liliu-z/stashbase

Stash your notes and sources. Write with your agent.

StashBase is an open-source, local knowledge base for writing with AI agents. Your notes, PDFs, and docs stay in a folder on your computer, and Claude, Codex, or Antigravity works inside it with you.

• 📝 Side by side with your agent. Your docs stay open beside the chat. When your agent edits one, Review shows each change inside the prose, so you can undo or keep it.
• 🗂️ Your knowledge base, kept up to date. Ask your agent to file new material, update your notes, and link them back to their sources. It reads PDFs, Word documents, and scans too, with the text extracted on your computer.
• 💬 Bring the agent you already use. Claude, Codex, and Antigravity run on your existing accounts, and StashBase charges nothing for them. Pick a persona or write your own to set the voice.

macOS 12+ (Apple Silicon and Intel) and Windows 10+ (x64) are the primary platforms. Linux x86_64 Debian 12+ / Ubuntu 22.04+ is community-supported. On Intel Macs, local search and PDF/image text extraction require macOS 15+; older supported systems can still open projects and edit files. Agent runtime requirements may vary.

On macOS, install with Homebrew:

brew install --cask liliu-z/stashbase/stashbase

Or download the latest release:

See Installation for platform steps, updates, and troubleshooting.

1. Enter a project. Open or create a local folder.
2. Choose an agent. Select Claude, Codex, or Antigravity and complete its setup with your provider account. If you can't use any of them, the built-in Default Agent is available as a fallback. Sign in to StashBase for its free monthly credits; Plus and Pro add more.
3. Talk it through. Try: “I want to write a LinkedIn post about what I shipped this week. Interview me before drafting.”
4. Draft and revise. Ask your agent to draft the article, then review and refine it.

Switch between Chat for the conversation and Documents, a file tree and editor that works like an IDE, but for writing. Both modes share the project and keep unfinished work when you switch.

See Using StashBase for everyday document and search workflows.

Explore how people organize files and write with agents. Copy a ready-made project or reuse its prompt to try a workflow with your own material.

For example, in Resume Builder the agent interviews you first, then writes a resume that shows what you actually did and tailors it to each job.

Explore the Gallery →

Your documents stay in local project folders. Removing a project from StashBase doesn't delete its files. Browsing, editing, previews, and keyword search work without an account. PDF and Word text extraction and OCR run locally, with required components downloaded on first use.

Agent conversations send your prompts and relevant context to model services. Claude, Codex, and Antigravity use your provider accounts; the Default Agent connects through StashBase's hosted model gateway, which sends requests through OpenRouter to Claude Haiku 5.5 by default.

Search by meaning requires your own OpenAI or OpenRouter key in Settings → Advanced → Search by meaning. It sends source text and search queries to your chosen embedding provider. Default Agent credits don't cover this service.

Official builds share basic usage statistics by default, excluding document and conversation content. You can turn this off in Settings → General → Privacy. See Usage statistics for details.

Agents in the built-in Chat connect to StashBase's tools automatically.

To use an external MCP client, keep StashBase running and copy the connection configuration from Settings → Advanced → External apps (MCP) into that client. It can read, search, and edit supported files in the project you select.

See MCP Configuration for client examples, transports, and access settings.

Install Node.js 24.11.0+, pnpm, and Python 3.13 with venv support. See Local Development for platform dependencies.

git clone https://github.com/liliu-z/stashbase
cd stashbase
pnpm install
pnpm setup:python

env -u ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE pnpm dev

The launch command above uses POSIX shell syntax to clear an inherited ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE. On Windows, clear that variable in your shell before running pnpm dev.

See Contributing for OCR setup, testing, and release guidance.

StashBase is also an experiment in human-directed, AI-first development. Humans own product direction and trust decisions; AI helps connect design, implementation, review, and evidence. The Project Maintenance Model describes that working loop.

Small focused PRs are preferred. Open an issue before larger changes so scope and direction can be discussed first.

• Contributing guide: development and validation.
• Product design: intent, workflows, and contribution areas.
• Engineering contracts: ownership, invariants, and review.

Report an issue or join the Discord community for support and discussion.

StashBase is an independent open-source project built by Bing Wu and Li Liu.

Licensed under Apache 2.0.