Kuku is a truly native, local-first markdown editor for macOS — built with Tauri, not Electron. Notes are stored as plainmd files with wikilinks, backlinks, and graph view. Its AI agent doesn’t just chat — it searches, edits, and links your files, with every change shown as Cursor-style diffs you can review. Fast, lightweight, offline-first. No cloud. No lock-in. Obsidian + Cursor, without Electron.
Product Hunt
kuku
@curiouskitty Sync is often the "final boss" of local-first apps.
Here is our current stance:
Sync Strategy: We intentionally delegate sync to the tools you already trust (iCloud, Dropbox, or Git). Since Kuku is just a window onto your local .md files, we don't lock you into a proprietary cloud.
Conflict Handling: We rely on the file system. If a sync conflict occurs (e.g., iCloud creates a duplicate file), it simply appears in your file list for you to resolve manually. We don't try to hide it behind a proprietary database.
kuku
@curiouskitty We stay file-system-native for now — use iCloud/Dropbox/Git on plain markdown. Conflicts are handled by the sync layer. Whether to build first-party sync is an open question, guided by staying truly local-first.
congrats on the launch! What type of search can it do? Does it have semantic search via embedding?
kuku
@jasonge27 Currently, we use SQLite for fast, local full-text search.
However, we are planning to support semantic search via lightweight local embeddings in the future to keep everything offline!
kuku
@jasonge27 Thanks! Right now Kuku has fast full-text search (SQLite FTS5 + BM25). Semantic search via embeddings isn’t built in yet, but it’s something we’re actively exploring.
The Cursor-style diffs for AI edits is the detail that sells me. Actually showing what the AI changed instead of just doing things behind your back-- that's the trust builder. Tauri over Electron is the right call too imo; native performance matters especially for something you keep open all day. Gonna give this a spin..
kuku
@jamespopstar Exactly. Trust is earned, not generated.
And regarding Tauri—have you seen RAM prices lately? Saving memory isn't just optimization anymore, it's financial advice! Hope it runs smooth for you.
kuku
@jamespopstar You nailed it — trust and native performance were exactly the goals. Really appreciate the kind words, hope you enjoy using it! 🙌
Love this direction - “native + local-first + plain .md” is such a strong combo.
I’m building in the same offline-first mindset (Chrome extension land), and the trust you get from “your files are your files” is hard to beat. The reversible diffs for AI edits is especially reassuring.
Curious: what’s been the hardest part about doing Obsidian-like linking/graph while keeping everything fast and truly native on macOS?
kuku
@dmitry_petrakov The toughest challenge was definitely constructing the graph and then bridging the User and AI using locally defined tools.
Getting the AI to understand the graph context and reliably trigger local tools (instead of just hallucinating actions) was the real engineering hurdle!
@mansuiki Love this answer - the graph is the hard-won context, and making the agent actually use it (not just sound like it) is the real work. Curious what ended up being your biggest win there: tool contracts, caching/indexing, or the UX around review/diffs?
kuku
@dmitry_petrakov Tool Contracts.
Retrieval gives the AI a map, but Tools give it agency. The real breakthrough was defining strict interfaces that forced the LLM to stop being a "creative writer" and start behaving like a deterministic operator.
That constraint is exactly what keeps it from hallucinating random file paths and makes it safe to run against your actual local disk.
ZapDigits
I just downloaded Obsidian but I think its time to delete it. LoL
kuku
@malithmcrdev Appreciate that! Obsidian is great — kuku is just another option if you want native performance + AI editing.
@malithmcrdev @bigmacfive I’m also a big Obsidian user. When I saw this app, I was super intrigued. What I dig most about Obsidian is how it syncs seamlessly across Mac, iPhone, and iPad. It doesn’t take up much space and keeps my notes organized without me having to pay for extra local or cloud storage. I’m really looking forward to seeing if this app can offer a similar experience.
kuku
@malithmcrdev Obsidian is a legend, but we aim to be the faster, native alternative. The good news is we both use plain .md files, so your data is safe either way. Let me know how Kuku feels compared to it!
Looks great, downloading now.
One thought. After I sign up, I cant find a download link. It only shows for signed out users. Definitely some friction here that can be fixed.
kuku
@dennisivy11 Good catch! I confirmed the issue and just deployed a fix immediately. It should be visible now. Thanks for letting me know!
PROCESIO
10/10 congrats!!!
kuku
@madalina_barbu Thanks for the compliment! Glad you like it.