Forge ⚒️

A modern, local-first note-taking and project management app with AI integration via MCP

Forge is a powerful, privacy-focused productivity application that combines note-taking, task management, and project organization in a single, beautiful interface. Built with modern web technologies and designed to work completely offline, Forge keeps your data local and secure while providing seamless AI integration through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        Desktop App                          │
│  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │              Frontend (Svelte + TypeScript)           │  │
│  │  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────────────┐     │  │
│  │  │  Notes   │  │  Todos   │  │  Projects        │     │  │
│  │  │  Editor  │  │  Manager │  │  Dashboard       │     │  │
│  │  └──────────┘  └──────────┘  └──────────────────┘     │  │
│  │                                                       │  │
│  │  Styled with Tailwind CSS • Bundled with Vite         │  │
│  └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
│                            │                                │
│                            ▼                                │
│  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │              Tauri IPC Bridge                         │  │
│  └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
│                            │                                │
│                            ▼                                │
│  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │              Backend (Rust)                           │  │
│  │  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────────────┐     │  │
│  │  │   File   │  │  Search  │  │      MCP         │     │  │
│  │  │  System  │  │  Engine  │  │    Commands      │     │  │
│  │  └──────────┘  └──────────┘  └──────────────────┘     │  │
│  └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
│                            │                                │
└────────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────┘
                             ▼
                   ┌──────────────────┐
                   │   Local Storage  │
                   │  (Your Machine)  │
                   └──────────────────┘
                    • Markdown Files
                    • SQLite Database
                    • User Preferences

✨ Features

• 🔒 Local-First: All your data stays on your machine - no cloud, no servers, no tracking
• 📝 Markdown Support: Write notes in Markdown with real-time preview
• 🔗 Cross-File References: Link notes together to build your knowledge graph
• ✅ Todo & Project Management: Organize tasks and projects alongside your notes
• 🔍 Full-Text Search: Lightning-fast search powered by in-memory indexing
• 🧠 Semantic Search: Vector-based search for finding related content (coming soon)
• 🤖 AI Integration: MCP-compatible for seamless integration with AI assistants
• 🎨 Customizable Themes: Bring your own CSS or YAML configuration
• 💻 Cross-Platform: Desktop app for Linux, macOS, and Windows
• 🌐 Web Version: Progressive Web App with local storage support

🛠️ Technology Stack

Frontend

• SvelteKit - Modern, reactive framework
• TypeScript - Type-safe development
• Tailwind CSS v4 - Utility-first styling with customization
• Vite - Fast build tooling

Desktop

• Tauri 2.0 - Lightweight desktop framework (~600KB binary size)
• Rust - High-performance backend

Libraries

• marked - Markdown parsing and rendering
• minisearch - Full-text search engine
• idb - IndexedDB wrapper for browser storage
• date-fns - Date utilities

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 24+ and npm
• Rust and Cargo (for desktop builds)

Development

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run development server (web only)
npm run dev

# Run desktop app in dev mode
npm run tauri:dev

# Build for production
npm run build

# Build desktop app
npm run tauri:build

Project Structure

forge/
├── src/
│   ├── lib/
│   │   ├── api/         # Tauri command wrappers
│   │   ├── components/  # Svelte components
│   │   ├── stores/      # State management
│   │   ├── types/       # TypeScript types
│   │   └── utils/       # Utility functions
│   ├── routes/          # SvelteKit routes
│   └── app.css          # Global styles & theme variables
├── src-tauri/           # Rust backend (desktop only)
└── static/              # Static assets

⚙️ Customization

Themes

Forge supports custom themes through CSS variables. Create a theme.css or theme.yaml file:

:root {
  --color-primary: #3b82f6;
  --color-secondary: #8b5cf6;
  --color-accent: #06b6d4;
  --color-background: #ffffff;
  --color-surface: #f3f4f6;
  --color-text: #1f2937;
}

MCP Integration

Forge exposes a local API that can be accessed via MCP servers. This allows AI assistants to:

• Create, read, update, and delete notes
• Manage todos and projects
• Search your knowledge base
• Link related content

All operations are performed locally with no data leaving your machine.

🗺️ Roadmap

• Core note editing with Markdown support
• Bidirectional linking between notes
• Full-text search implementation
• Todo and project management
• Tag system
• Vector embeddings for semantic search
• MCP server implementation
• Export/import functionality
• Dark mode
• Mobile support (Android/iOS via Tauri)
• Plugin system

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! This is an open-source project licensed under the MIT License.

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details

💡 Philosophy

Forge is built on these principles:

• Privacy First - Your data belongs to you
• Local Everything - No dependencies on external services
• Open Source - Transparent, auditable, modifiable
• Modern Design - Beautiful and functional
• AI-Ready - Built for the age of AI assistants