Plain files, always
Every note is Markdown or MDX on your own filesystem. Point Neuron at an existing folder and close it again whenever you like — nothing is rewritten, converted or locked.
Apache-2.0 · open source · no account required
Your notes stay files.
Your workspace gets smarter.
Neuron is a local-first workspace for Markdown and MDX. Databases, canvases and sandboxed views sit on top of a folder you already own — and everything still opens in any other editor.
Free forever. No telemetry, no sign-in, no cloud round-trip.
.md Markdown
.mdx Components
.canvas JSON Canvas
.db Plain-JSON tables
.html Sandboxed views
The problem
Your notes outlive the app you wrote them in. Most tools bet the other way.
01
Your data in their schema
Export gives you a zip of HTML and a folder of images with hashed names. The links between notes do not survive the trip.
02
A sync you cannot inspect
Work only exists once a server acknowledges it. When sync stalls or conflicts, there is nothing on disk to fall back to.
03
Structure means a new product
The moment notes need a table, a board or a dashboard, you are asked to move the content somewhere else entirely.
The solution
A folder on your disk, with the tools built around it.
Databases without a database
A .db file is readable JSON with typed columns, select
options and multiple tables. Table and board views render from it, and
git diff still tells you what changed.
Canvases in an open format
Spatial boards use JSON Canvas, so the same file opens in Obsidian and anything else that speaks the format.
Views that run, safely
Drop an .html file in and it renders as a live view in an
isolated process — no Node, its own partition, and access only to the
paths its manifest declares. You approve that list before it runs.
Recovery that predates the mistake
A write journal captures the previous contents before anything is overwritten, so version history works even for files edited outside the app.
Nothing leaves the machine
No account, no telemetry, no background sync. AI is optional, off by default, and uses a key you supply and can revoke.
Download
Pick a build.
Windows
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macOS
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Linux
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Homebrew macOS
brew install --cask neuron-workspace/neuron/neuron
Chocolatey Windows
choco install neuron
Both install the same release the buttons above link to, verified against
the checksums published with it, and both keep Neuron current with
brew upgrade or choco upgrade.
Verify
Check the download is the build CI made.
Every release carries SHA-256 checksums and a signed build provenance attestation naming the exact workflow, commit and runner that produced each file. Unlike a signature, provenance cannot be forged by re-signing a tampered installer.
Windows and macOS builds are not signed with a paid certificate yet, so both systems will warn you on first launch. Here is exactly what you will see, and how to proceed.
# Provenance: proves which workflow built it gh attestation verify Neuron-0.4.3-win-x64.exe \ --repo neuron-workspace/Neuron # Checksums: proves the bytes are unchanged sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS.txt --ignore-missing