Your notes,
on your machine.
Zyler blends Notion’s block editor, Obsidian’s backlinks and graph, and a bring-your-own-key AI assistant — a desktop app where your data never leaves your disk.
How it works
Write, connect, and ask — in one app
A Notion-style block editor, Obsidian-style backlinks and graph, and a private AI assistant — all on your machine.
A full block editor
Headings, tables, code, columns, media, toggles and callouts — inside a Notion-style page with icon, cover and title.
Everything is linked
[[Backlinks]], block references, full-text search, a command palette, and a force-directed knowledge graph.
An AI that reads & writes
Chat in the sidebar, search your Vault, and let the assistant edit the current document — block by block.
Write the way you think
A block editor with a Notion-style page shell — icon, cover, title. Type a slash for any block; the Markdown you type turns into real formatting as you go.
- Headings, tables, toggles, code, callouts, columns, and an auto table of contents
- Slash menu to insert, inline toolbar to format, ':' for emoji
- Per-note width, font, and read-only lock — saved as lossless JSON
Meeting notes
Edited just now · 96 words
Connect every note
Link notes with [[wiki links]] and block references, then see the whole web as an Obsidian-style graph. Search and the command palette put anything a keystroke away.
- Backlinks resolve by stable note ID — rename freely, links never break
- Block references stay live-synced when the source note changes
- ⌘P full-text search and a force-directed knowledge graph
Let AI into the document
Not a completion box — an assistant that searches your vault, reads referenced notes, and writes straight into the editor. Bring your own key, or run a local model fully offline.
- Select text to rewrite with an in-place, word-level diff you accept or discard
- Press space on an empty line to generate tables, lists, or columns
- Any OpenAI-compatible endpoint; keys stay in the system keychain
Your notes stay on your device
Notes are plain JSON in a Vault at ~/Documents/Zyler Vault — a folder you can see, back up, and sync yourself. No cloud backend, no forced account. Whether anything ever goes online is entirely your call.
- Drop the Vault into iCloud, Dropbox, or Git to sync — Zyler never manages it for you
- Atomic writes, version snapshots, and external-change detection keep data safe
- AI runs on your own key — point it at a local model and stay fully offline
Choose how to get started
Zyler Desktop
Download the app and start writing in a local Vault — no account required.
- The full block editor, backlinks, search, and knowledge graph
- Bring your own AI key — or run a local model, fully offline
- Your notes stay on your device — sync them yourself, or don't
Coming from Obsidian or Notion?
We tested the alternatives ourselves and wrote up what actually differs — read first, decide after.
- 8 tools compared per guide, prices verified against official sources
- Format differences up front — Zyler stores JSON, not Markdown
- A plain answer on who should stay where they are
Building your own editor?
Rune is our open source block editor engine, the same core behind Zyler. Two packages on npm, MPL-2.0, ready to drop into any React app.