The model behind Capacities is simple enough to build: typed objects with properties, links and backlinks, a note for each day, and saved filters. An agent can make a good local version from Markdown files with front matter in a weekend. The gaps are the usual ones for note apps: apps on every device with sync, a block editor that feels right, the AI assistant over your notes, and the calendar and task integrations. Anytype does the object model already, and Obsidian covers plain linked Markdown for free.
Before you buildCapacities Basic is free with unlimited objects and a full export. Pro mostly adds AI, queries, tasks, calendars and formulas, so check whether you use those before paying or building.
Build me a personal notes app with typed objects to replace Capacities. Requirements: - Node.js 22 + TypeScript: a Fastify server and a React UI built with Vite, with a block editor on TipTap (`@tiptap/react`). `npm start` serves http://localhost:4750. - Storage: plain Markdown files with YAML front matter (`gray-matter`) in the folder VAULT_DIR from .env, one file per object with a `type` field. Keep a rebuildable better-sqlite3 index in ./data/index.db with FTS5 search, links and backlinks. Files stay the source of truth, so edits made in another editor are picked up with `chokidar`. - Types: object types defined in ./types.yaml (person, book, meeting, project, note by default) with typed properties: text, date, select, and a link to another object. A type's page lists its objects as a table or a gallery. - Linking: typing [[ searches objects and creates a new one from the menu; each object shows a backlinks panel and a list of unlinked mentions of its title. - Daily note: today's note opens on start as YYYY-MM-DD.md in ./Daily under the vault, with a calendar sidebar of past days. - Views: saved queries written as a small filter (type, property equals, linked to) and shown as a table. - Import: a command that reads a Capacities Full Export folder (Markdown with front matter and CSV collections), copies its media, and prints how many objects, links and files it could not map. - Single user. No accounts, no telemetry, local-first. Outbound calls: none. - Out of scope: mobile apps, sync, AI chat, a web clipper, calendar or task integrations, sharing. - README: setup, the front-matter format, how to back up the vault, and how to sync the folder with a tool you already use.
Opens your agent with the prompt filled in, you press enter. Or copy it and paste it into an empty folder.
The first prompt builds the core. Run these one at a time in the same folder to grow it into your own Capacities.
Add question answering to the notes app in this folder. Requirements: - A chat box that retrieves the 8 best-matching objects using the FTS5 index and sends only their text to an OpenAI-compatible endpoint from .env. - Show the answer with links to the objects used; if nothing matches, say so without calling the model. - Show exactly what will be sent before the first call and a setting to turn the feature off. - Update the README.
Add web clipping to the notes app in this folder. Requirements: - A bookmarklet that posts the page URL, title, selected text and the article text (extracted with `@mozilla/readability`) to a local endpoint protected by a token in .env. - Create an object of type `article` with the source URL, clip date and the content as Markdown. - Link it to today's daily note. - Update the README with how to install the bookmarklet.
Add email capture to the notes app in this folder. Requirements: - Poll one IMAP mailbox (credentials in .env) every 5 minutes and append each unread message from an allowed sender list to today's daily note with the time, then mark it read. - Save attachments next to the note and link them. - Ignore everything from other senders and log the count. - Update the README.
Add a graph view to the notes app in this folder. Requirements: - Draw objects as nodes and links as edges with `d3-force`, colour nodes by type, and size them by link count. - Click a node to open it; a filter by type; fit-to-screen and zoom. - Stay usable with 5,000 objects by drawing on a canvas and showing labels only when zoomed in. - Update the README.
The free plan already holds the notes, so Pro buys what sits on top: AI that answers from your own pages, queries that keep updating, tasks tied to calendars and more storage. For many people paying also means apps on every device that sync with no setup of their own.
Estimate · Runs on your machine with a folder of files and costs nothing to keep. The build is token usage on your agent plan; a bigger editor means more of it.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual, per month | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $0 | $0 | Unlimited spaces, objects, blocks and custom object types; 5 GB of storage in total, then 100 MB a month; no AI; import and export included. |
| Pro | $11.99 | $9.99 | Adds an AI assistant with a monthly budget, AI chat connectors for ChatGPT, Claude and Cursor, smart queries, tasks with recurring deadlines, calendar integrations, table formulas, unlimited uploads up to 100 MB a file, the public API. |
| Believer | $14.99 | $12.49 | The same features as Pro plus early access to new features in beta. |
Basic is free with unlimited spaces, objects, blocks and custom types, 5 GB of storage and full import and export, but no AI.
Kinda. The core is a weekend build with the prompt on this page, but real gaps remain: Apps for iPhone, Android and tablets, and sync between devices, The AI assistant over your notes and the chat connectors for ChatGPT, Claude and Cursor.
About $11.99 a month on the Pro plan, $143.88 a year (checked 2026-10-19).
Apps for iPhone, Android and tablets, and sync between devices; The AI assistant over your notes and the chat connectors for ChatGPT, Claude and Cursor; Calendar integrations for Google, Microsoft, Apple and CalDAV, and task views; Smart queries and table formulas that stay current; Capturing thoughts into the daily note by WhatsApp, Telegram or email; Web highlights and the public API. If any of those matter to you, keep paying.
Yes: Anytype (free), Obsidian (free), Logseq (open source).