Workspace tools
It looks before it answers.
Ask Octarine can search notes, read files, inspect backlinks, browse folders, find tasks, and follow wikilinks before it responds.
Ask Octarine
Your notes can answer back.
Ask a question across your entire workspace. Octarine searches, reads, and connects the relevant notes before giving you an answer you can trace back to its sources.
Local retrieval
Embeddings stay on-device
Any workspace
Search across all your notes
Visible sources
Open the context behind an answer
More than chat
It does the reading first.
Tool-capable models can move through the structure of your workspace instead of relying on a single search result. You see that work happen, and the final response stays connected to the notes behind it.
Precise references
See which notes shaped the answer.
References point back to the specific note context used for a statement, so useful answers remain connected to their source material.
Reusable skills
Teach it how you like to work.
Save reusable instructions as skills, then attach the right one when you want a familiar format, process, or point of view.
Keep more thinking in motion
One answer does not have to stop another.
Ask Octarine chats behave like workspace tabs. Open several, place them in split panes, and keep moving while longer responses continue generating in the background.
Let the work continue
Running and unread indicators keep background research visible without asking you to wait on the active conversation.
Keep evidence beside the answer
Place source notes next to a conversation in split panes so the material behind the response stays close at hand.
Move between threads freely
Switch between chats as questions evolve without interrupting any responses already in progress.
Retrieval starts locally
An on-device embedding model and workspace index identify notes relevant to your question.
Narrow the context
Mention a note or folder, choose a date range, or use .octarineignore to exclude selected material.
Choose the model
Use your preferred AI provider, or keep generation local with Ollama or LM Studio.
From Octarine users
Read more storiesBuilt into a calmer kind of notes app.
Been using Octarine as my daily driver for the past few days and I'm impressed. Seriously considering jumping from Noteplan.
discord /rjdvsk
Oh my god it is perfect! Thank you so much!! I love how it renders the diagram under the definition instead of replacing it, perfect!! You have a user for life!
email /Tom
Started using Octarine a few days ago and it is such a beautiful app. Everything is just right — not too much, not too little.
discord /Theo C
Feature history
Ask Octarine keeps learning new moves.
The feature has grown from workspace-wide chat into a more capable research surface. These are a few of the releases that changed how it searches, works, and fits into Octarine.
- 0.48.1July 2026Parallel conversationsKeep several chats open as tabs, switch away while answers generate, and return to running or unread conversations.
- 0.46.0June 2026Explicitly ignored contextThe new .octarineignore file excludes selected notes and folders from suggestions, note-search tools, and embedding search.
- 0.45.0June 2026Reusable AI skillsCreate and manage reusable instructions, then attach them directly from the Ask Octarine prompt box.
- 0.44.0June 2026Agent-style workspace researchTool-capable models can search, read, inspect, and connect notes while a live activity trace shows their progress.
- 0.35.0February 2026Smarter and faster retrievalKeyword and meaning-based search were combined, with workspace-specific SQLite storage for faster local embeddings.
Start writing with Octarine.
A fast, private Markdown workspace for capturing ideas, shaping notes, and keeping your writing in files you control.
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