<2-3 sentences summarising what the project addresses and solves, the target audience, and the benefit.> FrankMD is a self-hosted, feature-rich Markdown editor and notes organizer built with Ruby on Rails. It prioritizes user data privacy by storing notes as plain files on the filesystem, eliminating database dependencies. Ideal for developers and writers seeking a robust, local note-taking solution with extensive customization and AI-powered enhancements.

How It Works

The application leverages Ruby on Rails 8 for its backend, with notes managed directly as markdown files on the user's filesystem, ensuring data sovereignty and simplifying deployment. It offers a command-line interface (fed) for launching and integrates seamlessly with Docker for containerized operation, enabling quick setup and persistent background services.

Quick Start & Requirements

Installation involves a curl script to download an installer, followed by sourcing a shell script. Running fed [path] opens the editor for a specified directory. Docker is recommended for persistent background use via docker run or docker-compose.yml. Optional API keys are required for AI grammar checking and certain search integrations (YouTube, Google Images).

Highlighted Details

• AI-powered grammar, spelling, and typo correction, supporting local Ollama, OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, and OpenRouter.
• First-class support for Hugo blog posts, including automatic directory structuring and frontmatter generation.
• Comprehensive organization features: nested folders, drag-and-drop, quick file finder (Ctrl+P), and full-text search with regex.
• Rich editing experience: live Markdown preview, synchronized scrolling, typewriter mode, visual table editor, and emoji picker.
• Integrations include AWS S3 for image hosting, YouTube API for video search, and Google Custom Search.
• Extensive theming options with 18 built-in themes and real-time sync with the Omarchy desktop environment.

Maintenance & Community

The README does not detail specific community channels (like Discord/Slack) or highlight major contributors or sponsorships. Development appears active based on the detailed README.

Licensing & Compatibility

Released under the permissive MIT License, allowing for broad use, modification, and distribution, including within commercial and closed-source applications.

Limitations & Caveats

Advanced features like AI integrations and specific search functionalities require external API keys or local setup (e.g., Ollama). Docker deployments may require careful attention to user/group IDs to avoid permission issues with mounted volumes. Remote access necessitates additional setup like Cloudflare Tunnels.