GitHub - Artaeon/granit: Granit is a free, open-source terminal-native personal knowledge management system built in Go. It reads and writes standard Markdown with YAML frontmatter and [[wikilinks]], so your vault stays fully compatible with Obsidian, Logseq, and any other Markdown-based tool.

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The terminal-native knowledge manager that replaces Obsidian, Notion, and Todoist.
Notes, tasks, goals, habits, calendar, 23 AI bots, and daily planning -- one binary, zero subscriptions.

Features • Use Cases • Screenshots • Installation • Quick Start • Daily Workflow • Shortcuts • CLI • AI Setup • Config • Compare • Contributing • Docs

What is Granit?

Granit is a free, open-source knowledge management system built entirely in Go. A single ~32 MB binary gives you a full-featured note editor, task manager, goal tracker, habit tracker, calendar with time-blocking, 23 AI bots, and daily planning workflows -- all inside your terminal.

Your notes are plain Markdown files with [[wikilinks]] and YAML frontmatter. Fully compatible with Obsidian, Logseq, and any Markdown editor. Bring your existing vault or start fresh.

No Electron. No browser. No subscriptions. No telemetry. No vendor lock-in.

granit                          # open your vault
granit note "ship the release"  # quick capture from shell
granit sync                     # git pull + commit + push
granit today                    # print today's tasks and habits

How much are you paying for productivity tools?

Tool Monthly Cost What Granit Replaces

Obsidian Sync + Publish $16/mo Notes, wikilinks, graph, canvas, sync

Obsidian AI $14/mo 23 local AI bots, free

Todoist Pro $5/mo Task manager with 7 views + Eisenhower + Kanban

Notion $10/mo Database, calendar, kanban, wiki

Habitica / Streaks $5/mo Habit tracker with streaks

Total $50/mo Granit: $0/mo, forever

Why Granit?

Most knowledge tools force a trade-off: power vs speed, features vs simplicity, local vs connected. Granit refuses to choose.

Instant startup. Your vault loads in ~12ms. No splash screens, no spinners, no loading bars. Open Granit, start typing. It's as fast as vim but with a full productivity suite behind it.
Everything in one place. Notes, tasks, goals, habits, calendar, journal, AI -- they all live together. No more context-switching between five different apps to plan your day.
Keyboard-first. 168 commands, all reachable from your keyboard. 17 layouts to match how you work. Full Vim mode with macros, text objects, and dot repeat. Your hands never leave the keyboard.
AI that runs locally. 23 AI bots work with models as small as 0.5B parameters via Ollama. Auto-tag your notes, generate flashcards, plan your day, triage tasks -- all without sending data to the cloud.
Your data, your files. Plain .md files in a folder. Sync with git, Nextcloud, or Dropbox. Encrypt sensitive notes with AES-256. No proprietary database, no cloud dependency, no account required.
Obsidian compatible. Use your existing Obsidian vault. [[Wikilinks]], backlinks, graph view, canvas, dataview queries, YAML frontmatter -- it all works. Switch to Granit without changing a single file.

Who is Granit for?

Developers and Engineers

You live in the terminal. Your IDE is there, your git is there, your builds run there. Why should your notes be trapped in Electron? Granit fits into your existing workflow -- tmux split, SSH session, or standalone. Use the CLI to capture ideas without leaving your current context. Git sync keeps everything versioned automatically.

# Quick capture without leaving your terminal workflow
granit note "Bug: race condition in auth middleware -- see PR #847"
granit todo "Fix flaky test in CI" --due tomorrow --priority high --tag backend

Researchers and Students

Granit is a Zettelkasten and study tool in one. [[Wikilinks]] connect your ideas into a knowledge graph. The AI flashcard generator turns your notes into study material. Semantic search finds connections you didn't know existed. The reading list tracks papers and books with progress bars.

Writers and Content Creators

Focus Mode strips away everything except your words. Ghost Writer offers inline AI suggestions as you type. 17 layouts let you switch between drafting, editing, and outlining. Export to HTML, PDF, or publish directly to Medium and GitHub Pages.

Productivity Enthusiasts

If you've tried every app from Todoist to Notion to Obsidian and still feel like something's missing, Granit might be it. Morning routine, evening review, habit tracking with streaks, Pomodoro timer, goal manager with milestones, clock-in/out time tracking, Eisenhower Matrix, and Kanban boards -- all without paying for a single subscription.

Teams on a Budget

Granit is MIT-licensed and free forever. Sync through a shared git repo or Nextcloud server. Every team member gets the full feature set. No "Pro" tier, no per-seat pricing, no feature gates.

Screenshots

Markdown editing with syntax highlighting, wikilink autocomplete, and multi-cursor

Full-width weekly grid with time-blocking, event wizard, and goal integration

23 AI bots running locally via Ollama -- auto-tag, summarize, flashcards, and more

40 built-in themes including accessibility themes and a live theme editor

Features

Editor

Granit's editor isn't a glorified textarea -- it's a real code-grade text editor built for Markdown.

Syntax-highlighted Markdown with Chroma (200+ languages in fenced code blocks)
Full Vim modal editing -- Normal, Insert, Visual, Command modes with macros, marks, registers, and dot repeat
Multi-cursor editing (Ctrl+D to select next occurrence, Ctrl+Shift+Up/Down to add cursors)
Heading folding, split pane view, visual table editor
Ghost Writer -- inline AI writing suggestions (Tab to accept) with 32-entry completion cache
Reading mode (Ctrl+E) -- distraction-free rendered view with reading-width column, progress bar, and smooth scrolling
Find and replace (in-file and global with regex), 18 built-in snippets, smart bracket auto-close
[[ wikilink autocomplete with fuzzy matching across all vault files
Mermaid diagram rendering, footnotes, callout blocks, transclusion, and smart indentation
Spell checking (aspell), clipboard manager with history, and unlimited undo/redo
Word count, reading time, and writing statistics in the status bar

Vim Mode: If you're a Vim user, Granit feels like home. Normal, Insert, Visual, and Command modes. Text objects (diw, ci", da(), macros (q to record, @ to play), marks (m + letter), search highlighting with n/N, dot repeat, :%s substitution, and more. Toggle with Ctrl+, > Vim Mode or the command palette.

Calendar

6 views: month, week, 3-day, 1-day, agenda, year (Ctrl+L)
Full-width weekly grid -- hourly time slots with column separators, today highlighted
Current time marker -- green >HH:MM line across the grid
Task time-blocking (b) -- assign tasks to time slots, writes to planner file
Event creation wizard (a) -- title, time, duration, location, recurrence, color, description
Goals integration -- active goals as progress badges in the week header
Weekly milestones (g) -- create a milestone linked to an existing goal
Daily focus -- Plan My Day's top goal shown in day headers
ICS calendar sync -- auto-loads .ics files, per-file toggle in settings, RRULE support
Calendar sidebar panel for cockpit and widescreen layouts

Tasks

Tasks live inside your notes as Markdown checkboxes. Granit finds them all and gives you powerful views to organize them.

Task Manager (Ctrl+K) -- 7 views:

View	What it shows
Today	Due today + overdue, sorted by priority
Upcoming	Next 7 days grouped by date
All	Every task with filters and sort
Done	Completed tasks with completion dates
Calendar	Tasks on a date grid
Kanban	Drag between columns by status
Eisenhower	2x2 urgent/important matrix

5 priority levels, due dates, time estimates (~30m), subtask hierarchy, dependencies
Reschedule, batch reschedule, snooze, pin, undo (10-deep stack), task templates
Bulk operations, tag/priority filters, focus session launcher
Recurring tasks with auto-creation on completion
Natural language dates (@next week, @friday, @in 3 days), quick-add syntax (!high #tag ~1h)
AI task triage -- suggest priorities based on deadlines, dependencies, and workload

CLI quick capture:

granit todo "Ship v2.0" --due friday --priority high --tag release
granit todo "Buy groceries" --due today --tag personal

Goals and Projects

Goal Manager -- active, paused, completed, archived lifecycle with milestones and due dates
Milestone CRUD with reordering, auto-complete, goal-to-task linking, and progress sparklines
Recurring reviews (weekly/monthly/quarterly) with progress tracking
AI Goal Coach -- velocity tracking, stalled detection, priority recommendations
AI Project Insights -- health analysis, risks, blockers, next actions
Project dashboards, burndown charts, and daily standup generator

Knowledge Management

Your notes are not just files -- they're a connected knowledge graph.

[[Wikilinks]] with real-time autocomplete, backlinks panel, and interactive note graph (Ctrl+G)
Tag browser (Ctrl+T) -- browse all tags with note counts, drill into tagged notes
Note outline (Ctrl+O) -- jump to any heading in the current note
Bookmarks (Ctrl+B) -- starred notes and recently opened, with quick navigation
Reading list -- track books, papers, and articles with progress bars and notes
Semantic search with AI embeddings -- find notes by meaning, not just keywords
Dataview queries -- filter and display notes based on frontmatter metadata
Canvas/whiteboard with nodes, connections, and spatial layout for visual thinking
Zettelkasten ID generator for structured note-taking workflows
Note versioning with git diffs -- see how any note changed over time
Smart connections -- AI finds related notes you didn't explicitly link
Knowledge gaps analysis -- AI identifies topics you've referenced but never written about
Thread Weaver -- connects disparate notes into coherent narratives
Auto-linker -- suggests [[links]] you might have missed based on content analysis

AI Integration

Granit treats AI as a built-in utility, not a paid add-on. Every bot is optimized for small models that run on CPU.

23 AI Bots (Ctrl+R) in 6 categories:

Category	Bots
Writing	Summarizer, tone adjuster, writing coach, ghost writer, expand, TLDR
Organization	Auto-tagger, auto-linker, flashcard generator, action items, outliner, MOC generator
Research	Deep dive agent, note enhancer, vault analyzer, daily digest, key terms
Planning	Plan my day, task triage, AI scheduler, goal coach, standup generator
Analysis	Smart connections, knowledge gaps, project insights, counter-argument, pros/cons
Learning	Explain simply, question generator, flashcards, key concepts

Deep Dive Research Agent -- runs Claude Code in the background to research topics and create structured notes in your vault. Status indicator in the status bar. ESC to minimize, Ctrl+C to cancel.
Ghost Writer -- inline AI suggestions as you type, Tab to accept. 32-entry completion cache ensures fast suggestions even with slow models.
Providers: Ollama (local, default), OpenAI, Nous, or offline fallback with graceful degradation
Ollama management -- install, start/stop, and pull models directly from Granit's settings panel
Production reliability: auto-retry with exponential backoff, HTTP cancellation, timeout handling, token-budget checks, and per-bot system prompts with small-model variants

Privacy first: When using Ollama, your notes never leave your machine. All AI processing happens locally. The 0.5B parameter qwen2.5:0.5b model runs on any CPU and handles auto-tagging, summarization, and flashcard generation well. Upgrade to 3B-7B for better writing and planning quality.

Habits and Daily Routines

Habit tracker with streaks, frequency settings (daily/weekly), and completion history
Pomodoro timer with configurable session goals, focus sessions (25/45/60/90 min)
Daily planner with time-blocked schedule and clipboard export
Morning Routine (Alt+M) -- scripture, set a goal, select tasks, toggle habits, write thoughts -- saved to daily note
Evening Review (Alt+E) -- reflect on accomplishments, audit overdue tasks, plan tomorrow
Daily Jot (Alt+J) -- quick timestamped bullets throughout the day
Smart daily note templates with 15+ variables ({{overdue_tasks}}, {{active_goals}}, etc.)
Clock in/out time tracking with project tagging and weekly reports

Explorer / File Browser

Hierarchical file tree with folder expand/collapse, file type icons, and daily/weekly note markers
Persistent state -- folder collapse state saved across sessions automatically
z to collapse all folders, Z to expand all -- instantly reorganize your view
/ to enter fuzzy search mode, filtering across all filenames in real time
Vim-style navigation: j/k to move, h/l to collapse/expand, Enter to open
Tab switching: Ctrl+Tab / Ctrl+Shift+Tab to cycle, Ctrl+1-9 to jump by position

Sync and Export

Git -- built-in overlay with status, log, diff, commit, push, pull, author config; granit sync CLI
Nextcloud WebDAV sync with auto-sync option
Export to HTML, PDF (pandoc), plain text; blog publisher (Medium, GitHub Pages)
Note encryption (AES-256-GCM), import from Obsidian/Logseq/Notion
Backup and restore with timestamped zip archives

Customization

Granit is deeply configurable. Every visual element can be changed without touching code.

40 themes including 5 accessibility themes (high-contrast, deuteranopia, protanopia, tritanopia, monochrome)
- Popular themes: Catppuccin Mocha/Latte/Frappe/Macchiato, Tokyo Night, Gruvbox, Nord, Dracula, Rosepine, Solarized, One Dark, Kanagawa, Everforest, and more
Live theme editor -- customize all 16 color roles in real-time and export as custom JSON

17 layouts with instant switching (Alt+L):

Layout	Best for
Default	General note-taking with sidebar + editor + backlinks
Writer	Centered editor with generous margins
Zen	Distraction-free, no panels
Dashboard	Sidebar + editor + calendar panel
Cockpit	Compact layout with status tray
Kanban	Task manager focused with board view
Cornell	Cornell note-taking method layout
Widescreen	Optimized for ultra-wide monitors
+ 9 more	Reading, focus, preview, presenter, research, etc.

4 icon themes: unicode (default), nerd font, emoji, ASCII
16 core plugins with Lua scripting API for custom workflows
Command palette (Ctrl+X) with 168 commands across 11 categories
Per-vault configuration overrides -- different themes and settings per vault

Testing & Reliability

Granit is one of the most thoroughly tested TUI applications in the Go ecosystem.

2,072 test cases covering editor operations, task parsing, calendar logic, AI integration, configuration, vault scanning, and more
Tests run on every commit with go test ./...
Edge case coverage: Unicode handling, large file performance, concurrent vault access, malformed Markdown, empty vaults
AI bots include fallback paths for offline/error scenarios -- Granit never crashes because an AI request failed
Configuration migration handles schema changes across versions
File watcher detects external changes (edits from other apps) and reloads gracefully

A Day with Granit

Here's what a typical day looks like:

6:30 AM -- Morning routine (Alt+M) You open Granit and press Alt+M. A Bible verse greets you. You set your goal for the day: "Ship the API refactor." You select today's tasks from your vault, toggle which habits you'll focus on, and write a quick thought. Everything gets saved to your daily note.

9:00 AM -- Deep work You're coding in tmux. An idea hits you mid-flow. Without leaving your terminal: granit note "Consider event sourcing for audit trail". Done. Back to code. Later, you press Ctrl+R and ask the auto-linker to connect your new note to related ones.

12:00 PM -- Quick capture Lunch meeting produced action items. You fire off:

granit todo "Draft API migration guide" --due friday --tag docs
granit todo "Set up staging env" --due tomorrow --priority high

3:00 PM -- Research You press Alt+R to launch the Deep Dive Research Agent. It runs Claude Code in the background, researching "event sourcing patterns in Go," and creates a structured note in your vault. You keep working while it runs -- the status bar shows progress.

5:30 PM -- Review and sync Press Alt+E for the evening review. Granit shows what you accomplished, flags overdue tasks, and helps you plan tomorrow. Then granit sync commits and pushes everything.

Throughout the day -- Alt+J for quick jots. Ctrl+L to check your calendar. Alt+H for the dashboard with tasks, goals, habits, and stats at a glance.

Installation

From source (recommended)

git clone https://github.com/artaeon/granit.git
cd granit
go install ./cmd/granit/

# Ensure ~/go/bin is in your PATH
export PATH="$HOME/go/bin:$PATH"

One-liner

go install github.com/artaeon/granit/cmd/granit@latest

Build from source with custom binary location

git clone https://github.com/artaeon/granit.git
cd granit
go build -o bin/granit ./cmd/granit/
sudo cp bin/granit /usr/local/bin/

Requirements

Requirement	Version	Notes
Go	1.24+	Required for building
Git	Any	Required for git sync features
Platform	Linux, macOS	Terminal with 256-color support recommended

Optional Dependencies

Package	Purpose
Ollama	Local AI (23 bots, Ghost Writer, research agent)
aspell	Spell checking
pandoc	PDF export
xclip / wl-copy	System clipboard integration
Claude Code	Deep Dive Research Agent

See docs/INSTALLATION.md for desktop app, AUR package, and cross-compilation.

Quick Start

# Create and open a vault
granit init my-vault
granit my-vault

# Or open any directory of Markdown files (including Obsidian vaults)
granit ~/Documents/notes

# Subsequent launches re-open the last vault
granit

First steps inside Granit

Step	Shortcut	What it does
1	`Ctrl+N`	Create a new note with template picker
2	Type `[[`	Link to another note with autocomplete
3	`Ctrl+K`	Open task manager -- add your first task
4	`Ctrl+L`	Open calendar -- view month/week/day
5	`Ctrl+R`	AI bots -- auto-tag, summarize, flashcards
6	`Ctrl+X`	Command palette -- 168 commands at your fingertips
7	`Ctrl+,`	Settings -- configure theme, AI, layout
8	`Alt+M`	Morning routine -- plan your day
9	`Ctrl+G`	Note graph -- visualize connections
10	`Alt+L`	Layout picker -- try all 17 layouts

Import your existing vault

# Obsidian vault -- just point Granit at it
granit ~/Documents/ObsidianVault

# Logseq -- works with the pages/ directory
granit ~/Logseq/pages

# Notion export (markdown)
granit import --from notion ~/Downloads/notion-export

Keyboard Shortcuts

Core Navigation

Key	Action
`Tab` / `Shift+Tab`	Cycle between panels
`F1` / `F2` / `F3`	Focus sidebar / editor / backlinks
`Ctrl+Tab` / `Ctrl+Shift+Tab`	Cycle between open tabs
`Ctrl+1-9`	Jump to tab by position
`Ctrl+P`	Quick open (fuzzy file search)
`Ctrl+J`	Quick switch between recent files
`Ctrl+N`	New note with template picker
`Ctrl+S`	Save current note
`Ctrl+E`	Toggle edit / reading mode
`Ctrl+Q`	Quit

Explorer / Sidebar

Key	Action
`j` / `k` / `Up` / `Down`	Navigate up / down
`Enter` / `Space`	Open file or expand/collapse folder
`Left` / `h`	Collapse folder or go to parent
`Right` / `l`	Expand folder or enter directory
`z`	Collapse all folders
`Z`	Expand all folders
`/`	Search / filter files
`Esc`	Clear search, return to tree

Folder state persists across sessions automatically.

Overlays and Tools

Key	Action
`Ctrl+X`	Command palette (168 commands)
`Ctrl+K`	Task manager
`Ctrl+L`	Calendar
`Ctrl+R`	AI bots
`Ctrl+G`	Note graph visualization
`Ctrl+T`	Tag browser
`Ctrl+O`	Note outline (headings)
`Ctrl+B`	Bookmarks and recent notes
`Ctrl+W`	Canvas / whiteboard
`Ctrl+,`	Settings
`Ctrl+Z`	Focus / zen mode
`F4`	Rename current note
`F5` / `Alt+?`	Help overlay

Editing

Key	Action
`Ctrl+F`	Find in file
`Ctrl+H`	Find and replace
`Ctrl+D`	Multi-cursor: select word / next occurrence
`Ctrl+U`	Undo
`Ctrl+Y`	Redo
`Ctrl+Shift+Up/Down`	Add cursor above/below

Daily Workflow

Key	Action
`Alt+M`	Morning routine -- scripture, goal, tasks, habits, thoughts
`Alt+D`	Today's daily note
`Alt+J`	Daily jot (quick timestamped entries)
`Alt+E`	Evening review
`Alt+H`	Dashboard (tasks, goals, habits, stats)
`Alt+W`	Weekly note
`Alt+L`	Layout picker
`Alt+R`	Deep Dive Research Agent

See docs/KEYBINDINGS.md for the complete reference including Vim mode, task manager, calendar, canvas, and goals keybindings.

CLI Reference

Granit includes a full CLI for quick actions from your shell -- perfect for scripting, cron jobs, and integration with other tools.

Vault Management

granit                          # Open last vault or vault selector
granit <path>                   # Open vault at path
granit init <path>              # Initialize a new vault
granit scan <path>              # Print vault statistics (--json)
granit list <path>              # List notes (--json, --paths, --tags)
granit list --vaults            # List all known vaults
granit config                   # Show configuration paths and values
granit backup <path>            # Create timestamped zip backup

Notes and Tasks

granit note "your thought"      # Quick capture to Inbox.md
granit todo "task" --due friday --priority high --tag work
granit capture "idea"           # Append to inbox.md
echo "idea" | granit clip       # Capture from stdin (pipe-friendly)
granit daily <path>             # Open today's daily note

Sync and Review

granit sync <path>              # Pull, commit, push (one command)
granit sync -m "weekly update"  # Custom commit message
granit today                    # Print today's dashboard
granit review                   # Daily review
granit review --week --md       # Weekly review as markdown
granit review --save            # Save review to vault

Time Tracking

granit clock in --project "Study Go"
granit clock out
granit clock status
granit clock log --week

Search

granit search "TODO" <path>       # Full-text search
granit search --regex "#+\s" .    # Regex search
granit query 'tag:project' <path> # Metadata query

Other

granit serve <path> --port 8080   # Serve vault as read-only website
granit export --format html --all # Export notes
granit import --from obsidian src # Import from other apps
granit remind "Start work" --at 07:00 --daily
granit completion bash            # Shell completions (bash, zsh, fish)
granit man | man -l -             # View man page

AI Setup

Ollama (recommended -- local, private, free)

# Install Ollama
curl -fsSL https://ollama.ai/install.sh | sh

# Pull a small, fast model
ollama pull qwen2.5:0.5b
ollama serve

Or use the built-in wizard: Ctrl+, > Setup Ollama. You can install, start/stop Ollama, and pull models directly from settings.

All 23 AI bots are optimized for small models. A 0.5B parameter model running on CPU is enough for auto-tagging, summarization, flashcards, and most features. Larger models (3B-7B) improve quality for writing coach, planning, and research tasks.

OpenAI

Add to your vault's .granit.json or global config:

{
  "ai_provider": "openai",
  "openai_key": "sk-...",
  "openai_model": "gpt-4o-mini"
}

Claude Code (Deep Dive Research Agent)

Install Claude Code for the Deep Dive Research Agent, which runs in the background to research any topic and create structured notes in your vault.

AI Bot Categories

Category	Bots
Writing	Summarizer, tone adjuster, writing coach, ghost writer, expand, TLDR
Organization	Auto-tagger, auto-linker, flashcard generator, action items, outliner
Research	Deep dive agent, note enhancer, vault analyzer, daily digest, key terms
Planning	Plan my day, task triage, AI scheduler, goal coach, standup generator
Analysis	Smart connections, knowledge gaps, project insights, counter-argument, pros/cons

See docs/AI-GUIDE.md for all providers, model recommendations, and troubleshooting.

Configuration

Granit uses layered JSON configuration. Per-vault settings override global.

Scope	Path
Global	`~/.config/granit/config.json`
Per-vault	`<vault>/.granit.json`
Vault registry	`~/.config/granit/vaults.json`
Custom themes	`~/.config/granit/themes/`
Plugins	`~/.config/granit/plugins/`

All settings are editable from Ctrl+, in the TUI.

Key Settings

{
  "theme": "catppuccin-mocha",
  "layout": "default",
  "vim_mode": false,
  "ai_provider": "ollama",
  "ollama_model": "qwen2.5:0.5b",
  "ghost_writer": false,
  "auto_save": false,
  "git_auto_sync": false,
  "line_numbers": true,
  "word_wrap": false,
  "show_icons": true,
  "sort_by": "name"
}

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
`GRANIT_VAULT`	Default vault path (used when no path given)
`EDITOR`	Preferred external editor for shell-out

See docs/CONFIGURATION.md for the full reference with all options.

Granit vs the Alternatives

Feature	Granit	Obsidian	Notion	Logseq
Price	Free forever (MIT)	$50/yr + $8/mo sync	$8-10/mo	Free
Terminal native	Yes	No (Electron)	No (web)	No (Electron)
Open source	Yes (MIT)	No	No	Yes (AGPL)
Startup time	~12ms	~2s	~3s	~2s
Vim mode	Full (macros, objects, marks)	Plugin	No	Plugin
AI integration	23 bots, local or cloud	$14/mo add-on	Built-in (cloud only)	Plugin
Task manager	7 views + Eisenhower + Kanban	Plugin	Built-in	Built-in
Calendar	6 views + time-blocking	Plugin	Built-in	No
Goal tracking	Built-in + AI coaching	No	No	No
Habit tracking	Built-in with streaks	No	Template	No
Daily routines	Morning + Evening + Jot	No	Template	Journal
Themes	40 built-in + editor	Community	Limited	Community
Layouts	17 built-in	1	1	1
Offline	Always	Paid	No	Yes
Data format	Plain Markdown	Plain Markdown	Proprietary	Markdown/EDN
Binary size	~32 MB	~300 MB	N/A	~250 MB
Memory usage	~30 MB	~500 MB+	~500 MB+	~400 MB+

Architecture

Granit is a monolithic Go application built on the Bubble Tea TUI framework.

cmd/granit/          Entry point, CLI commands
internal/
  config/            Configuration loading and persistence
  tui/               All TUI components (~219 files)
  vault/             Vault scanning, indexing, search
desktop/             Wails desktop app (Go + Svelte)
docs/                Documentation and website
assets/              Screenshots and GIFs

Tech Stack

Component	Technology
Language	Go 1.24+
TUI Framework	Bubble Tea
Styling	Lip Gloss
Syntax Highlighting	Chroma
Desktop App	Wails + Svelte
AI	Ollama, OpenAI, Claude Code

Codebase Statistics

Metric	Value
Lines of Go	187,000+
Test cases	2,072
TUI components	219 files
Commands	168
Themes	40
Layouts	17
Core plugins	16
AI bots	23

See docs/ARCHITECTURE.md for a deep dive into the overlay system, message routing, and component design.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Granit is a large codebase, so here are some guidelines to help you get started.

Getting Started

# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/artaeon/granit.git
cd granit
go build -o bin/granit ./cmd/granit/

# Run tests
go test ./...

# Run a specific test package
go test ./internal/tui/ -run TestName

Project Structure

cmd/granit/ -- Entry point and CLI commands. Start here to understand the app flow.
internal/tui/ -- All TUI components. Each overlay is a self-contained file (e.g., calendar.go, taskmanager.go).
internal/vault/ -- Vault scanning, note parsing, search indexing.
internal/config/ -- Configuration loading, saving, and per-vault overrides.

Guidelines

One feature per PR. Keep changes focused and reviewable.
Add tests for new features. Run go test ./... before submitting.
Follow existing patterns. Look at similar overlays for structure reference.
No unnecessary dependencies. Granit ships as a single binary -- keep it that way.

Areas for Contribution

Bug fixes and performance improvements
New themes (add to internal/tui/themes.go)
New AI bot prompts (see internal/tui/bots.go)
Documentation improvements
Accessibility improvements
Test coverage for untested components

Documentation

Document	Description
Features	Complete feature guide with examples
Keybindings	All keyboard shortcuts by context
AI Guide	AI setup, providers, bot reference
Configuration	All config options with defaults
Themes	40 themes + custom theme creation
Installation	Build, install, desktop app, dependencies
Plugins	Plugin development and Lua API
Architecture	Codebase structure and design
Changelog	Version history and release notes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use my existing Obsidian vault?

Yes. Point Granit at your Obsidian vault directory and everything works: [[wikilinks]], backlinks, YAML frontmatter, tags, daily notes, and canvas files. You don't need to migrate, convert, or change anything. Both apps can use the same vault simultaneously.

Does Granit require an internet connection?

No. Granit works fully offline. AI features use local models via Ollama (also offline). Cloud AI providers (OpenAI, Claude) are optional. Git and Nextcloud sync only connect when you explicitly run sync.

How does Granit compare to Neovim with plugins?

Granit gives you a fully integrated system out of the box -- no plugin hunting, no configuration hell, no breaking updates. Tasks, calendar, goals, habits, AI, and daily routines all work together seamlessly. Think of it as Neovim's editing DNA combined with Notion's feature set, in a single binary.

What AI models work with Granit?

Any Ollama-compatible model works. We recommend qwen2.5:0.5b for fast, lightweight AI on CPU. Larger models like llama3.1:8b or mistral:7b give better results for writing and planning tasks. OpenAI models (GPT-4o, GPT-4o-mini) also work. The Deep Dive Research Agent uses Claude Code.

Is there a GUI / desktop version?

Yes. Granit includes a Wails-based desktop app (Go + Svelte) in the desktop/ directory. However, the terminal version is the primary interface and most actively developed. See docs/INSTALLATION.md for desktop build instructions.

How do I sync between devices?

Three options: (1) granit sync uses git -- pull, commit, push in one command. (2) Nextcloud WebDAV sync is built-in. (3) Any folder-based sync (Dropbox, Syncthing, rsync) works since notes are plain files. Git is recommended because it gives you version history and conflict resolution.

Can I write plugins?

Yes. Granit has a Lua scripting API and 16 core plugins included. Plugins can hook into save, open, create, and delete events. See docs/PLUGINS.md for the full API reference and examples.

What terminals work best?

Any terminal with 256-color support works. Recommended: Alacritty, Kitty, Ghostty, WezTerm, or iTerm2. Works well in tmux and screen. Nerd Font icons are supported but optional (Unicode icons are the default).

Roadmap

Granit is actively developed. Here's what's coming:

Want to help? See Contributing or browse open issues.

Acknowledgments

Built with these excellent open-source projects:

Bubble Tea -- TUI framework
Lip Gloss -- Terminal styling
Chroma -- Syntax highlighting
Catppuccin -- Color palette inspiration

License

MIT License. See LICENSE.

Your knowledge. Your terminal. Your rules.

Report a Bug • Discussions • Star on GitHub

_{If Granit helps you, consider giving it a star. It helps others discover the project.}

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 1,464 Commits
.github		.github
Research/Bitcoin 2026-03-07		Research/Bitcoin 2026-03-07
Timetracking		Timetracking
assets		assets
aur		aur
cmd/granit		cmd/granit
demo-vault		demo-vault
desktop		desktop
docs		docs
example-vault		example-vault
internal		internal
tapes		tapes
vhs		vhs
.gitignore		.gitignore
.golangci.yml		.golangci.yml
.goreleaser.yml		.goreleaser.yml
2026-03-08.md		2026-03-08.md
2026-03-26.md		2026-03-26.md
CHANGELOG.md		CHANGELOG.md
CONTRIBUTING.md		CONTRIBUTING.md
Diagram Showcase - BJJ.md		Diagram Showcase - BJJ.md
Diagram Showcase - Boxing Combos.md		Diagram Showcase - Boxing Combos.md
Diagram Showcase - Muay Thai.md		Diagram Showcase - Muay Thai.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
Machine Learning basics.md		Machine Learning basics.md
Makefile		Makefile
PKGBUILD		PKGBUILD
README.md		README.md
ROADMAP.md		ROADMAP.md
SECURITY.md		SECURITY.md
Weekly Review 2026-03-07.md		Weekly Review 2026-03-07.md
go.mod		go.mod
go.sum		go.sum
sebastiantest.md		sebastiantest.md
testetstdhdf.md		testetstdhdf.md
update_planner.sh		update_planner.sh
update_script.sh		update_script.sh

Tool	Monthly Cost	What Granit Replaces
Obsidian Sync + Publish	$16/mo	Notes, wikilinks, graph, canvas, sync
Obsidian AI	$14/mo	23 local AI bots, free
Todoist Pro	$5/mo	Task manager with 7 views + Eisenhower + Kanban
Notion	$10/mo	Database, calendar, kanban, wiki
Habitica / Streaks	$5/mo	Habit tracker with streaks
Total	$50/mo	Granit: $0/mo, forever

Folders and files

Latest commit

History

Repository files navigation

What is Granit?

Why Granit?

Who is Granit for?

Developers and Engineers

Researchers and Students

Writers and Content Creators

Productivity Enthusiasts

Teams on a Budget

Screenshots

Features

Editor

Calendar

Tasks

Goals and Projects

Knowledge Management

AI Integration

Habits and Daily Routines

Explorer / File Browser

Sync and Export

Customization

Testing & Reliability

A Day with Granit

Installation

From source (recommended)

One-liner

Build from source with custom binary location

Requirements

Optional Dependencies

Quick Start

First steps inside Granit

Import your existing vault

Keyboard Shortcuts

Core Navigation

Explorer / Sidebar

Overlays and Tools

Editing

Daily Workflow

CLI Reference

Vault Management

Notes and Tasks

Sync and Review

Time Tracking

Search

Other

AI Setup

Ollama (recommended -- local, private, free)

OpenAI

Claude Code (Deep Dive Research Agent)

AI Bot Categories

Configuration

Key Settings

Environment Variables

Granit vs the Alternatives

Architecture

Tech Stack

Codebase Statistics

Contributing

Getting Started

Project Structure

Guidelines

Areas for Contribution

Documentation

Frequently Asked Questions

Roadmap

Acknowledgments

License

About

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