u/CCVShadow

I've been building Mnemo for years, and the 0.8.1 beta is out today.

It's a desktop study app that puts notes, flashcards and mind maps in one place. Everything is stored locally on your computer. There are no accounts and no tracking. The only thing it does online is check for updates, and you can turn that off.

What's in it:

- A block editor for notes with math, code, tables, images, columns and PDF export

- Flashcards with FSRS-6 scheduling, cloze and image occlusion cards

- Anki import and export that keeps your study progress

- Mind maps on an infinite canvas

- Export to Markdown, PDF, Anki, CSV, PNG and SVG, so your work isn't stuck in the app

It runs on Windows, macOS (Apple silicon) and Linux. It's built with .NET and React and licensed under Apache 2.0.

This is a beta. Windows has had months of daily use. macOS and Linux have had much less, so expect some rough edges there. The Windows build isn't code signed yet, so SmartScreen will warn you on first run. MacOS is notarized.

Next on the roadmap are optional sync (hosted or self-hosted) and a mobile app.

Bug reports, feedback and contributions are all welcome.

Website: https://mnemo.one

GitHub: https://github.com/onemnemo/mnemo

Download: https://github.com/onemnemo/mnemo/releases/latest

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kV2sJzU8r8

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/mnemo/

Context: Mnemo is a free, offline first desktop study app that combines block based notes, flashcards with spaced repetition, and mind maps. I just replaced the old site with this one: mnemo.one

I've spent so long inside it that I can't tell what a first time visitor actually experiences, so I'm after structural feedback more than polish.

What I'd like to know:

1. Does the site communicate what the app is and who it's for? If you landed here cold, would you understand it within a few seconds, and would you know whether it's for you?
2. Is the navigation logical, or do you have to hunt? I'm curious whether anything you went looking for was hard to find or whether the menu structure matches the order you wanted things im
3. The axolotl mascot appears throughout. Is it too much, too little, or about right? I cant really tell anymore whether it gives the site personality or undercuts it (from like a professional view vs what notion achieves)
4. Any section that feels off, redundant, or like it's in the wrong place in the scroll order?
5. Anything missing? Pages, or components within existing pages, that you'd expect on a site like this and didn't find.
6. How is the micro animations working? The hat throw off, squid movement?

The "why it works" page is the one I'd most like structural opinions on. It walks through how memory works in seven stages and quizzes you partway through on a fact from the first stage, so the page tries to demonstrate spaced repetition rather than just describe it. I have read quite a few research papers over the years, and they are often quite boring and technical. So I got the idea of showing it off in a more interactive way. Not sure if that reads as clever or as a gimmick that interrupts reading.

Two notes: the illustrations are placeholder quality and will be redone. The in app screenshots show the current build, which I'm partway through porting to a new UI framework (and design).

Thanks for taking a look!

Hey! I'm a programmer who absolutely dreads UI/UX work.

I find it incredibly difficult, and no matter how much time I spend on it, I can never make it look as polished as what I see other people create.

I have Pinterest and PureRef boards with thousands of reference images for different components, modules, and systems in my application. The UI is honestly the best it's ever been, but I'm still not happy with it. Something just feels... off.

As I've added more features, everything has become harder to organize. I have to constantly figure out where do I find space for new features. What should be visible, and what should be hidden? How do I keep everything consistent across the app?

For example, I think the Overview and Settings pages feel like they belong to the same application, but then the Flashcards, Mind Maps, and Notes sections begins to drift away from that style. On top of that, the navigation has become more layered over time. Just starting a flashcard practice session takes 4–5 clicks.

This has been my passion project for the past few years while I've been learning programming, so I really care about getting it right, but honestly i am starting to burn out.

Do you have any advice on improving UI/UX skills? Books, courses, workflows, design exercises, or even ways of thinking about interfaces? I'd genuinely love to get better at this before i burn out completely.

Hey everyone.

I’m building Mnemo, a free and open-source local-first study app.

GitHub: https://github.com/onemnemo/mnemo
Website: https://www.mnemo.one/

It is built with C# / .NET / Avalonia and focuses on local-first study workflows, block-based notes, flashcards, mind maps, custom rendering, theming, and AI/RAG features.

A lot of the work has gone into the foundation:

• modular async-based architecture
• custom rendering logic
• in-house LaTeX rendering
• custom controls
• keybind registration
• module registration
• RAG pipelines
• AI orchestration
• cross-platform support

I’m now looking for a few people who want to work more closely on it as a small team. GitHub contributions are always welcome, but I’m especially interested in people who want to be more hands-on, discuss direction, take ownership over parts of the app, and help shape it long term.

The area I need the most help with is UI/UX. I can build the systems and architecture, but I would really like to work with someone who enjoys product design, interaction design, layouts, accessibility, and making complex features feel simple. Though i am open for anyone that wants to contribute.

There is no money in the project right now. Mnemo is free and open-source, and the core app is intended to stay free.

If it sounds interesting, feel free to comment, open a GitHub discussion, contact me on Discord at torstfugl, or email team@mnemo.one.

Hey everyone.

I’m building Mnemo, a free and open-source local-first study app.

GitHub: https://github.com/onemnemo/mnemo
Website: https://www.mnemo.one/

It is built with C# / .NET / Avalonia and focuses on local-first study workflows, block-based notes, flashcards, mind maps, custom rendering, theming, and AI/RAG features.

A lot of the work has gone into the foundation:

• modular async-based architecture
• custom rendering logic
• in-house LaTeX rendering
• custom controls
• keybind registration
• module registration
• RAG pipelines
• AI orchestration
• cross-platform support

I’m now looking for a few people who want to work more closely on it as a small team. GitHub contributions are always welcome, but I’m especially interested in people who want to be more hands-on, discuss direction, take ownership over parts of the app, and help shape it long term.

The area I need the most help with is UI/UX. I can build the systems and architecture, but I would really like to work with someone who enjoys product design, interaction design, layouts, accessibility, and making complex features feel simple. Though i am open for anyone that wants to contribute.

There is no money in the project right now. Mnemo is free and open-source, and the core app is intended to stay free.

If it sounds interesting, feel free to comment, open a GitHub discussion, contact me on Discord at torstfugl, or email team@mnemo.one.

Hey everyone.

I’m building Mnemo, a free and open-source local-first study app.

GitHub: https://github.com/onemnemo/mnemo
Website: https://www.mnemo.one/

It is built with C# / .NET / Avalonia and focuses on local-first study workflows, block-based notes, flashcards, mind maps, custom rendering, theming, and AI/RAG features.

A lot of the work has gone into the foundation:

• modular async-based architecture
• custom rendering logic
• in-house LaTeX rendering
• custom controls
• keybind registration
• module registration
• RAG pipelines
• AI orchestration
• cross-platform support

I’m now looking for a few people who want to work more closely on it as a small team. GitHub contributions are always welcome, but I’m especially interested in people who want to be more hands-on, discuss direction, take ownership over parts of the app, and help shape it long term.

The area I need the most help with is UI/UX. I can build the systems and architecture, but I would really like to work with someone who enjoys product design, interaction design, layouts, accessibility, and making complex features feel simple. Though i am open for anyone that wants to contribute.

There is no money in the project right now. Mnemo is free and open-source, and the core app is intended to stay free.

If it sounds interesting, feel free to comment, open a GitHub discussion, contact me on Discord at torstfugl, or email team@mnemo.one.

Hey, I've been working on a study app for a while and wanted to share it and get some real feedback from people outside my own setup.

Repo: https://github.com/onemnemo/mnemo

Latest release (v0.6.0): https://github.com/onemnemo/mnemo/releases/latest

Website: https://mnemo.one

It's fully open source and free.

This isn't a one-month project. I've been building it gradually for years, restarting multiple times when the architecture or UI became unbearable to work with. Each restart taught me something, so each version had better architecture, better code, better UI. This current version is essentially the 6th full rewrite, and the first time I really focused on doing things properly instead of just getting something working.

Core modules:

• Notes editor (fully custom block-based editor, custom inline formatting, image support, in-house LaTeX, and more)
• Mindmaps (canvas with layout algorithms, styling, edge types, labels, minimap, undo/redo)
• Flashcards (FSRS, SM-2, Leitner, multiple practice modes, rich card editor)

What's new in v0.6.0:

This update focused on stability and making the core modules actually usable:

• A lot of fixes in the notes editor (caret positioning, drag/selection, smoother typing flow)
• Find/replace tool
• Better image handling and states (loading, failed, unassigned)
• Flashcards module fully integrated
• Import/export: notes as .md and .mnemo, flashcards as .csv, Anki, and .mnemo, mindmaps as .mnemo
• Custom .mnemo format (a zipped archive with metadata and data)
• Analytics system used for internal stats and UI widgets
• AI features exist but are behind an experimental flag while they stabilize

Why so much custom-built stuff?

Most of the core systems are written from scratch. The editor is run-based, not built on markdown hacks. The LaTeX renderer is in-house. Rendering, layout, and history are things I've chosen to own rather than stack libraries for. It's slower to build that way, but it gives a lot more control and flexibility long term.

Why build this at all?

Honestly, frustration with tools like Notion. Small things that break flow, weird UX decisions, things that feel like they should be easy but aren't. I wanted something fast, local-first, and out of the way when writing or studying. Everything is stored locally, no account needed. Privacy and speed are the main goals.

Where things stand:

It's still early. I've mostly tested it on my own machines running Windows. It's built with Avalonia so it should be cross-platform, but I haven't properly tested macOS or Linux yet.

I've started using it myself for studying, which feels like a milestone, but I need feedback from people other than myself. What feels natural or intuitive to me might not be for others, and bugs will absolutely surface in setups I haven't tested.

If something feels off, confusing, broken, slow, or just badly designed, that's exactly what I want to hear. Same with feature requests. I won't implement everything, but if something makes sense I'll work it out.

This is my main side project and I care a lot about getting it right. Honest feedback is genuinely appreciated.

If you run into any severe bugs, let me know and I'll try to fix them as quickly as I can.