Introducing Zyler
A local-first, Notion-style knowledge base with backlinks, a knowledge graph, and an AI that actually edits your notes — all on your own machine.
Overview
Zyler is a desktop notes app for people who want a serious knowledge base, not a demo. It brings together three things that usually live in different tools: Notion's block editing, Obsidian's backlinks and graph, and an AI assistant that can read and rewrite your documents — inside an app where your data stays on your device.
Write
A full block editor, powered by our own Rune engine: headings, lists, tables, toggles, code blocks, multi-column layouts, media, and a slash menu to insert any of them. Pages get Notion-style icons and covers. Markdown you type is parsed live, but notes are stored as high-fidelity JSON so nothing is lost.
Connect and find
[[backlinks]]resolve by a stable note ID, so links survive renames.- Block references point at a specific block and stay in sync when it changes.
- Full-text search and a command palette (
Cmd+P) jump anywhere instantly. - A force-directed knowledge graph makes the shape of your thinking visible.
Ask and edit
Zyler's assistant isn't a completion box off to the side. It can search your vault,
read the notes you @-mention, and — with your go-ahead — insert, rewrite, and
reorganize blocks in the document you're looking at. Select text and rewrite it in
place with a word-level diff, or press space on an empty line to generate a table
or checklist.
Bring your own key. Point the AI at OpenAI, a local Ollama, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint — keys live in your system keychain, never in a file.
Local-first, by default
Your notes are plain files in a folder you can see, back up, and sync yourself. There's no cloud backend and no required account; version history, atomic writes, and conflict handling make that folder behave like a reliable database. Download Zyler for macOS or Windows and start free.