Open Notebook
Lets you chat with your PDFs, videos and web pages, take notes and turn them into podcasts
by Luis Novo
Deta Surf
by DetaAppResearch something
Keeps web pages, PDFs and videos in local notebooks and writes cited notes from them
The problem it solves
You have a PDF, six tabs and a lecture video open, and you keep copying quotes into a document while losing track of where each one came from.
For StudentsResearchersPeople who read across many sources
- Before
- You switch between windows, copy and paste passages into a document, and note the page or timestamp by hand.
- After
- Your sources sit in one notebook on your computer, and Surf writes notes whose citations link to the page, section or video moment.
- Stars
- ★ 3.6k
- License
- Apache-2.0
- Cost
- Usage-based
- Platforms
- Mac · Win · Linux
- Runs
- Local
Screenshots
From the project's own repository · 4 images, swipe or use the arrows.
Overview
Deta Surf is a desktop AI notebook for macOS, Windows and Linux. You save files, web pages and links such as YouTube videos into notebooks on your computer, then ask questions or mention a source with @ to get notes with citations that link back to the exact page, web page section or video timestamp. It can also search the web and build small interactive applets for a note. It suits students and researchers who read across many sources.
Your library stays on your own computer in open file formats, and you choose the AI model, including one that runs locally.
Try these first
Start with the first one: it is a small task you can check easily.
- @[saved PDF] What is the main finding of this paper? Cite the page for each point.First try · sends text to your model
- Open [YouTube link] and summarise the part about [topic], with timestamps.
- Search the web for recent articles on [topic] and add a short summary of each to this note.searches the web
- Make an applet that charts the numbers in this table: [paste table].
Example prompts written by Agent Flows Hub.
Features
From the creator's documentation.
| Feature | What it does | Runs |
|---|---|---|
| Local library | Store files, web pages and links in notebooks, in open formats on your computer | Your computer |
| Smart notes | Ask about any tab or saved source with @ and get notes with citations | Your model provider |
| Citations | Each citation links to a section of a web page, a timestamp in a video or a page in a PDF | Your computer |
| Web search | Run web searches from a note and bring the results back into it | The internet |
| Surflets | Generate small interactive applets, such as a chart, without writing code | Your model provider |
| Model choice | Bring your own key for popular models, add a cloud model or connect a local one | Your choice of model |
Good to know
You are reading a PDF, a few web pages and a lecture video on one topic. Surf keeps them in one notebook on your computer and writes notes that cite the page, section or timestamp each point came from.
Limits
- The open source releases are not code-signed, so macOS and Windows show a security warning on first launch; the install guide explains how to open it anyway.
- AI features need an API key from a model provider or a model you run yourself. The latest release, 1.4.7-beta.0, is a beta version and the last commit on the main branch was in May 2026.
Notes by Agent Flows Hub (original project name: Surf), written from the creator's documentation, not from running it ourselves. Deta Surf README · Installing Surf
Stuck setting it up?
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