Wenlan

Wenlan is a desktop knowledge base and wiki application that turns notes, code repositories, and AI chats into cited pages.

Wenlan is a desktop knowledge base and wiki application designed for individuals who want to organize scattered notes, documents, web links, code repositories, and AI conversations into a single source of truth. The application runs locally, keeping your notes on your machine while connecting with AI tools such as Claude Code, Claude Desktop, ChatGPT Desktop, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, VS Code, Gemini CLI, Antigravity, Windsurf, Kiro, OpenCode, and Kimi Code via plugins, Model Context Protocol (MCP), and skills. It imports Markdown, text, PDFs, DOCX files, Obsidian vaults, Logseq graphs, web links, YouTube videos, social media posts, Gmail, Notion, Google Drive, Slack, GitHub data, Open Knowledge Format bundles, and AI chat transcripts. An AI tool writes and updates pages, creates Mermaid diagrams, structures atomic memories, and links related topics using Label Propagation or Leiden algorithms. Wenlan verifies citations, refuses pages with mismatched sources, flags dependent pages when sources or code change, and preserves your authored edits with settings like Ask me first.

Wenlan at a glance

Best for: Software engineer, Researcher, Student
Runs on: macOS, Windows, Linux, CLI
Pricing: Free
Released: October 2026
Category: AI research tool
Website: github.com/wenlan-app/wenlan

Key features

Turns notes, files, and AI chats into cited wiki pages
Verifies citations against original sources
Flags out-of-date pages when sources or code lines change
Generates repository wikis tied to specific code lines
Connects with multiple AI tools via MCP and plugins
Organizes findings with atomic memories and wikilinks
Draws and checks Mermaid diagrams for common mistakes

Use it for

Turning scattered notes and AI chats into a structured wiki
Keeping documentation synchronized with changing code repositories
Managing atomic memories and research citations
Connecting local notes with AI coding assistants

Alternatives to Wenlan

WeKnora — Combines RAG, multi-step agents, and automatic Wiki generation in one platform.
Yila AI — It connects directly to trusted scholarly databases for verified literature searches.
LLM Wiki Research — Compiles parallel agent research into source-backed markdown knowledge bases.
LEANN — Efficiently index millions of documents locally with 97% storage savings.
NOAN — Serves approved company facts from one API for any AI model or agent.
Keryx — Compensates verified creators directly in USDC for cited sources
AI Knowledge Graph — Extracts knowledge from documents and builds interactive, traceable graphs.
Etiny — Explores distilled book advice entirely in the browser without sending data.
Rocus — Organizes saved content into a living knowledge graph with local AI.
Lacuna by Tiptree Systems — Traces code imports and comments directly to the foundational research papers.
Arkon — It secures AI access by scoping internal knowledge to specific user roles.
ObsidianYouTubeSync — Automates YouTube history syncing, transcription, and AI-powered knowledge graph creation.

All Wenlan alternatives