cabinet

️ Cabinet

Your knowledge base. Your AI team.
️ Files on disk  •  AI workspaces  •  Agents with memory

The AI-first startup OS where everything lives as markdown files on disk. No database. No vendor lock-in. Self-hosted. Your data never leaves your machine.

Built by Hila Shmuel, former Engineering Manager at Apple — now building Cabinet in public, with the open-source community.

@HilaShmuel  •   runcabinet.com  •   [email protected]

     

--- ## From zero to AI team in 2 minutes ```bash npx create-cabinet@latest cd cabinet npm run dev:all ``` Open [http://localhost:4000](http://localhost:4000). The onboarding wizard builds your custom AI team in 5 questions. --- ## Install, update, uninstall Cabinet runs entirely through `npx` — no global install needed. The CLI is the [`cabinetai`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/cabinetai) package; `create-cabinet` is a thin wrapper around it. ### Install / create ```bash npx create-cabinet@latest # create a cabinet and start it npx cabinetai create my-startup # just create, don't start npx cabinetai run # start Cabinet in the current dir ``` On first run, Cabinet downloads the prebuilt app bundle to `~/.cabinet/app/v{version}/`. Your cabinet directory is just a folder of markdown files — put it anywhere. ### Update ```bash npx cabinetai update # check for and install a newer app version ``` The CLI compares your installed app version against `cabinet-release.json` from the latest GitHub Release. ### Uninstall / remove ```bash npx cabinetai uninstall # remove cached app versions only npx cabinetai uninstall --all # also remove global state + telemetry data npx cabinetai uninstall --yes # skip the confirmation prompt npx cabinetai remove # alias for uninstall ``` The command prints a summary of what will be deleted and asks for confirmation before doing anything. **Your cabinet directories and their data are never touched — those you'd delete manually.** `--all` additionally removes the platform-specific telemetry directory: - macOS: `~/Library/Application Support/cabinet-telemetry/` - Windows: `%APPDATA%\cabinet-telemetry\` - Linux: `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cabinet/` (falls back to `~/.config/cabinet/`) To wipe Cabinet completely, run `uninstall --all` and then `rm -rf` your cabinet directories yourself. See [docs/CABINETAI.md](docs/CABINETAI.md) for the full CLI reference. --- ## The problem Every time you start a new Claude session, it forgets everything. Your project context, your decisions, your research — gone. Scattered docs in Notion. AI sessions with no memory. Manual copy-paste between tools. ## The solution One knowledge base. AI agents that remember everything. Scheduled jobs that compound. Your team grows while you sleep. > If it feels like enterprise workflow software, it's wrong. If it feels like watching a team work, it's right. --- ## Philosophy Cabinet is built around a few principles that we think matter deeply for the future of AI + data tools: - **Yours** — Your data stays yours: local, visible, and portable. It’s not trapped inside a particular AI provider’s system with no clean way to get it out. You stay in control of your information. - **Git everything** — Memory should have history. You should be able to inspect changes, revert mistakes, audit how knowledge evolves, and treat your AI system like the important infrastructure it is. - **BYOAI** — Bring your own AI. Cabinet should work with Claude, Codex, OpenCode, local models, and whatever comes next, without forcing your knowledge into a single provider’s ecosystem. - **KISS** — Keep it simple, stupid. AI tools should be understandable, inspectable, and hackable. We prefer plain files, clear behavior, and systems that developers can actually reason about. - **Security** — We care deeply about security. If AI is going to work with your documents, research, plans, and internal context, the system should minimize surprise, reduce unnecessary exposure, and make trust a design requirement rather than an afterthought. - **Self-hosted** — If AI is going to hold your context, plans, research, and operating memory, it should run in an environment you control. ## Everything you need. Nothing you don't. | Feature | What it does | |---|---| | **WYSIWYG + Markdown** | Rich text editing with Tiptap. Tables, code blocks, slash commands. | | **AI Agents** | Each has goals, skills, scheduled jobs. Watch them work like a real team. | | **Skills** | Browse and install from skills.sh or any GitHub repo. Attach per agent, or `@`-mention in the composer to scope to a single task. | | **Scheduled Jobs** | Cron-based agent automation. Reddit scout every 6 hours. Weekly reports on Monday. | | **Embedded HTML Apps** | Drop an `index.html` in any folder — it renders as an iframe. Full-screen mode. | | **Web Terminal** | Interactive local AI CLI terminal in the browser. Kept for direct sessions, debugging, and future terminal-native features such as tmux-style Cabinet workflows. | | **File-Based Everything** | No database. Markdown on disk. Your data is always yours, always portable. | | **Git-Backed History** | Every save auto-commits. Full diff viewer. Restore any page to any point in time. | | **Missions & Tasks** | Break goals into missions. Track progress with Kanban boards. | | **Internal Chat** | Built-in team channels. Agents and humans communicate. | | **Full-Text Search** | Cmd+K instant search across all pages. Fuzzy matching. | | **PDF & CSV Viewers** | First-class support for PDFs and spreadsheets. | | **Dark/Light Mode** | Theme toggle. Dark mode by default. | --- ## Ship HTML apps inside your knowledge base This is the biggest difference between Cabinet and tools like Obsidian or Notion. Drop an `index.html` in any directory — it renders as an embedded app. Full-screen mode with sidebar auto-collapse. AI-generated apps written directly into your KB. Version controlled via git. No build step. --- ## Not another note-taking app | Feature | Cabinet | Obsidian | Notion | |---|---|---|---| | AI agent orchestration | Yes | No | No | | Scheduled cron jobs | Yes | No | No | | Embedded HTML apps | Yes | No | No | | Web terminal | Yes | No | No | | Self-hosted, files on disk | Yes | Yes | No | | No database / no lock-in | Yes | Yes | No | | Git-backed version history | Yes | Via plugin | No | | WYSIWYG + Markdown | Yes | Yes | Yes | --- ## Hire your AI team in 5 questions Cabinet ships with 20 pre-built agent templates. Each has a role, recurring jobs, recommended skills, and a workspace in the knowledge base. | Department | Agents | |---|---| | **Leadership** | CEO, COO, CFO, CTO | | **Product** | Product Manager, UX Designer | | **Marketing** | Content Marketer, SEO Specialist, Social Media, Growth Marketer, Copywriter | | **Engineering** | Editor, QA Agent, DevOps Engineer | | **Sales & Support** | Sales Agent, Customer Success | | **Analytics** | Data Analyst | | **Operations** | People Ops, Legal Advisor, Researcher | --- ## How it works 1. **Install & Run** — One command. Next.js + daemon start. 2. **Answer 5 Questions** — Cabinet builds your custom AI team. 3. **Watch Your Team Work** — Agents create missions, write content, scout Reddit, file reports. 4. **Knowledge Compounds** — Every agent run, every edit adds to the KB. Context builds over time. --- ## AI Runtime Today Cabinet no longer treats the browser terminal as the only way to run AI work. - **Tasks, jobs, and heartbeats** now run through a provider adapter layer with persisted conversations and transcript-driven live views. - **Per-run overrides** can choose provider, model, and reasoning effort, while personas and jobs can still inherit defaults. - **Current defaults** are structured local adapters: `claude_local` for Claude Code and `codex_local` for Codex CLI. - **The web terminal is staying** as a first-class interactive surface for direct CLI sessions and future terminal-native features such as Cabinet-managed tmux-like workspaces. --- ## Architecture ``` cabinet/ src/ app/api/ -> Next.js API routes components/ -> React components (sidebar, editor, agents, jobs, terminal) stores/ -> Zustand state management lib/ -> Storage, markdown, git, agents, jobs server/ cabinet-daemon.ts -> WebSocket + job scheduler + structured adapters + agent executor pty/ -> PTY session module (spawn, Claude lifecycle, ansi) data/ .agents/.library/ -> 20 pre-built agent templates getting-started/ -> Default KB page ``` **Tech stack:** Next.js 16, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, shadcn/ui, Tiptap, Zustand, xterm.js, node-cron --- ## Requirements - **Node.js** 22+ (LTS). The repo ships an `.nvmrc` — run `nvm use` to auto-switch. Node 20 still works but produces an `EBADENGINE` warning from a transitive `chevrotain@12` pulled in by mermaid. - At least one supported CLI provider: - **Claude Code CLI** (`npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code`) - **Codex CLI** (`npm install -g @openai/codex` or `brew install --cask codex`) - **Source mode:** macOS, Linux, or Windows - **Electron desktop packaging:** macOS and Windows ## Configuration ```bash cp .env.example .env.local ``` | Variable | Default | Description | |----------|---------|-------------| | `KB_PASSWORD` | _(empty)_ | Password to protect the UI. Leave empty for no auth. The auth cookie is PBKDF2(password, per-install salt) with login rate-limiting; changing the password logs everyone out once. | | `CABINET_AUTH_SALT` | _(auto)_ | Per-install auth salt, auto-generated into `.cabinet.env` on first run. Set only to pin a value; changing it forces a one-time re-login. | | `CABINET_LOGIN_PBKDF2_ITERS` | `600000` | PBKDF2 iteration count for the auth token. Lower only for constrained hardware. | | `CABINET_LOGIN_MAX_ATTEMPTS` / `_WINDOW_MS` / `_LOCKOUT_MS` / `CABINET_LOGIN_GLOBAL_MAX` | `10` / `900000` / `900000` / `60` | Login rate-limit tuning (per-client + global failed-attempt buckets). | | `DOMAIN` | `localhost` | Domain for the app. | ### Authentication Setting `KB_PASSWORD` turns on a single password gate for the whole UI/API (leave it empty for no auth). The session cookie is `PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256` over a per-install salt that's auto-generated into `.cabinet.env` on first run, the login endpoint is rate-limited against brute force, and the gate verifies in constant time. Changing the password (or salt/iterations) logs everyone out once. Full details, threat model, and tuning: **[docs/AUTH.md](docs/AUTH.md)**. ## Commands ```bash npm run dev # Next.js dev server (port 4000 by default) npm run dev:daemon # Unified daemon: structured runs, terminal sessions, WebSockets, scheduler (port 4100 by default) npm run dev:all # Both servers npm run electron:start # Launch Electron desktop against the local dev servers npm run build # Production build npm run start # Production mode (both servers) npm run elect