Constella Desktop is an open-source, local-first command center designed to unify personal files, memories, and agentic workflows. It addresses the challenge of scattered digital information by syncing user-selected folders, building a private, searchable knowledge substrate, and using local analysis to synthesize connected concepts and insights. This project targets engineers, researchers, and power users seeking a consolidated, AI-enhanced "brain" for their personal knowledge management and agentic tasks, prioritizing data privacy through local-first operation.

How It Works

Constella operates in three layers: Local Source Sync, Search and Memory Substrate, and Wiki and Constellation Synthesis. It syncs specified local folders (e.g., Obsidian vaults, Documents) into qmd collections. These collections are then indexed locally using SQLite, sqlite-vec, and local embedding infrastructure, forming a private, searchable knowledge base. Scheduled analysis passes cluster related material into human-readable markdown concept pages and higher-order themes, stored alongside a SQLite sidecar for graph queries and scheduling, creating a compounding wiki rather than a purely query-time RAG interface.

Quick Start & Requirements

• Primary install/run command: For development: npm install, npm start. For building: npm run build. For packaging: npm run package.
• Prerequisites: Node.js, npm, and an Electron-supported desktop OS. Optional: Claude CLI and/or Codex CLI for agent execution.
• Links: GitHub repository (Constella-OS/constella-desktop).

Highlighted Details

• Sync Sources: Supports Obsidian vaults, Downloads, Documents, and custom folders with per-source sync state and error reporting.
• Local Search: Indexes content locally via qmd and SQLite/vector store, enabling searches across collections without sending private data to remote services.
• Wiki Memory: Stores concept pages, synthesis, sources, links, and clusters in human-readable markdown files and a SQLite sidecar database.
• Agents & Workflows: Integrates with Claude/Codex CLIs, streams NDJSON output, and allows agents to share the local memory substrate for unified workflow execution.

Maintenance & Community

The project welcomes issues, ideas, and pull requests, favoring small, focused changes. Specific community channels (e.g., Discord, Slack) or notable contributors/sponsorships are not detailed in the README. A roadmap is outlined in the tasks/ directory, detailing planned enhancements for graph views, reminders, recommendations, and parser improvements.

Licensing & Compatibility

• License: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
• Compatibility: Commercial use is explicitly not permitted without separate permission.

Limitations & Caveats

Constella Desktop is an active prototype and a work-in-progress foundation, not a polished production application. Some product surfaces, including the full constellation graph view, reminders, and automatic recommendation workflows, are still stubbed or evolving. Users must exercise caution when adding large private directories or workspaces containing secrets, as the application reads local files and agent execution can run external CLI tools.