Getting Started

ScholarOS is a local-first, AI-powered knowledge management app for students and researchers. It turns your lecture notes, PDFs, and past papers into a living wiki — without ever sending your data to the cloud.

What You'll Need

Before you begin, make sure you have:

A computer running macOS 12+, Windows 10+, or Linux (Ubuntu 20.04+ / Fedora 38+)
A folder on your machine to use as your vault (anywhere on your filesystem)
(Optional) A ScholarOS account to unlock AI features

Quick-Start Walkthrough

You'll be up and running in under five minutes. Follow these four steps:

Download and Install the Desktop App

Head to the Installation page to download the latest version of ScholarOS for your operating system. The app is free, open source, and MIT licensed — no account needed to download.

Once downloaded, open the installer and follow the on-screen prompts. On macOS, drag the app into your Applications folder. On Windows, run the installer and follow the setup wizard. On Linux, run the AppImage or install the .deb package.

Create or Choose a Vault Folder

When you first launch ScholarOS, you'll be prompted to select a vault folder. This is a regular folder on your machine where all your notes, PDFs, and study materials will live.

You can point it at an existing folder full of markdown notes and PDFs, or create a brand-new empty folder. ScholarOS treats whatever you give it as the boundary of your knowledge — nothing outside this folder is ever read.

~/Documents/scholaros-vault/
  ├── lecture-notes/
  ├── textbooks/
  ├── past-papers/
  └── my-notes.md

Sign In with Your ScholarOS Account

You can browse your vault, read notes, and organise files without an account. To use the AI features — chat, wiki generation, revision tools — you'll need to sign in.

Click the Sign In button in the top-right corner of the app. Create a new account or sign in with your existing credentials. A single subscription covers all model access (GPT-5, Claude 4, Gemini) — no separate API keys to manage.

Drop Your First Source Material

Now for the fun part. Drag a PDF or markdown file into your vault folder. ScholarOS will automatically detect the new file, read its contents, and begin extracting concepts.

You can also add files directly from within the app by clicking the Add Files button or using Cmd+Shift+I. Try dropping a lecture note, a textbook chapter, or a past paper — the AI will start building connections immediately.

Supported file types

Markdown (.md) — your own notes and documents
PDF (.pdf) — textbooks, papers, lecture slides
Plain text (.txt) — quick notes and drafts

Tips for Getting Started

Start small

Drop in 3–5 documents first. Let the AI process them and build your initial wiki. You can always add more later — the wiki updates incrementally.

Use existing notes

If you already have markdown notes from Obsidian, Notion, or another tool, just point ScholarOS at that folder. No migration needed — your existing files work as-is.

Name files meaningfully

ScholarOS uses filenames to help identify topics. A file called binary-trees.md gives the AI better context than notes.md.

Let the AI work

After adding files, give the AI a moment to process. You'll see wiki pages appear in the sidebar as concepts are extracted and linked. The more you add, the smarter the system becomes.

Ready to Go Deeper?

Learn how ScholarOS structures your knowledge and what you can do with it.

Core Concepts Capture a Note