Introduction
Bonsai is a native client for a personal Markdown knowledge base. Your notes live in a cloud space; every Bonsai client reads that space and renders it deterministically as a native interface.
The pieces
| Piece | What it does |
|---|---|
| Space | A cloud folder of Markdown files, organised as PARA |
| Mobile app | Reads your space, renders it natively and lets you check off tasks |
| Web workspace | Reads and edits your space in the browser, including on the Mac |
| Mac app and CLI | Work with your space from the desktop and the terminal |
| MCP server | Lets AI assistants read and write the same space |
Principles
- UI = f(markdown). The interface is a pure function of your notes. Model output never reaches the render path.
- Your files stay yours. Everything is plain Markdown. There is no proprietary format to export from.
- Changes are visible. Anything an assistant writes is recorded as a change until you have seen it.
Next, read Getting started.