Cortex — AI-first Personal Workspace

Drop in your questions, tasks, and ideas. Cortex researches, reasons through them, and keeps everything organized — privately on your machine.

Install & Run

Option 1 — npx (no install required)

npx cortex-md

The first run downloads Electron (~100 MB) and caches it. Subsequent runs are instant.

Option 2 — Global install

npm install -g cortex-md
cortex-md

Option 3 — Download a pre-built binary

Go to the Releases page

| Platform | Architecture | Download | |----------|-------------|----------| | Windows | x64 / ARM64 | Cortex-Setup.exe | | macOS | Apple Silicon | Cortex-arm64.dmg | | macOS | Intel | Cortex.dmg | | Linux | x64 | Cortex.AppImage | | Linux | ARM64 | Cortex-arm64.AppImage | | Linux | x64 (deb) | cortex_amd64.deb | | Linux | ARM64 (deb) | cortex_arm64.deb |

On first launch, a setup dialog asks for an API key (OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, or Google Gemini). No environment variables needed.

Features

AI Chat

Deep reasoning with tool use. The agent can search the web, create notes, manage tasks, browse websites, and work through complex multi-step problems — taking as many steps as needed.

Notes

Full markdown editor with image support, tags, and search. Paste images directly, view them in a lightbox, and chat about your notes with the AI.

Tasks

List and Kanban views with drag-and-drop. Priority levels, due dates, subtasks, and status tracking. The AI can create and manage tasks from chat.

Settings & MCP

Multi-provider AI support (OpenAI, Claude, Grok, Gemini). MCP server integration for browser automation, Microsoft 365 access, and custom tools.

More Features

• Files — Upload, preview, and reference files from chat. Supports images, PDFs, Word, Excel, and more.
• Web Search — DuckDuckGo-powered search built into the agent. Fetch and read any URL.
• Multi-Vault — Separate workspaces for personal, work, or project data. Sync with OneDrive or USB.
• Image Vision — Paste screenshots into chat or notes. The AI can see and analyze images.
• MCP Servers — Playwright browser automation, WorkIQ for Microsoft 365, or add any custom MCP server.
• Skills System — Built-in and custom skills define what tools the AI can use.
• Portable Data — Everything is JSON and Markdown files on disk. Navigable, portable, no lock-in.
• Cost Tracking — Token counter and estimated API cost in the status bar.
• Cross-Platform — Windows (.exe installer + portable), macOS (.dmg), Linux (AppImage + .deb).

Download

Go to Releases

| Platform | Download | |----------|----------| | Windows (x64/ARM64) | Cortex-Setup.exe | | Windows (portable) | Cortex-portable.exe | | macOS (Apple Silicon) | Cortex-arm64.dmg | | macOS (Intel) | Cortex.dmg | | Linux (x64) | Cortex.AppImage |

On first launch, add an API key (OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, or Google Gemini) in Settings.

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/angshuman/cortex.git
cd cortex
npm install
npm run dev          # → http://localhost:5000

Electron Desktop App

npm run electron:dev           # Dev mode
npm run electron:pack:win      # Package for Windows
npm run electron:pack:mac      # Package for macOS
npm run electron:pack:linux    # Package for Linux

Environment Variables

| Variable | Description | |---|---| | OPENAI_API_KEY | OpenAI API key | | ANTHROPIC_API_KEY | Claude API key | | GROK_API_KEY | Grok/xAI API key | | GOOGLE_API_KEY | Google Gemini API key | | CORTEX_DATA_DIR | Custom data directory (default: .cortex-data/) |

Architecture

cortex/
├── client/          React + Vite + Tailwind + shadcn/ui
├── server/          Express + TypeScript + WebSocket
├── electron/        Electron main process + preload
├── shared/          Shared TypeScript schemas
└── dist/            Build output

• No database — JSON and Markdown files on disk
• AI agent — Agentic loop with unlimited tool-use steps
• WebSocket — Streams thoughts, tool calls, and responses in real-time
• MCP — Model Context Protocol for browser, Microsoft 365, and custom integrations
• Skills — Pluggable tool definitions with instructions and parameters

AI Providers

| Provider | Model | Input/1M | Output/1M | |----------|-------|----------|-----------| | OpenAI | gpt-4o | $2.50 | $10.00 | | Anthropic | claude-sonnet-4 | $3.00 | $15.00 | | xAI | grok-3 | $3.00 | $15.00 | | Google | gemini-2.0-flash | $0.10 | $0.40 |

License

MIT