rowboat/README.md

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# Rowboat  
**An open-source, local-first AI coworker with memory for everyday work**

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Rowboat connects your email and meeting notes, builds long-lived knowledge from them, and uses that knowledge to help get work done on your machine.

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## Demo

[![Demo video](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/f378285b-4ef3-4a4b-aa20-7dbb664e496c)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2Bmiy05FrI)

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## Quick start

**Download for Mac:**  

https://github.com/rowboatlabs/rowboat/releases/latest

## What it does

Rowboat ingests your:
- **Email** (Gmail)
- **Meeting notes** (Granola, Fireflies)

and organizes them into a local, Obsidian-compatible vault of plain Markdown files with backlinks.

This vault is not just for browsing or search. It becomes a working memory that Rowboat’s AI uses to take actions on your behalf.

As new emails and meetings come in, the relevant notes update automatically, building persistent context across people, projects, organizations, and topics.

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## How it’s different

Most AI tools reconstruct context on demand by searching transcripts or documents.

Rowboat maintains **long-lived knowledge** instead:
- context accumulates over time
- relationships are explicit and inspectable
- notes are editable by you, not hidden inside a model
- everything lives on your machine as plain Markdown

The result is memory that compounds, rather than retrieval that starts cold every time.

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## What you can do with it

Rowboat uses this knowledge to help with everyday work, including:

- Drafting emails using accumulated context
- Preparing for meetings from prior decisions and discussions
- Organizing files and project artifacts as work evolves
- Running shell commands or scripts as agent actions
- Extending capabilities via external tools and MCP servers

Actions are explicit and grounded in the current state of your knowledge.

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## Local-first by design

- All data is stored locally as plain Markdown
- No proprietary formats or hosted lock-in
- Works with local models via Ollama or LM Studio, or hosted models if you prefer
- You can inspect, edit, back up, or delete everything at any time

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Made with ❤️ by the Rowboat team

[Discord](https://discord.com/invite/htdKpBZF) · [Twitter](https://x.com/intent/user?screen_name=rowboatlabshq)
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