05 FAQ
Questions, answered
The short version: Monet is free, local, and open about its limits.
IssuesIs Monet free?
Yes. Monet is free and open source under the MIT license. There is no account, no subscription and no paid tier.
Does Monet work with my Obsidian vault?
Yes. Point Monet at the same folder. It follows the Obsidian link rules — case-insensitive matching, optional .md extension, aliases, and closest-folder tie breaking — so links resolve the same way. No conversion, no import.
Does Monet need an internet connection?
No. Everything — editing, search, the graph, the MCP server — runs locally. Search makes no network calls.
How do AI agents access the vault?
Through the CLI or the MCP server. monet --mcp starts a Model Context Protocol server that Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Codex and other MCP clients can use to search, read, create and link notes. Agents can only write inside the vault.
What data leaves my machine?
None. There is no telemetry, no account and no cloud sync. The only network access is the optional update check in the standalone binary.
Which platforms are supported?
macOS (Apple silicon and Intel), Windows and Linux, for both the desktop app and the CLI.
How is Monet different from Obsidian?
Obsidian is a mature human-first app; agents reach it only through plugins that drive its interface. Monet is built as one brain with two ways in: the app for you, and a first-class CLI and MCP server for agents — driving the same engine, with schemas, not screen-scraping.
How is it different from Notion or a cloud AI notebook?
Your notes stay as plain .md files in a folder you own, not as blocks on someone else’s servers. Cloud AI notebooks hold the brain; Monet gives the brain to you and lets your agents work on it locally.
Does search use embeddings or AI?
Not today. Search is local and dependency-free — accent-folding, multi-word matching, fuzzy title fallback. Semantic search is on the roadmap, behind the same search surface.
Is my vault backed up?
Monet never rewrites what it does not have to, and monet backup writes local snapshots outside the vault. Git, Time Machine or any folder sync also work — the vault has no proprietary database.
Are the downloads signed?
No, not yet. The desktop builds are unsigned; on macOS you right-click and choose Open the first time, and on Windows SmartScreen asks once. We would rather ship an honest, unsigned build than hide it.
Does Monet support Dataview, Bases or Canvas?
No. Monet stays plain Markdown on purpose — files that any tool can read forever. Structured queries are on the roadmap, on top of the same files.