Quickstart
This walkthrough takes about five minutes. It assumes Brainstorm is installed.
1. Create a vault
Section titled “1. Create a vault”On first launch, Brainstorm asks where your knowledge should live.
- Click Create vault.
- Choose an empty folder on your disk.
- Choose how to protect it:
- System keychain (recommended) — Brainstorm stores the key in your OS keychain; the vault unlocks automatically when you log in.
- Passphrase — you type a passphrase to unlock. Nothing else can open the vault.
- Give the vault a name and confirm.
Your vault is now a folder of files you fully own. See Vaults for what’s inside.
2. Open an app
Section titled “2. Open an app”Brainstorm opens to a dashboard. Everything you do happens inside an app.
- Open the launcher.
- Pick Notes.
- The app opens in its own window, sandboxed and scoped to only the data it’s allowed to touch.
The first time an app needs a new capability (for example, reading a different kind of object), Brainstorm asks you to grant it. You can review and revoke these grants any time — see Apps & permissions.
3. Capture something
Section titled “3. Capture something”In Notes:
- Start typing to create a note.
- Use rich text — headings, lists, checkboxes, code.
- Type
@to link to another object in your vault, or/for a command menu.
Everything you write is saved to your vault on disk, immediately and offline.
4. Connect your knowledge
Section titled “4. Connect your knowledge”Brainstorm’s value comes from objects relating to each other:
- Open Database to make a structured table — tasks, contacts, reading list — with typed properties.
- Open Graph to see how your notes and objects link together.
- Open Files to bring existing documents into the vault.
The same object can appear in many apps; they’re all views over one shared data layer. See Objects.
5. (Optional) Sync across devices
Section titled “5. (Optional) Sync across devices”If you want your vault on more than one machine, enable sync. Your data is end-to-end encrypted before it leaves your device, and the relay that forwards it can’t read it. See Local-first & sync.