Cerbo

Cerbo (/ˈt͡serbo/) is Esperanto for "brain". It is a local-first markdown wiki editor that treats the filesystem as a first-class citizen. It stores all knowledge as plain files you fully own, with wikilink-based graph navigation as the core interaction model.

Core Features

• Local-First & Private: Your data stays on your machine in plain Markdown files and folders. No cloud dependency, no proprietary formats.
• Desktop & CLI: Work your way. Use the GUI for visual editing or the cerbo CLI for terminal workflows, automation, and headless indexing.
• Wikilink-Based Graph: Navigate and link ideas naturally with [[Wikilinks]].
• Page-as-Folder Structure: Each page is a <slug>/page.md folder, allowing you to co-locate assets (images, PDFs) directly with your notes.
• Rename Cascade: Renaming a page automatically updates all links to it across your entire vault.
• Backlinks Panel: See the context of your knowledge with a built-in backlinks explorer.
• Multiple Vaults: Manage multiple isolated knowledge bases (vaults) anywhere on your disk.
• XDG Compliant: App configuration and caches follow the XDG Base Directory Specification.

Tech Stack

• Backend: Rust Workspace (Core library + CLI + Tauri Desktop)
• Frontend: Svelte 5 + Carta (Markdown Editor) + Tailwind CSS
• Package Manager: Bun
• Environment: Nix Flakes

Getting Started

This project uses Nix Flakes to manage the development environment, including Rust, Bun, and build dependencies.

1. Enter the Environment

You can enter the development shell using:

nix develop

Alternatively, if you have direnv installed, just run direnv allow and the environment will be automatically loaded when you enter the directory.

2. Run Development Tasks

All development commands (bun, cargo) should be run inside the Nix development shell:

bun run tauri dev          # Start Tauri app with hot reload
cargo check                # Run Rust workspace type checks
cargo test -p cerbo-core   # Run core logic tests

3. Build for Production

Use nix build to build the components:

nix build .#cerbo-desktop  # Build Desktop App
nix build .#cerbo          # Build CLI Binary

Data Storage

• Configuration: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cerbo/vaults.json (defaults to ~/.config/cerbo/). Stores only vault names and paths.
• Cache: $XDG_CACHE_HOME/cerbo/ (defaults to ~/.cache/cerbo/). Stores the link index and derived data.
• Vaults: Pure markdown and assets. Cerbo does not store hidden metadata inside your vault directories.

License

LGPL-3.0-or-later