rune

AI-native, local-first markdown notes.

rune is a desktop note-taking app where your notes stay as plain .md files on disk. The desktop editor is for direct writing, and the local MCP server lets an AI agent create and edit notes in the same library.

No accounts. No cloud sync. No telemetry. The app does not need internet access to function.

Status

rune is early preview software. The desktop app can create libraries, create notebooks and notes, edit Markdown with CodeMirror, auto-save to disk, render a live preview, and search notes from the command palette. The MCP server is included and is being developed as the second creation surface.

Concepts

• A library is a curated top-level notes folder.
• A notebook is a folder inside a library.
• A note is a plain .md file.
• The optional SQLite index under <library>/.rune is derived from the files and can be rebuilt.

Features

• Local-first Markdown storage with portable plain-text files.
• Library-first setup that creates notes under ~/notes/rune on Linux and macOS, and under the Documents folder on Windows.
• CodeMirror 6 editor with Markdown support and debounced auto-save.
• Live Markdown preview pane and reading mode.
• Keyboard-driven UI with configurable shortcuts.
• Local MCP server for agent-created notes, notebooks, and search.

Install

Download the latest desktop builds from GitHub Releases.

Linux AppImage builds may need distro-specific WebKitGTK and graphics setup. If the AppImage does not start on your distro, build from source for now.

Run From Source

Install Bun and the platform dependencies required by Tauri 2, then run:

bun install
bun tauri:dev

Useful project commands:

bun fmt
bun lint
bun typecheck
bun test
bun build

Run the MCP server locally:

bun --cwd apps/mcp run dev -- --help
bun --cwd apps/mcp run dev -- --library ~/notes/rune/personal

Project Layout

• apps/desktop is the Tauri 2 desktop app built with Vite, React, TypeScript, CodeMirror 6, shadcn/ui, and Tailwind v4.
• apps/mcp is the Bun-powered local MCP server for note and notebook tools.
• packages/core contains shared, I/O-free Markdown and library logic.
• packages/db contains the rebuildable SQLite index schema and search helpers.

Privacy

rune stores notes on your machine. The MCP server communicates over local stdio and does not make network calls itself. If your AI agent uses a cloud model, that is controlled by the agent you connect to rune, not by rune itself.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for setup, project boundaries, and pull request expectations.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.