ChatMD See how your notes connect Studio
A live map of your notes, tags and real links as they exist. Nothing in the map is invented. It gathers notes into areas by folder, shows a local graph, and replays how the folder grew.
Your files. Your knowledge. One private workspace.
Write in Markdown, edit the Word and PDF files beside your notes, and ask your own notes questions with the AI you already use. No account needed. Nothing sent to us.
ChatMD Studio runs on Windows 10 and 11.
- Local files
- No account needed
- No telemetry in the app
- No subscription
AI features use an assistant you already have or your own API key; provider charges may apply.
ASK & CHAT · STUDIO
Ask your notes.Every answer names its note.
Use Claude Code, Codex, Antigravity, Ollama or another assistant you already have — or your own Claude, OpenAI or Grok key. Choose which files a question may use, then open a citation and read the note it came from.
- Notes only, notes plus AI, or full chat — you choose how far it reaches.
- Turn an answer into an ordinary Markdown note, with its sources listed.
- Nothing is uploaded unless you send it.
- When an answer uses your notes, every citation is checked against your folder — an answer that cites a note you don’t have is refused.
- Turn on Web in Ask and Claude Code, Codex, Antigravity or a stored key can look things up once you allow it.
- Ask for changes to a whole note from the editor’s AI tools menu, then review them change by change.
Ask
This note
The notes only partly answer this. They don't say outright why activation is flat, but they point to a likely cause.
Why it didn't improve
- Day-two return reached 31% against a 40% target, while time to first note (38s vs 90s) and notes per week (19 vs 12) both beat their targets. Q3 review
- Time-to-first-note "did not move day-two return at all." The note concludes that getting people started was never the bottleneck and that getting them back is. Q3 review
What we're doing
- Done: we instrumented the second session, and we re-read the twelve interviews looking only for day two. Q3 review
- Not done yet: rewriting onboarding around returning (see Onboarding rewrite), and deciding whether
activationis even the right metric. Q3 review - Next quarter's focus is one question: what makes someone open the product on a Tuesday when nothing is on fire? Q3 review
The note doesn't report what the interviews or the second-session data showed. I only have Q3 review, not the linked notes such as Onboarding rewrite or Metrics that matter.
From your notes
Whole vault
Activation didn't improve because the work went into getting people started, and that wasn't the bottleneck. Getting them to come back is.
- Why: Time to first note was 38s against a 90s target, and notes per week were 19 against 12. Day-two return still came in at 31% against a 40% target. The review says faster starts "did not move day-two return at all". Q3 review
- The open problem: People sign up and don't return on day two, and the notes still list the reason as an open question. Activation problem
- What we're doing:
- The onboarding rewrite is in progress. Ana Ruiz owns it and it's due 2026-11-14. Onboarding rewrite
- It makes the first note the user's own rather than a tour. Day two opens on what they were doing, and nothing asks for an account before it has been useful. Onboarding rewrite
- Two actions are done: instrumenting the second session, and rereading the twelve interviews for day two. Q3 review
- Still open: deciding whether "activation" is the right metric. Q3 review
- Next quarter's question is what makes someone open the app on a Tuesday when nothing is on fire. Q3 review
- Earlier decision: The 14 Aug meeting chose to look at day-two retention first and to give the day-two problem its own note and an owner. Meeting 14 Aug
The notes don't say why people don't return. I only read the Q3 review, Activation problem, Onboarding rewrite and the grep hits for "activation". I didn't open the interview notes.
Recorded in English with Claude Code in ChatMD 2.2, over sample notes, and not edited. Nothing is sent to an AI while it plays.
Works with the AI you already use.
ChatMD Studio does not include an AI account or resell model access. Choose the assistant for each question — these are the names in the app’s picker.
Assistants on this PC
- Claude Code
- Codex
- Antigravity (Google)
- Ollama (on this PC)
- Another command
ChatMD hands your question and the notes you chose to the assistant you pick. Ollama answers on this PC; the other tools make their own connections.
Or your own API key
- Claude API
- OpenAI API
- Grok API
Kept in Secrets, encrypted on this PC. A key allowed for Ask is confirmed before every run.
Your provider's plan, usage limits, privacy terms and possible charges still apply.
MORE THAN MARKDOWN
Edit the document, not a flattened copy.
Word documents and PDFs open where they are and are edited where they are, beside your notes. Free, in the editor everyone gets.
Live Preview as you type, with links, tags, templates and search. An Obsidian vault opens as it is.
Edit a Word (.docx) document in place: its text, formatting, paragraph styles and pictures.
Edit PDFs with forms, highlights, notes, page tools, undo and redo.
Open, edit, read or convert each format through its safest supported path. ChatMD Studio explains the limits before a conversion runs.
- Word
- Excel
- PowerPoint
- OpenDocument
- EPUB
- HTML
- CSV / TSV
- Markdown
- Text
- SQLite
- Obsidian Canvas
- Obsidian Base
- Scans (offline OCR)
LOCAL FIRST
Your notes stay on your PC. ChatMD Studio works on the folder you already have. The AI is the one you already use, and nothing is uploaded unless you send it.
ONE WORKSPACE
Everything around your notes.In one private workspace.
Trust the folder after an AI touches it Studio
Changes shows what moved, line by line, and names the AI tool when the tool marks its commit.
Bring files in
PDF, Office, EPUB, HTML and scans (offline OCR) become Markdown notes, free.
Teach on purpose Studio
Add, review, then teach. Nothing is learned until you have read it.
Every command, one shortcut away
Ctrl+K opens the command palette.
Find a note by what it means
Search by words or by meaning. The meaning index is built with a local model and kept on this PC.
Coming from Obsidian?
Open the vault as it is. There is nothing to import, and a read-only compatibility report shows what to expect.
Edit properties as fields
A Properties section above a note shows its properties as fields you can edit. Search › Properties sets one property on many notes with one Undo.
Drag a card to change a note
On an Obsidian Bases board, drag a card to another column to change that note’s property. One Ctrl+Z puts it back.
Paste from Word, Outlook or the web
Pasting gives you Markdown, and Copy for Word and Outlook goes the other way.
Capture, tidy, import
Quick capture (off by default) adds a line to today’s daily note from a hotkey. Tidy this note cleans up spacing, and Import from Evernote… brings in notes, tags, tasks and attachments.
SWITCHING TO CHATMD
Coming from another app?
Open as they are
An Obsidian vault opens as it is, with a read-only report of anything that works differently. Any other folder of Markdown files opens as it is too, whether it came from Typora, Zettlr, iA Writer or MarkText.
Import from Evernote
Bring in an Evernote export (.enex) with its tags, checklists and attachments.
Open a folder, press Ctrl+K and search for Import from Evernote…
Convert the rest
Word, PDF, Excel, PowerPoint, OpenDocument, EPUB, HTML, CSV, SQLite and scanned pages become Markdown on your PC.
See all supported formatsLEFT OUT ON PURPOSE
What you won’t find in ChatMD
A notes app sees everything you write. Here is what ChatMD leaves out, on purpose.
- No account
Install it and start writing. Signing in is optional.
- No telemetry
The app has no analytics, usage tracking or crash reporting.
- No ads
None in the app, and no advertising identifier.
- No upload
Your notes stay as files on your PC. ChatMD has no server that stores or reads them.
- No training on your notes
ChatMD never receives your notes, so it can’t train on them. When you ask a cloud AI, what you send goes to that provider, under its own terms.
- No middleman
Ask and Teach go straight to the AI you choose, with no ChatMD server in between.
- No subscription
The editor is free. Studio is one payment.
- No lock-in
Your notes are plain Markdown files in a folder you choose. Stop using ChatMD and they still open anywhere.
- No update ping
The app doesn’t check for updates itself. The Microsoft Store handles them.
No account
Install it and start writing. Signing in is optional.
No telemetry
The app has no analytics, usage tracking or crash reporting.
No ads
None in the app, and no advertising identifier.
No upload
Your notes stay as files on your PC. ChatMD has no server that stores or reads them.
No training on your notes
ChatMD never receives your notes, so it can’t train on them. When you ask a cloud AI, what you send goes to that provider, under its own terms.
No middleman
Ask and Teach go straight to the AI you choose, with no ChatMD server in between.
No subscription
The editor is free. Studio is one payment.
No lock-in
Your notes are plain Markdown files in a folder you choose. Stop using ChatMD and they still open anywhere.
No update ping
The app doesn’t check for updates itself. The Microsoft Store handles them.
START FREE. UPGRADE ONCE.
A full Markdown editor, free. Answers from your own notes, $14.99 once.
$0
Everything you need to write and keep your files.
- Write Markdown and see it rendered as you type
- Edit Word documents and PDFs right where they are
- Turn PDFs, Word, Excel and scans into Markdown notes
- Find any note by its words or by what it means
- Open an Obsidian vault as it is — nothing to import
Launch price $14.99 — then $24.99
Offer ends 3 November
Your notes start answering back.
- Ask your notes a question; the answer links its sources
- Catch up on what changed since you were last here
- See how your notes connect, with an AI summary (Brain)
- Let your AI suggest links and tags, only from your vault
- Export notes to Word, PDF, slides or one combined book
Prices in US dollars, plus applicable tax.
One payment, no subscription, no trial timer, no limits on questions or files. Buy in the app or here; your key works on up to three of your PCs at once.
CHATMD STUDIO FOR WINDOWS 10 AND 11
Start writing in a minute. Free, no account needed.
The installer comes straight from the Microsoft Store. Studio is $14.99 once, in the app or here, whenever you want it. View it in the Microsoft Store