BrainBox: A Better Local‑First Workspace
Introduction
Most collaboration suites trade control for convenience. BrainBox is different: open source, self‑hosted, and privacy‑first. It centralizes tasks, projects, notes, resources, and goals—without vendor lock‑in—so your second brain stays on your infrastructure.
Built on Colanode—then improved
BrainBox began as a fork of Colanode to leverage its strong local‑first, conflict‑free collaboration model. From there, we focused on real usability and team workflows:
- Significantly improved UI/UX: Faster, cleaner, and more consistent interactions across pages and databases.
- Kanban swimlanes: Plan sprints and manage priority with lane-based grouping that makes backlogs and in-progress work obvious at a glance.
- Communications redesigned: Channels and DMs are separated from "spaces," so collaboration is clearer and less noisy.
- Workspace‑wide channels: Channels aren't tied to individual spaces anymore—they're available across the workspace for cross‑team coordination.
- Direct messages and self‑chat: BrainBox adds DMs and self‑chat (not available in Colanode) for quick notes, reminders, and personal logs—perfect for capturing ideas without leaving context.
Core features that keep you organized
Quick Capture
Save ideas, tasks, and bookmarks instantly so you don't break flow.
Projects & Tasks
Flexible boards, lists, and milestones to keep teams aligned.
Resources & Notes
Create documents, wikis, and references connected to your workflows.
Goals Tracker
Define outcomes, track milestones, and visualize progress.
Advanced Collaboration
Real‑time editing with role‑based access control.
Privacy by Design
End‑to‑end encryption; self‑hosted architecture; complete data ownership.
Open Source Freedom
Apache 2.0 license with transparent code and extensible APIs.
Why local‑first matters
Local‑first means your data is saved to your device first and syncs in the background. Work offline, avoid surprise conflicts, and keep full sovereignty over your knowledge graph. With self‑hosting, your data never leaves your servers.
BrainBox vs cloud workspaces (including Notion)
- Ownership: Self‑host on your own infrastructure—no per‑seat pricing, no lock‑in.
- Offline resilience: Continue working even without a connection.
- UI made for teams: Kanban with swimlanes, workspace‑wide channels, and separate DMs streamline real collaboration.
- Private AI: Upcoming AI Learning Assistant operates inside your secure environment.
What's coming next
AI Learning Assistant
Learn faster, understand complex topics, and connect knowledge across your documents—privately, inside your workspace.
Custom Themes
Personalize your workspace to match your style and accessibility needs.
Tool Integrations
Free integrations with Slack, Gmail, and other essentials to reduce context switching.
Under the hood
BrainBox uses TypeScript with React on the frontend, Fastify on the backend, and PostgreSQL as the system of record. It's designed for local‑first operation, strong privacy, and real‑time collaboration—all under a transparent Apache 2.0 license.
Get started
Conclusion
Your second brain shouldn't be rented. BrainBox pairs local‑first architecture with a cleaner UI, better team workflows, and self‑hosted privacy—so your knowledge stays truly yours.