Nirala is a markdown-first knowledge workspace backed by your own GitHub repo. Every note, drawing, and book lives as plain files you can read, edit, or back up anywhere.
Why files?
Your vault is just a folder of .md, .pdf,.excalidraw, and image files. Nothing is locked in a proprietary database. You can clone, grep, edit, and version-control it.
Core principles
- Ownership — Your data lives in your GitHub repo, not on our servers.
- Portability — Standard formats mean you can open your notes in any editor.
- Extensibility — Live blocks (graphs, feeds, calendars) render dynamically.
- Privacy — Private repos stay private; we never read your content.
What's renderable
- Markdown notes, with LaTeX math, callouts, code highlighting
- PDFs, with annotations, highlighting, sticky notes
- Excalidraw whiteboards
- Live blocks: graphs, calendars, RSS feeds, web embeds
- Simulations (Monte Carlo, 2D/3D physics)
- Terminal emulators and IDE-like code editors
Who is it for?
Students, researchers, developers, and knowledge workers who want a powerful, customizable note-taking system without vendor lock-in. If you value owning your data and working in plain text, Nirala is built for you.