Rowboat

// Overview

Rowboat is an open-source AI coworker that runs on your own machine. It connects to the work you already do - email and meeting notes - and turns it into a long-lived knowledge graph it can act on.

Instead of searching transcripts from scratch each time, Rowboat keeps memory that accumulates over time. People, projects, decisions, and commitments are stored as plain Markdown notes with backlinks, so you can inspect, edit, or delete anything.

Because all data lives locally as Markdown in an Obsidian-compatible vault, there is no proprietary format or hosted lock-in. You bring your own model - local through Ollama or LM Studio, or a hosted provider with your own API key.

// What it does

• Builds a long-lived knowledge graph from Gmail, Google Calendar, and meeting notes (Rowboat or Fireflies)
• Stores everything as plain Markdown in an Obsidian-compatible vault with backlinks you can inspect and edit
• Generates real artifacts: meeting briefs, email drafts, docs, and PDF slide decks grounded in your context
• Live notes that stay updated automatically by typing '@rowboat' to track a person, company, or topic
• Bring your own model - local via Ollama or LM Studio, or hosted providers with your own API key
• Extends with external tools via Model Context Protocol (MCP) and Composio integrations

// Getting started

Rowboat is a desktop app for Mac, Windows, and Linux. Install it from the official downloads, then optionally add API keys for voice, search, and external tools.

{
  "apiKey": "<key>"
}

Commands and code are distilled from the project's own documentation — always check the official repo for the latest.

// When to use it

• Prep for a meeting by pulling past decisions, open questions, and relevant threads into a crisp brief
• Draft emails grounded in your history and commitments so context is never re-explained
• Generate docs and PDF slide decks from your ongoing context, such as a quarter roadmap deck
• Keep live notes that track a competitor, person, or deal across the web and your communications

// How Rowboat compares

Rowboat alongside other open-source assistants & chatbots tools AI/TLDR tracks, ranked by GitHub stars.