Download
| System | File on the Releases page |
|---|
| macOS on Apple silicon (M1 or later) | .dmg |
| Windows | .exe |
| Linux | .deb for Ubuntu and Debian, or .AppImage |
Macs with an Intel processor aren't supported. Test builds change often and aren't signed yet, so your system warns you the first time. Windows builds will be signed through the SignPath Foundation (code signing policy).
- Windows says "Windows protected your PC": click More info, then Run anyway.
- macOS says it can't verify IncarnaMind: open it once and click Done, then System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway. Or run
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/IncarnaMind.app. Until the app is notarized, it can't update itself, so it tells you when a new version is out.
- Linux: for the AppImage, run
chmod +x IncarnaMind-*.AppImage. On Ubuntu 22.04 or later, also sudo apt install libfuse2 (libfuse2t64 on 24.04 and later). On 24.04 and later, the AppImage runs without the app's sandbox.
With Node.js 24 or newer:
git clone https://github.com/IncarnaMind/IncarnaMind.git && cd IncarnaMind
npm install && npm run dev
What it does
| |
|---|
| Sort | Link your folders. Organize suggests Folders and Tags. |
| Ask | Ask all your documents at once, every page cited. |
| Write | A Note is a notebook for one topic. The assistant's text stays grey until you edit it, and Undo takes it back. |
| Analyse | Calculate and chart from spreadsheets, every input cited. |
| Check | Check a Note or any PDF against your files, sentence by sentence. |
| Compare | Ask many documents the same questions and get one cited table. |
| Export | Edit a Word file and export it as Word again: the parts you didn't touch stay exactly as they were, and your edits can go in as tracked changes. Or export a Note to Word with footnotes in eight citation styles. |
| Meet | A live transcript, help during the call, and notes that cite what was said. |
Works fully offline with Ollama: nothing leaves your computer.
- Search OpenAlex, arXiv and PubMed for papers, save web pages, and import references from Zotero, BibTeX, RIS or CSL JSON.
- Add MCP servers and
SKILL.md Skills. Anything that could change something asks you first.
- Give Claude Code, Codex or Cursor the Folders you choose, with checked citations.
- The whole app is in English and Chinese.
See it in one minute
A credit memo from start to finish: sort the files, draft, chart a spreadsheet, check every figure, export to Word, and take notes on an expert call. Recorded in the app with Claude Sonnet 5.5.
Watch the film (MP4, 7 MB)
How the check works
For each sentence, the check finds or reads the passages in your files that it relies on and marks whether they support it. The page is one click away.
Figures are compared as numbers. One rounded from the source passes, a different one is marked, and a calculated one shows its formula and where each input came from.
"Quote found" means the quoted words are on that page. Whether they prove your sentence is for you to judge, which is why the page opens with one click. And the check only compares your writing with your files, so a mistake in the files themselves gets through.
How it compares
| IncarnaMind | Gemini Notebook¹ | Open Notebook | AnythingLLM |
|---|
| Open source | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ◐ |
| Desktop app, no account | ✓ | ✗ | ◐ | ✓ |
| Reads local folders in place | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ◐ |
| Your ChatGPT or Claude plan, or your key | ✓ | ✗ | ◐ | ◐ |
| Citation opens the page, quote highlighted | ✓ | ◐ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Checks your own draft | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Edits a Word file, untouched parts kept | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Spreadsheet analysis | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ◐ |
| Meetings | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ yes · ◐ partly, or not stated · ✗ not in their documentation. ¹ Formerly NotebookLM. From each product's documentation, October 2026: Gemini Notebook, Open Notebook, AnythingLLM.
Privacy
You don't need an account. IncarnaMind reads your files where they are and never changes them, and a question sends only what it needs to the model you picked.
| What | Where it goes |
|---|
| Your files, Notes and search index | Your computer |
| Questions, writing and checks | The model you picked, with only what each needs. With Ollama, nowhere |
| Meeting audio | Transcribed on your computer |
| Finding papers, tagging, scans, cloud transcription | Only after you say yes |
| Usage data and crash reports | Only if you turn them on, never with your files |
| API keys | Your system's secure storage |
Where a provider offers the choice, IncarnaMind asks it not to keep your requests. It can't make a provider comply. What each one sends, and how to turn it off, is in docs/privacy.md and Settings → Privacy. For client work, read the client data statement.
- Is it free? Yes, open source under Apache 2.0. The model is billed by its provider, or covered by a plan you already have.
- How is it different from NotebookLM (now Gemini Notebook)? It runs on your computer, reads your files where they are and needs no account. It works with the model you choose, opens each citation at its page, checks your own draft and exports to Word with footnotes. The table above has the rest.
- Can a check miss something? Yes: a check can miss a change of obligation, such as “should” where the Document says “may”.
- Which models can I use? Sign in with ChatGPT Plus or Pro, Claude, or GitHub Copilot (experimental); each stays off until you sign in. Or use your own key from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, DeepSeek, Qwen, SiliconFlow, OpenRouter, Kimi, GLM, Mistral, xAI or any OpenAI-compatible server.
- Does it work offline? Reading files and search do. Answers and checks need a model: a cloud one, or a local one through Ollama, which is slower.
- Can I use it on client documents? Your files stay on your computer, and only the model you chose and the services you allow receive anything. Read the client data statement first.
- Will it change my files? No. It writes only to its own data folder and to the files you export.
- How do I back up? Copy the data folder. It holds your Notes, the search index and your settings.
Contributing
Code, testing with your own documents, translations and ideas are all welcome. Start with CONTRIBUTING.md, open an issue or ask in Discussions.
History
IncarnaMind began in 2023 as a Python tool for chatting with your PDFs, starred by about 800 of you. In 2026 it was rebuilt as a desktop app around one idea: an answer from your files is only useful if you can check it. The old tool is at the v1-python-cli tag. If IncarnaMind helps you, a star helps other people find it.
@misc{IncarnaMind2023, author = {Junru Xiong}, title = {IncarnaMind}, year = {2023},
publisher = {GitHub}, journal = {GitHub Repository},
howpublished = {\url{https://github.com/IncarnaMind/IncarnaMind}}}
Licence
Apache License 2.0. The bundled fonts (Source Serif 4, JetBrains Mono, Carlito, Caladea, and Noto Sans SC for the Chinese in Analyses' plots) are under the SIL Open Font License 1.1. The citation styles and locales come unmodified from the Citation Style Language project under CC BY-SA 3.0, formatted by Hayagriva (MIT or Apache-2.0). Notices are in resources/notices.
