Open Notebook — a private digital assistant for researchers

Imagine: you're analyzing hundreds of documents for a new project, but you don't want your research leaking to Google or OpenAI clouds. Familiar situation? That's exactly what Open Notebook was created for — an open-source alternative to Google Notebook LM with a focus on privacy and flexibility.

What's in the box?

Open Notebook is a local platform for research work with three key advantages:

1. Full data control — everything stays on your computer
2. Support for 16+ AI providers from OpenAI to local solutions like Ollama
3. Professional tools for podcast generation and multimedia processing

What stands out?

1. True privacy

Unlike cloud solutions, Open Notebook runs locally via Docker. Your PDFs, audio recordings, and notes never leave your computer without your consent.

2. Model flexibility

Under the hood, it uses the Esperanto library, which supports:

• OpenAI and Anthropic for powerful cloud models
• Ollama and LM Studio for local deployment
• ElevenLabs for realistic speech generation

# Быстрый старт через Docker
docker run -d \
  --name open-notebook \
  -p 8502:8502 -p 5055:5055 \
  -v ./notebook_data:/app/data \
  lfnovo/open_notebook:latest-single

3. Professional podcasts

The platform can generate podcasts with multiple speakers (up to 4 voices), which sets it apart from Google Notebook LM's limited two-voice format.

Technical stack

The project is built on:

• Python + FastAPI for the backend
• SurrealDB as the primary storage
• Streamlit for the current interface (React version in development)

Who is it for?

1. Researchers working with confidential data
2. Content managers creating podcasts and educational materials
3. Developers who need a customizable AI tool

Personal experience

After working with Open Notebook, I noted the convenient three-column organization:

1. Sources (PDFs, videos, web pages)
2. Manual and AI notes
3. Chat with context from your materials

What's next?

On the roadmap:

• React interface instead of Streamlit
• Cross-notebook sources
• Asynchronous content processing

Open Notebook is a great choice for those who:

• Value privacy
• Want to avoid vendor lock-in
• Need a flexible tool for multimedia work

The project is actively developed — now is the perfect time to star it on GitHub and try it out!

Open Notebook repository | Official website