Your notes, captured effortlessly and searchable by meaning — not just keywords.
Capture, organize, and retrieve your knowledge with AI-powered semantic search. Local-first. No cloud required.
Download the App · Install the CLI · Agent Integration · Quick Start
Your notes are scattered across apps that can't talk to each other. Search only works if you remember the exact words you used. And every "AI-powered" tool wants to send your data to someone else's cloud.
Tentacle fixes this.
A native desktop app for capturing and organizing your knowledge. A Rust CLI for agents and automation. Both use the same local files, the same semantic index, and neither requires a cloud account.
Native desktop app for macOS, Windows, and Linux.
| Platform | Download | Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| 🍎 macOS | Download .dmg | macOS 11 (Big Sur)+ |
| 🪟 Windows | Download .exe | Windows 10 (1809)+ |
| 🐧 Linux | Download .AppImage | Ubuntu 20.04 / Fedora 36+ |
- Rich text editor — write and edit notes with a full Tiptap editor
- Semantic search — find notes by meaning, not just keywords ("auth flow" finds "login system")
- Auto-tagging — AI categorizes your notes on save (optional BYOK)
- Voice capture — record thoughts, get instant transcription
- Local-first storage — plain markdown files in a folder you choose
- Fast — cold start under 3 seconds, no login required
- Open Tentacle
- Go to Settings → choose a local documents folder
- (Optional) Add OpenAI API key for auto-tagging
- Start creating notes — they're saved as
.mdfiles in that folder - Search across everything semantically from the search bar
Your notes are plain markdown. Use any editor alongside Tentacle. Nothing is locked in.
Tentacle ships a Rust CLI (tentacle) for terminal workflows, built for AI agents. Every command supports --json output for easy piping.
# macOS / Linux
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf \
https://github.com/polvera/tentacle-app/releases/latest/download/tentacle-installer.sh | sh
# Windows
irm https://github.com/polvera/tentacle-app/releases/latest/download/tentacle-installer.ps1 | iex
# Rust users
cargo install --git https://github.com/polvera/tentacle-app --locked tentacle-cliDirect binary archives available on each GitHub release for aarch64-apple-darwin, x86_64-apple-darwin, x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu, and x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.
# Initialize Tentacle in the current directory
tentacle init
# Add your existing notes
tentacle add ./my-notes/
# Search by meaning, not keywords
tentacle search "how we handle auth"
# Create a note from the terminal
echo "Meeting notes: decided to use OAuth2 for the API" | tentacle create --title "Auth Decision" --folder inbox# Pipe content directly
cat meeting-notes.md | tentacle create --title "Standup 2026-02-23" --folder inbox --json
# Check status programmatically
tentacle status --jsonThe CLI and desktop app share the same storage format. Use both — your notes stay in sync because they're the same files.
You've got notes in six apps and none of them talk to each other. Tentacle works on plain markdown files in a folder. Bring your own editor. Search everything semantically. Give your coding agents persistent memory.
Voice memos, meeting notes, shower thoughts — scattered everywhere. Tentacle captures and auto-organizes so nothing falls through the cracks.
Papers, references, project notes piling up. Tentacle's semantic search surfaces the relevant context when you need it, not when you remember the exact filename.
Your Files (markdown) → Local Embeddings → Semantic Index → Search by Meaning
- Notes stored as plain markdown files in a folder you choose
- Embeddings computed and cached locally — no external API calls
- Semantic index stored in
.document-data.dbalongside your files - Soft delete moves files to
.trash/— nothing is permanently lost - Optional BYOK auto-tagging enriches notes on save while preserving your manual tags
- No internet required for local document workflows
- Desktop App: Tauri v2 (Rust backend) + Next.js 16 + TypeScript + Tailwind CSS + Tiptap editor
- CLI: Rust (fast cold start, single binary)
- Embeddings: Local computation, no external dependencies
- Storage: Plain markdown files + SQLite semantic index
- Cloud (coming soon): Optional Supabase sync for cross-device access
tentacle-app/
├── frontend/ # Next.js application
│ ├── app/ # App router pages
│ ├── components/ # React components
│ ├── lib/ # Utilities, hooks
│ ├── src-tauri/ # Tauri Rust backend
│ │ ├── src/main.rs # Rust entry point
│ │ └── tauri.conf.json # Tauri configuration
│ └── package.json
├── specs/ # Specification documents
├── .github/workflows/ # CI/CD pipelines
├── BUILD.md # Build instructions
├── CONTRIBUTING.md # Contribution guidelines
└── README.md
| Issue | Fix |
|---|---|
| macOS: app won't open | Right-click → Open to bypass Gatekeeper on first launch |
| Windows: SmartScreen warning | Click "More info" → "Run anyway" |
tentacle: command not found |
Restart your shell or add the install path to $PATH |
| Search returns no results | Run tentacle init first, then tentacle add ./your-notes/ |
| Documents don't load in app | Open Settings and select a valid local folder |
| Build errors on macOS | xcode-select --install then rustup update stable |
| Build errors on Windows | Install Visual C++ Build Tools + WebView2 runtime |
| Build errors on Linux | Install deps from BUILD.md |
For more help, see BUILD.md or open an issue.
Issues and pull requests welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines on setup, code style, and the PR process.
- BUILD.md — Build instructions for all platforms
- cli/README.md — CLI installation and agent workflow examples
- specs/ — Technical specifications
- CONTRIBUTING.md — Contribution guidelines
MIT — see LICENSE for details.