Mapache

Why Mapache?

Most whiteboard tools want an account, a monthly fee and a copy of your ideas on their servers. Mapache is a folder you run on your own computer. Your boards are plain files on your disk, it opens instantly, it keeps working on a plane, and your AI agent can read them and build on them with you.

• ⚡ Fast like a native app. No framework, no build step, no loading spinners.

• 🧠 Mind maps that keep up with you. Tab for a child, Enter for a sibling, drag to re-parent, colored branches, and as many maps as you want on one board.

• 🎨 A real whiteboard around them. Sticky notes, 12 shapes, sections, connectors that route around objects, freehand drawing with shape recognition, images and videos.

• 📊 Data built in. Paste a table from Excel or Google Sheets and turn it into any of 17 chart types.

• 💬 Comments and mentions. Pin a comment anywhere, reply, resolve, and @mention people (or let your agent leave notes for you to review).

• 🤖 Made for AI agents. A built-in MCP server lets Claude, Codex, Cursor and friends read your boards and create mind maps, notes, flowcharts and tables. You watch them appear live.

• 🔒 Yours, for real. Local-first, no telemetry, plain JSON files you can read, back up or put in Git. AGPL-3.0.

Related MCP server: Overboard Studio

🤖 Let your AI agent install it

Not technical? Give this to your AI agent (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor…) and it does everything for you:

Install Mapache for me following https://github.com/Hackeatutiempo/mapache/blob/main/AGENTS.md,
connect it to yourself as an MCP server, and leave a shortcut so I can open it with a double-click.

The step-by-step guide for agents lives in AGENTS.md: it checks Node.js, gets the code, starts it, creates a desktop shortcut, connects the MCP server and explains where your boards are saved.

🚀 Quick start

All you need is Node.js 18 or newer. There is nothing else to install.

git clone https://github.com/Hackeatutiempo/mapache.git
cd mapache
npm start

Open http://localhost:4321 and start thinking. Next time, double-click Abrir Mapache.cmd (Windows) or run ./start.sh (macOS and Linux): they start Mapache in the background if needed and open the browser.

Tip: in Chrome or Edge choose Install app in the address bar. Mapache gets its own window and icon and works even when the server is off; your changes sync to your files as soon as it is back.

Your boards are saved automatically as JSON files in ~/.mapache (run node bin/mapache.js where to see the exact folder). Export backup (bottom left) still gives you everything in one file.

🤖 Your AI agent can use it too

Mapache ships with an MCP server (the open standard that lets AI agents use tools) and a command line. Connect it once and ask things like:

"Turn my notes from today's meeting into a mind map in Mapache." "Read the board I have open and add a risks branch with three ideas under each one." "Draw the onboarding flow as a flowchart with a decision for paid and free users." "Put these sales numbers in a table on my Q4 board and add a column chart."

If Mapache is open in your browser, the changes appear live, and Ctrl+Z undoes them. Everything runs on your computer: the MCP server reads and writes the same files the app uses.

The easiest way: in the app, click Connect your AI agent (bottom left) and copy the prompt into your agent. Or connect it yourself (replace the path with where you installed Mapache; node bin/mapache.js mcp-config prints these with your real paths):

{ "mcpServers": { "mapache": { "command": "node", "args": ["/full/path/to/Mapache/bin/mapache.js", "mcp"] } } }

Agents write simple Markdown (# heading, - bullet, [ ] task, **bold**, links) and new content is placed in free space automatically. "open" always means the board you are looking at.

node bin/mapache.js help                      # everything it can do
node bin/mapache.js list                      # boards and folders
node bin/mapache.js show open                 # the board open in the app, as an outline
node bin/mapache.js new "Launch plan" --outline @plan.txt
node bin/mapache.js add open "Marketing" "Webinar" "Podcast"
node bin/mapache.js tool add_items '{"board":"open","items":[{"type":"note","text":"Call Ana"}]}'
node bin/mapache.js export open --format pdf  # save the open board as a PDF in Downloads
node bin/mapache.js start | stop | status | open
node bin/mapache.js autostart on              # start Mapache when you log in

Run npm link inside the folder once to get a global mapache command.

👥 For teams (beta)

Run one Mapache for your whole team on your own server: accounts with email and password, invitation links, roles (admin, can edit, can view), live cursors and avatars of who is on each board, and every change on everyone's screen as it happens. Each person can connect their own AI agent with a personal token.

git clone https://github.com/Hackeatutiempo/mapache.git && cd mapache
docker compose up -d          # then open http://<server>:4321 and use the setup code from: docker logs mapache

With a domain, docker compose --profile https up -d adds automatic HTTPS. Everything is in TEAM.md. Team mode is new: try it with your team and tell us what breaks.

✨ Features

Mind maps that grow as fast as you think

Quick-add dots, Tab and Enter, drag a branch and watch the map re-flow live, collapse with a counter, horizontal or vertical layouts, curved or angular lines. Paste an indented outline and it becomes a map.

Flowcharts with connectors that route themselves

Connect shapes, notes, tables or mind map nodes. Ends keep their side while the path re-routes around objects; drag any segment to shape it by hand. Elbow, curved or straight, with labels and nine end caps.

Your data, as charts

Paste from Excel, Google Sheets, Notion or Markdown, or drop a CSV. Charts stay linked to their table and update while you type. Color-blind-safe palettes in light and dark mode.

Share it with anyone

Export a board as a single web page: send it by email or chat and it opens in any browser, with zoom and pan, nothing to install. Or as PDF, PNG or SVG. Your agent can do it too ("save this board as a PDF on my desktop").

Light or dark, your call

⌨️ Keyboard-first

🗺️ Roadmap

• Mind maps, whiteboard objects, tables and charts

• Connectors, freehand drawing, media, multi-selection and guides

• English interface

• Boards as local files, live sync between tabs and browsers

• MCP server and command line so AI agents can read and edit boards

• Share a board as a single HTML page, PDF, PNG or SVG

• Self-hosted team server with Docker: accounts, roles and invitation links

• Real-time collaboration: live changes, cursors and presence, merged edits, keeps working offline

• Comments and mentions

Have an idea? Open an issue.

🔐 Privacy

There is no account, no analytics and no server you do not run yourself. Boards live as JSON files in ~/.mapache on your computer, with a copy in your browser so the app works offline. The local server only listens on your own computer and refuses requests from other websites. The MCP server runs on your computer too; your agent's provider sees what the agent reads, as with any other tool you give it. In team mode the boards live on your own server, behind accounts (see TEAM.md).

Plain JavaScript, no framework and no build step: the browser runs exactly the code you are reading.

Design decisions and measurements are in DESIGN.md. Run the tests with npm test.

🤝 Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome, from typo fixes to whole features. Keep it dependency-free where you can, match the style of the surrounding code, and add a test in test/ for geometry, parsing or sync changes. Translations to more languages are a great first contribution (see src/i18n.js).

⭐ Support the project

If Mapache saves you time, a star helps other people find it. The first time you run npm start in a terminal it asks once whether you want to star the repo (only if you say yes, with your own GitHub CLI session).

📄 License

GNU AGPL-3.0. Use it, change it and host it for free. If you offer a modified version as a service to other people, share your changes under the same license.