Relatum

Local canvases, Markdown notes, and study tools.

An open-source, local-first knowledge canvas and study workspace for Windows
Built for visual notes, personal knowledge management, course work, research, and mind maps
Interface languages: Simplified Chinese · English

简体中文 · Download for Windows · Latest release · Contribute

What is Relatum?

Relatum is an open-source Windows app with four workspaces: Canvas, Notes, Research, and Career.

No account is required. Notes, canvases, and settings stay on your computer. Core features work offline; the optional AI assistant connects to a service you configure.

Highlights

Canvas

• Add text, images, code, and attachments to an infinite canvas. Move and connect them freely.
• Customize nodes and connections, add handwriting, arrange mind maps with one click, and export PNG images.
• Basic compatibility with the Obsidian Canvas format.

Notes

• Live Markdown rendering with math, code, Callouts, images, and embedded canvases.
• Organize files with notebooks, folders, and tabs. Edits save automatically.
• Find and browse notes using search, recent files, tags, outlines, wikilinks, and relationship graphs.

Reading and reference material

• Read and annotate PDF and Markdown documents.
• Use math, Mermaid diagrams, and local attachments. Import Markdown folders.

Study and Career

• Study tasks, daily tasks, Pomodoro timers, and stopwatches.
• Calendar, diary, countdowns, quick notes, and review cards.
• The Career workspace shows daily usage, yearly heatmaps, and workspace usage trends, with date-range filters.

Appearance and AI

• Themes, custom backgrounds, templates, and style presets.
• An optional AI assistant for chat, organizing content, and generating canvases. Configure your own endpoint, model, and API key.

Screenshots

Notes: live Markdown rendering

See math, lists, and Callouts as you edit. Use the outline to jump to a section.

Notes: browsing and search

Find notes through recent files, tags, and search. The list shows titles, previews, and file paths.

Career: usage statistics

View daily usage, a yearly heatmap, and workspace usage trends. Filter by all records, 30 days, 90 days, this year, or a custom range.

More screenshots

Goal trees and progressive tasks	Quick notes and visual relationships
Annual activity and canvas constellation	Daily tasks, streaks, and milestones
Freeform canvas and course knowledge map	Calendar, diary, countdowns, and daily records

Quick start

Download the Windows app

1. Download the latest Relatum-release.zip.
2. Fully extract the ZIP into a writable folder.
3. Run Relatum.exe.

Relatum supports Windows 10/11 and requires Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime, which is normally included with modern Windows installations.

Do not overwrite an old installation in place. Keep the old data/, canvases/, and notes/ folders until you have confirmed that the new version works, then migrate your personal data.

Run from source

Source mode requires Windows 10/11 and Python 3.9 or later. The runtime path uses only the Python standard library:

python app.py

You can also double-click 打开画布.bat, or run:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\start.ps1

On first launch, Relatum creates:

• canvases/ for .canvas files and their attachments.
• notes/ for Notes-workspace .md files, nested folders, and local images.
• data/ for recent items, study records, calendar data, window state, and AI configuration.

All three directories are excluded by .gitignore and are not part of the source repository. See the privacy documentation for the complete data boundary.

Build the Windows desktop app

Desktop builds support Python 3.9–3.12. The build script creates a temporary environment and installs pinned versions of PyWebView, PyInstaller, and Pillow:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\build-desktop.ps1

The output is placed in the sibling Relatum-release/ directory. User data/, canvases/, and notes/ are never bundled into the release.

Build the Microsoft Store package

Install the Windows 10/11 SDK (including MakeAppx.exe), then run:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\build-msix.ps1

The output is placed in the sibling Relatum-store/ directory. Upload Relatum_<version>_x64.msixupload to Partner Center. Store installations keep canvas and settings data under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Relatum; source mode and the GitHub portable build retain their existing data locations.

Project structure

Relatum/
├─ app.py                    Local HTTP service and data API
├─ notes_library.py          Markdown library, wikilink index, and path-safety layer
├─ desktop.py                Windows desktop shell
├─ assets/                   HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and runtime assets
├─ packaging/                Icon, font, and desktop build helpers
├─ build-desktop.ps1         Windows portable release build entry point
├─ build-msix.ps1            Microsoft Store MSIX build entry point
├─ start.ps1                 Source-mode launcher
├─ AI笔记创作指南.md          External canvas/Markdown authoring reference (not a runtime dependency)
└─ AGENTS.md                 Architecture and maintenance constraints

Development and checks

Relatum has no npm build step. Before submitting a change, run at least:

python -m py_compile app.py desktop.py packaging\make_icon.py packaging\make_font_subset.py

Get-ChildItem assets -Recurse -Filter *.js |
  Where-Object { $_.FullName -notmatch '\\vendor\\' } |
  ForEach-Object { node --check $_.FullName }

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\check-public.ps1

Before creating a public ZIP or formal release, also run:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\check-public.ps1 -Physical

Contributing

Bug reports, feature ideas, documentation improvements, and code contributions are welcome. Please read CONTRIBUTING.md and AGENTS.md before starting.

Third-party components and license

Mermaid, MathJax, PDF.js, and several fonts are bundled for offline use. See THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md for licensing and attribution.

Original Relatum source code and documentation are available under the MIT License, Copyright © 2026 yamibk. Third-party components, fonts, and media assets remain subject to their respective licenses.