# Tolaria Tolaria is a free, open-source desktop app for managing markdown knowledge bases, created by [[Luca Rossi]] (author of the [Refactoring](https://refactoring.fm/) newsletter). Positioned as "a second brain for the AI era", it stores everything as plain [[Markdown]] files with [[Yet Another Markup Language (YAML)|YAML]] frontmatter on disk, ships a block-based editor with [[Bidirectional Links]] and slash commands, integrates [[Git]] for version control and sync, and exposes a [[Model Context Protocol (MCP)]] server so [[Claude Code]] can read and write the vault directly. It enters a crowded space dominated by [[Obsidian]], [[Logseq]], [[Notion]], and [[Roam Research]], but stakes a clear position: file-based, AI-native from day one, [[Affero General Public License (AGPL)|AGPL]]-licensed, and built around the [[Model Context Protocol (MCP)|MCP]] integration story rather than bolted-on AI features. ## Key Features | Feature | Description | | --------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- | | **File-based** | Plain `.md` files + YAML frontmatter, no database | | **Block editor** | Slash commands, drag-and-drop, rich blocks | | **[[Bidirectional Links]]** | Wikilinks with backlinks | | **Native relationships** | First-class typed connections between notes | | **Integrated Git** | Commit history and change tracking built-in | | **[[Model Context Protocol (MCP)\|MCP]] server** | Native Claude Code integration | | **Cross-platform** | macOS, Windows, Linux | | **Open source** | [[Affero General Public License (AGPL)\|AGPL]]-3.0, free forever | ## Tolaria vs the field | Aspect | Tolaria | [[Obsidian]] | [[Logseq]] | | ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------- | ------------------------ | | **Storage** | Markdown + YAML | Markdown | Markdown / Org | | **License** | [[Affero General Public License (AGPL)\|AGPL]]-3.0 | Proprietary (free tier) | [[Affero General Public License (AGPL)\|AGPL]]-3.0 | | **Source** | [[Open Source]] | Closed source | [[Open Source]] | | **Editor** | Block-based, WYSIWYG | Markdown + live preview | Outliner blocks | | **AI integration** | Native [[Model Context Protocol (MCP)\|MCP]] server | Plugins / BYOK | Plugins | | **Version control** | Built-in Git client | Plugin (Obsidian Git) | DIY | | **Mobile** | Desktop only (for now) | iOS + Android | iOS + Android | | **Price** | Free | Free / Sync paid / Publish| Free | ## Why it matters Tolaria is part of a 2026 wave of [[Personal Knowledge Management (PKM)]] tools designed AI-native from the start: rather than retrofitting [[AI Agents|AI agents]] onto a closed format, it gives the agent first-class access to the vault via [[Model Context Protocol (MCP)|MCP]] while keeping the storage open and inspectable. The bet is that the next generation of [[Tools for Thought (TfTs)]] will be the ones that a [[Large Language Models (LLMs)|LLM]] can read, write, and reason over without friction. The [[Open Source]] [[Affero General Public License (AGPL)|AGPL]] license + plain-files + [[Git]] combination is a strong signal of [[Local-First Software|local-first]] values — your data, your machine, your version history. ## References - https://tolaria.md/ - https://github.com/refactoringhq/tolaria - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47882697 ## Related - [[Luca Rossi]] - [[Obsidian]] - [[Logseq]] - [[Notion]] - [[Roam Research]] - [[Markdown]] - [[Personal Knowledge Management (PKM)]] - [[Tools for Thought (TfTs)]] - [[Bidirectional Links]] - [[Model Context Protocol (MCP)]] - [[Claude Code]] - [[Open Source]] - [[Affero General Public License (AGPL)]] - [[Local-First Software]] - [[AI-Ready Second Brain]]