About Netherstone
Netherstone is a free, open-source desktop app for documents and drawings, stored as Markdown files in a chosen folder. Its built-in MCP server lets AI apps search and edit content, with changes recorded in History for undo.
Key features
- 01Markdown editing, search, links, and tags
- 02Manage drawings, media, and other attachments
- 03Import and export multiple document formats
- 04Sync through a GitHub account
- 05Review and restore version history
Use cases
- 01Search and read content in a document vault
- 02Let AI apps edit shards, tables, and drawings
- 03Review or undo changes made by AI apps
MCP support
Its built-in MCP server gives AI apps access to selected vaults to search, read, and edit shards, drawings, and tables, and inspect History. AI apps cannot delete content, and edits are saved to History first.
Configuration
Local server config is the same for every client. Copy it into your client’s MCP config file.
We haven’t collected a package or remote endpoint for this server. Follow the instructions in the project README.
Tools
Local servers expose tools only once running on your machine, and the maintainer has not provided a tool list.
Details
From the project README
Netherstone is a free, open-source desktop app for documents and drawings. Each document, called a shard, is a Markdown file in a folder you pick.
Download
Get the latest version for Windows, macOS or Linux from Releases.
On Windows, the installer shows "Windows protected your PC". Click More info, then Run anyway. Windows shows this because the installer isn't code-signed yet. We plan to sign it in a future version.
Features
- An editor that formats Markdown as you type
- Search,
@links and#tags - Drawings, images, PDFs, audio and video
- A Gallery of every attachment in your vault
- Charts from tables, and an Overview of your vault
- Every version of a shard or drawing in History
- Import from Word, PDF, HTML, Markdown and CSV, and export to PDF, Word or HTML
- Open folders and files from the terminal (
netherstone .) or your file manager - Free sync through your own GitHub account
- Light, Dark and three more themes
AI apps
Netherstone has a built-in MCP server, so your AI apps can search your vault, read and write shards, fix links, edit drawings and tables, and go back through History. It's off until you turn it on:
- Open Settings > AI apps and turn on Connect your AI apps.
- Pick the vaults AI apps may use.
- Click Connect next to your app, then restart it. For any other app, click Copy setup and paste it into that app's MCP settings.
AI apps can't delete anything, and every change they make is saved in History first, so you can undo it.
Building from source
You need Node.js 22+, pnpm 11, Rust and the Tauri prerequisites for your OS.
pnpm install
pnpm tauri dev # run the app
pnpm test # run the tests
pnpm tauri build # build an installer
The editor also has browser tests. Build the frontend once, then run them in a real Chromium (the first run downloads it):
pnpm exec vite build
pnpm exec playwright install chromium
pnpm test:e2e
Learn more
Architecture · Attachments · Git sync
Community
Questions, ideas and feedback are welcome in Discussions. To report a bug, open an issue.
License
Comments
New to MCP?
From what the protocol is to installing your first server, these answers cover most first questions.
An open protocol that defines how AI applications connect to external tools and data in a uniform way. Clients talk to the model; MCP servers provide tools, resources and prompt templates. They exchange standard messages, so one server can be reused by many clients.