Kompas AI is a deep research and report generation platform, analyzing hundreds of pages for comprehensive insights and long-form reporting.
Features
- Session-Based Knowledge Graph — Every thinking session automatically becomes part of a connected knowledge graph. Your past notes, decisions, and reading are linked together, allowing today's thoughts to surface relevant connections from previous sessions — creating a compounding personal knowledge base.
- AI-Augmented Thinking Sessions — Start with a topic and think it through with Kompas as your thinking partner. It pulls in your past notes, decisions, and reading to ask better questions back — writing with you, not for you, to extend your own thinking.
- Local-First Architecture — The free desktop version keeps all your sessions, notes, and graph on your device. Network calls are only made to LLM providers you choose. Run local models via Ollama for completely offline AI-powered text features.
- Flexible AI Integration — Bring your own OpenAI or Anthropic API key, use your Claude Code or Codex subscription, or run local models via Ollama. Pro tier includes frontier AI built-in with no API key required and clear usage limits.
- Cross-Device Sync (Pro) — Pro cloud syncs your knowledge graph between your desktops seamlessly. Your hosted graph is kept private by Kompas with a 30-day grace period if you cancel, and JSON export is always available.
- Open Source MIT License — The desktop application is fully open source under the MIT license. Cloud-only code for billing, hosted models, and abuse detection lives in a separate private repository for transparency.
Use Cases
Long-Form Essay Writing
Essayists use Kompas to develop drafts that carry their own argument, not the AI's. Sessions capture evolving thoughts, and the knowledge graph surfaces relevant past writing when drafting — ensuring originality through personal intellectual history. Target Audience: Writers, essayists, and content creators developing original long-form work
Continuous Research & Ideation
Researchers leverage Kompas for ongoing thinking that grows ideas over time and reveals unexpected connections between concepts. The session-based approach allows deep exploration of topics with AI assistance that references your entire research history. Target Audience: Academic researchers, analysts, and knowledge workers conducting deep research
Decision Journaling for Founders
Founders use Kompas to record decisions and their reasoning, creating a searchable history of past choices. When facing similar decisions, the graph surfaces previous context and rationale — preventing repeated deliberation from scratch. Target Audience: Startup founders, executives, and decision-makers who want to learn from past choices
Knowledge Management Beyond Note-Taking
Obsidian and Logseq users upgrade from collecting material to actively building on it. Kompas extends passive note-taking into active thinking sessions that connect and synthesize ideas into actionable writing. Target Audience: Power users of note-taking tools like Obsidian, Logseq, and Roam Research
Pros
- Privacy-first design: Never trains on your content — free tier keeps everything local, Pro tier hosts your graph privately without model training
- True intellectual ownership: AI writes with you by remembering what you already wrote, ensuring output reflects your thinking rather than generic model responses
- Flexible AI options: Use your own API keys, existing Claude Code/Codex subscriptions, local Ollama models, or Pro's built-in frontier AI — no vendor lock-in
- Knowledge compounds over time: The session graph connects past and present thinking, so ideas grow rather than getting lost in feeds and closed tabs
- Open source transparency: MIT-licensed desktop code allows full inspection and community contribution, with clear separation from private cloud services
Cons
- Desktop-only application with no web version — requires downloading and installing software on macOS or Windows
- Free tier limited to single device with no sync; cross-device synchronization requires the $38/month Pro subscription
- Voice transcription and realtime audio features require an OpenAI API key even on the free tier, adding cost for those features
- Pro subscription pricing ($38/month or $33/month annual) may be steep for casual users compared to general-purpose AI chatbot subscriptions
