Think
deeper.

What is Cognir?

Cognir is a private, browser-based reading and thinking environment. It is not a note-taking app. It is a system that forces you to engage with what you read — and then maps your understanding in three dimensions.

The average person forgets 70% of what they read within 24 hours. Not because they lack intelligence — because passive reading asks nothing of you. You move your eyes across words, a feeling of comprehension forms, and then it evaporates.

Cognir is built around a different model. Every sentence you read that matters should cost you a thought. Write it. Argue with it. Connect it. The act of articulating a reaction — even a short one — is what transforms information into understanding that sticks.

Everything runs inside your browser. Your notes are saved to IndexedDB — a high-capacity local database only your browser can read. When you use AI features, text goes directly from your browser to your chosen provider using your own API key. No accounts. No servers. No tracking. Your notes are yours, permanently.

Write like you mean it.

The Note Editor is your main workspace. It is a full-featured, distraction-free writing environment with multi-page notebooks, rich formatting, a mathematical symbol palette, and direct integration with the annotation and Zettelkasten systems.

• 01
  Open the Note Editor

  Click Take Note on the landing page. If you have existing pages, the last active one opens. First-time users get a fresh blank page ready to write.
• 02
  Multi-page notebooks

  Click ☰ Pages to open the pages sidebar. Create as many pages as you need — one per topic, one per book chapter, one per day. Click + New Page to add one. All pages auto-save continuously to IndexedDB. Nothing is ever lost on refresh.
• 03
  Rich text formatting

  The toolbar is organised into labelled groups. Text — Bold (Ctrl+B), Italic (Ctrl+I), Underline. Size — large heading (H), subheading (h), normal body (¶). List — bullet (•) and numbered (1.). All formatting applies to the current selection or starts at the cursor.
• 04
  Mathematical symbols palette

  Click ∑ to open the full math palette. It covers calculus (∫ ∂ ∇), set theory (∈ ∉ ∩ ∪), logic (∀ ∃ ¬ ∧ ∨), Greek letters (α β γ θ λ μ σ ω φ ψ), relations (≈ ≠ ≤ ≥ ±), number sets (ℝ ℤ ℕ ℚ ℂ) and more. Click any symbol to insert at your cursor. Press Escape to close.
• 05
  Annotation mode toggle

  The Annotate • switch controls whether selecting text triggers an annotation popup. On (highlighted, default) — selecting text opens the annotation popup. Off — text selection behaves normally for copying, editing, or deleting without interruption.
• 06
  Import and export

  ↑ .txt — Import a plain text file as a new note page.
  ↓ .txt — Export the current page as a clean .txt file.
  For a full backup of everything, use Export All Data (JSON) in &gear; Settings.
• 07
  Live word count

  The word count for the current page is shown on the right side of the toolbar and updates as you type. Useful for session tracking and knowing how much you've written.

Every sentence deserves a response.

Annotation is what separates Cognir from every other writing tool. When you select text and write a thought about it, you create a permanent link between a specific idea and your reaction to it. These pairs become the foundation of your Zettelkasten.

• 01
  Enable Annotation Mode

  Make sure the Annotate • toggle in the toolbar is on (highlighted border). When it is, selecting any text in the editor immediately triggers the annotation popup.
• 02
  Select text → write your thought → save

  Highlight any word, phrase, or sentence. The popup appears showing the selected text in grey at the top. Write your reaction, interpretation, connection, or question in the input field. Press Enter or click Save. The annotation is stored and appears in the Annotations panel on the right.
• 03
  The Annotations panel

  The right column of the Note Editor shows all annotations for the current page. Each card shows the quoted text and your annotation below it. Hover over any card to highlight the corresponding text in the editor. Click any highlighted span in the editor to scroll its card into view. The two are always in sync.
• 04
  The ZK checkbox — what gets mapped

  Each annotation card has a ZK checkbox in the top corner. When checked, that annotation is included when building a Zettelkasten. Uncheck low-signal or trivial annotations — only your strongest, most interesting thoughts should go into the knowledge map. The bottom bar shows your ZK count.
• 05
  Deleting annotations

  Each card has a small x button. Click it to permanently delete that annotation. This cannot be undone.

Your thinking as a living map.

The Zettelkasten is what Cognir builds from your notes and annotations. It is a 3D network of atomic ideas — each one a node, each pair connected by the logic of your own thinking. The AI surfaces structure you didn't know was there.

The Zettelkasten method, invented by sociologist Niklas Luhmann, treats each unit of knowledge as an independent card with explicit links to related cards. Luhmann produced over 70 books and 400 academic papers using this system over 40 years. Cognir automates the extraction and linking — your job is to think, annotate, and curate.

• 01
  Click "Build Zettelkasten"

  The button is at the bottom-right of the Note Editor. Cognir sends your notes and ZK-flagged annotations to the AI, which extracts atomic concepts, assigns each a type and body, and identifies conceptual connections between them. This takes 15–45 seconds depending on your content and AI provider.
• 02
  Navigate the 3D graph

  Click + drag to orbit — Scroll to zoom — Right-click + drag to pan — Click a node to open its detail panel. Node size reflects conceptual weight. Edges are connections. Particle streams flow along edges showing link direction. Labels appear above nodes and fade with distance to reduce clutter.
• 03
  Inspect and edit nodes

  Click any node to open its detail panel on the right. You'll see: node type, title, full body text, the source quote, and connections. Edit the title, body, and connections directly in the panel. Click Save to commit. The graph updates immediately. The AI output is a starting point — make it yours.
• 04
  Multi-page Zettelkasten

  When you have multiple note pages, the Multi-Page ZK button appears next to Build Zettelkasten. Select which pages to include. The AI synthesises across all selected pages simultaneously — this is how you find connections across different books, sessions, or topics you've been thinking about over time.

Read documents differently.

The Document Reader lets you import a PDF, Word document, or text file and read it with AI-extracted concept anchors, full annotation support, and direct Zettelkasten export. It is a beta feature, actively being developed.

• 01
  Load a document

  From the landing page, find the Document Reader Beta strip and click Load Document ↗. Drag and drop your file or click to browse. For multiple files, select them all at once — Cognir processes and merges them automatically.
• 02
  AI concept extraction

  After loading, the AI identifies the central themes, key arguments, and major concepts of your document. Each becomes a navigable chapter in the left sidebar. A progress bar tracks the processing. Groq is fastest; Claude produces the richest concept structures.
• 03
  Read and annotate

  The left column shows extracted concepts — click any to jump to that section. The centre column shows the full document text. The right column shows your annotations per concept. Select text in the document to annotate it, exactly as in the Note Editor.
• 04
  Build the Zettelkasten

  Click Build Zettelkasten at the bottom when you're done. The AI synthesises your annotations with the document's structure into a full 3D knowledge graph filtered through your specific perspective and reactions.

Turn nodes into writing.

Once your Zettelkasten is built, Export compiles the entire knowledge graph into a single document in your chosen format. The AI writes it out and you can edit freely before downloading.

• 01
  Choose a format and generate

  From the Zettelkasten map, click the Compile button in the bottom nav. On the Export screen, click any of the four format buttons. The AI compiles your full knowledge graph immediately. You can generate any format multiple times for different results.
• 02
  Edit, copy, or download

  The generated text appears in an editable text area. Edit it freely — the AI output is a scaffold, not a final product. Click Download .txt to save the file, or Copy to put it in your clipboard and paste it anywhere.

Your AI, your key.

Cognir ships with a shared default Groq key so you can try everything immediately. As Cognir grows, that shared key may hit rate limits — a growing pain of early development. Getting your own free key takes 60 seconds and gives you full, unthrottled access.

• Groq
  Get a free Groq key — 60 seconds

  1. Go to console.groq.com
  2. Sign up free (Google or email, no credit card)
  3. Click API Keys in the left sidebar
  4. Click Create API Key — give it any name
  5. Copy the key (starts with gsk_)
  6. In Cognir: open &gear; Settings → paste the key → click Save Key
  
  The indicator next to the field turns green and shows Groq — Llama 3.3 70B. Done.
• Gemini
  Get a free Gemini key

  Go to aistudio.google.com → sign in with Google → click Get API Key → Create key. Copy it (starts with AIzaSy) and paste into Settings. Google's free tier is generous.
• Paid
  Paid keys for heavy use

  For daily heavy use, a paid key from Anthropic (console.anthropic.com) or OpenAI (platform.openai.com) gives higher token limits and the best output quality. Claude Sonnet produces the most richly connected Zettelkastens.
• Note
  Your key never leaves your device

  API keys are stored only in your browser's local storage and sent directly from your browser to the AI provider. No Cognir server ever sees them — because there is no Cognir server. If you clear browser data, re-enter your key from Settings.

Configure everything.

Click the &gear; gear icon in the top-right corner of any screen to open Settings. It slides in from the right.

• API
  API Key field

  Paste your AI key here. Cognir auto-detects the provider from the key prefix and shows a green indicator with the provider name and model. Click show to reveal the key. Click Save Key to commit. Persists across sessions.
• Theme
  Dark / Light mode

  Switch between Dark (default) and Light themes. The change applies immediately and is saved. Light mode uses a cream-white background with dark text — useful in bright environments.
• Editor
  Spell check

  Turns the browser's built-in spell check on or off in the Note Editor. Turn it off when writing in multiple languages or with specialised notation.
• Data
  Export all data (JSON)

  Downloads a single JSON file containing all notes, page titles, annotations, current document (if any), and settings. This is the only backup of your work. Export regularly — after every important session.
• Data
  Import data (JSON)

  Restores a Cognir backup. Warning: this overwrites all current data. A confirmation dialog appears before committing. Use this to restore after clearing browser data or to move notes to a different device.

Use it well.

Cognir rewards a specific kind of use. Here is how to get the most out of it.