Open Local NotebookLM

KnowNote: Docker-free NotebookLM alternative. Chat with local docs using any LLM API—Windows & macOS.

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I really love the philosophy behind Google NotebookLM: upload documents, build context, and use LLMs for reasoning.

But I wished it offered some features it currently doesn’t:

• Use my own private or self-hosted LLM APIs

• Keep all data local without relying on the cloud

• Try the tool without Docker or complex deployment

While exploring GitHub, I discovered many impressive “Open Notebook” projects. They’re powerful and well-designed—but almost all of them rely on Docker. For beginners and non-backend users, that alone can be a dealbreaker.

So I built KnowNote: a simple Electron-based desktop app that brings NotebookLM-style workflows into a local-first, Docker-free environment.

This is my first open-source project. It’s still in its early stages, but the core concept is working—and I’m excited to share it and learn from the community.