What it does
Jylos is a free, MIT-licensed desktop app for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It stores notes in local Markdown files or SQLite and combines a Markdown editor, backlinks, a knowledge graph, Kanban boards, canvas, plugins, note history, and Git integration. The official site says there is no account, cloud backend, or telemetry.
Use linked notes without moving the vault to a hosted service
Jylos is a desktop-first personal knowledge base for users who want their notes to stay local. The official feature list describes Markdown files or SQLite storage, wiki-link navigation, backlinks, a graph, Canvas and Kanban views, plugins, note history, and Git sync. This makes it more capable than a plain text editor while keeping the vault on the user's machine; the trade-off is that sharing and multi-device access are not provided by a vendor-hosted account.
The official release page lists v2.5.6, published on 2026-09-11. The project says it is free and MIT-licensed, and distributes builds for Windows, macOS, and Linux. The release page reports seven commits to the main branch since that release, so the release tag is not proof that the current branch has stopped changing. I did not install Jylos, create a vault, test Git sync, or verify backup and restore behavior.
Strengths
- Notes can be stored as local Markdown files or in SQLite, with no account or cloud backend described.
- Backlinks, a knowledge graph, Canvas, Kanban, and plugins support several linked-note workflows.
- The free MIT-licensed project lists Windows, macOS, and Linux builds.
Watch out for
- There is no built-in hosted synchronization or collaboration service; users need to operate Git or another file-sync setup themselves.
Best for
- People who want a desktop Markdown knowledge base with backlinks, graph, and canvas views
- Users who prefer local storage and are comfortable managing their own Git-based sync
Sources
- Jylos | Your knowledge, local and yours (Oct 25, 2026)
- Jylos | Official Repository (Oct 25, 2026)
- Jylos v2.5.6 Release | GitHub (Oct 25, 2026)
- MIT License | Jylos (Oct 25, 2026)