensuring a smooth writing experience.
- Native integrations with AI agents like Claude, Codex, and Cursor, facilitating 'LLM-wiki' and 'AI Second Brain' workflows.
- Local-first data storage where content resides as standard markdown files on disk, ensuring data privacy and portability.
- Collaborative capabilities powered by CRDTs (yjs) and Git, offering version history, undo/redo, and team synchronization.
- Available as a macOS desktop application, with a CLI for Linux and Intel Mac users to run it as a local web app.
- Architectural innovations like a bidirectional lossless ProseMirror to markdown conversion pipeline and a dual-observer CRDT to keep states synchronized.
- It is fully open-source under the GPL-3.0-or-later license, welcoming community contributions.
OpenKnowledge positions itself as a robust tool for individual and team knowledge management, leveraging modern web technologies and AI to create a powerful, flexible, and developer-friendly platform.
The Gossip
Migration Matters
Users expressed concern over the friction involved in migrating their existing knowledge bases to OpenKnowledge. The author clarified that switching from Obsidian is relatively seamless due to its markdown-based nature and OpenKnowledge's support for Obsidian syntax like wikilinks. However, migrating from Notion would typically involve exporting documents to markdown first, with no direct migration tool currently available.
Interoperability Inquiries
A common question revolved around OpenKnowledge's compatibility or interoperability with other knowledge management tools, specifically in a team environment like with Slite. The author investigated, confirming that since OpenKnowledge uses markdown files on disk, it's not exclusionary. While Slite supports markdown import/export, direct, native interop is not present, suggesting OpenKnowledge could be used independently alongside such tools.