Vinaya Journal is a cross-platform journaling desktop app that integrates local AI via Ollama and a retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipeline using ChromaDB. It is designed for offline-first, privacy-conscious AI journaling so that your thoughts stay on your device. Why use Vinaya ?

Privacy-First: Unlike other "AI" Journaling apps , Vinaya keeps everything on your own machine. No cloud, no servers, no data leaks. It's up to you to keep your journal safe because everything's on your device.

Simple & Clean UI: I’ve built the interface to be as simple and intuitive as possible—something I’d personally enjoy using every day. If you're contributing, I ask you to honor this design philosophy: less clutter, more clarity.

Built by a Journaler, Not a SaaS Product: This isn’t some SaaS product chasing data or engagement graphs. That said, if you see me promoting Vinaya on Reddit or LinkedIn, know that I, too, hope it finds its way into real hands other than me. But its roots are honest: Vinaya was born out of a personal need—for a local, intelligent, and private journaling space to support my daily meditation and practice of restraint.

Core features:

Semantic Search of Your Entries: Powerful retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipeline using ChromaDB enables deep semantic search, allowing you to find entries based on meaning, not just keywords.

Mood Insight and Visualization: Tools to track and visualize your mood over time to help you reflect on emotional patterns.

Personalized Chat with Vinaya’s Contextual Ollama AI: Engage with your journal in conversation with an AI that understands your entries, helping deepen reflection and insight.