Why GhostBoard exists
GhostBoard is a local-first spatial thinking tool that helps independent researchers and deep writers discover the hidden structure of their knowledge on an infinite canvas.
It starts with a desk covered in paper
Anyone who has thought hard about anything knows the scene: a desk covered in printed papers, handwritten cards, books bristling with sticky tabs. You stand over it all, and suddenly two ideas you'd never put side by side click together.
That's what space does. Position carries meaning, distance expresses relationship, and seeing everything at once is where insight comes from. Our digital tools flattened all of that into a list. GhostBoard gives you the desk back.
Three things we believe
Thinking needs space
Capturing can be linear; thinking can't. When ideas have a place, structure emerges on its own.
Your data should belong to you
Your notes are an extension of your mind — their format shouldn't depend on any company's survival. Plain text files are a promise you can still open them in ten years.
Tools should be quiet
The best tools are transparent: motion preserves your context, and the interface never competes for attention. You should remember your ideas, not what the software looks like.
What we won't build
Positioning isn't just what you build — it's what you refuse to. Here's what we're deliberately not doing:
No real-time collaboration
GhostBoard is a quiet space for personal thought, not a noisy meeting whiteboard.
No AI that thinks for you
AI in GhostBoard is an optional writing assistant: off by default, powered by your own API key, or fully offline with a local model. It can rewrite, summarize, and continue your drafts — but the thinking is always yours.
No every-platform port
Spatial interaction is at its best on the desktop. We'd rather make macOS excellent than be mediocre everywhere.