About
I first had this idea in 2014. I finally got fed up enough to build it.
The idea goes back to 2014. I had a clear picture of what I wanted: something that worked like a brain, not a filing cabinet. Something you could throw thoughts at and ask questions of later. I just couldn’t build it yet because the technology wasn’t there.
So I tried everything else. Over the years I took a few runs at building it myself too. React, Ruby on Rails, Clojure. None of them got close enough. I kept starting over.
Then about a year ago I started working with LLMs seriously, first for work and then for side projects. It clicked. This was what was missing. I went back to those old codebases and started building again.
The name comes from Greek mythology. Coeus was a Titan associated with intelligence and inquisitiveness. A tool for the inquisitive mind. Something that could hold your knowledge and help you think with it.
The version that actually stuck started because I was deep in a big project and needed to track a lot of research. I tried the usual apps, got frustrated again, and one day just said enough. I’m building the thing.
I started with a quick web GUI hooked up to a local LLM, saving to a database. That felt too closed off, so I switched to Markdown files. Plain text I could open anywhere, reference from other projects, back up however I wanted. Once I made that switch it snowballed into what Coeus is now.
I use it every day. Even when I’m away from my desk I’m sending notes to it through Telegram. It’s not a demo. It’s how I actually work.
I didn’t plan to share it. I built it for myself, while working on a bigger project. But people saw it and kept asking. A few pushed hard enough that I figured I should stop hoarding it.
I’m not done building it, not even close. But it’s replaced everything else for me. Maybe it does the same for you.
Jon
I wrote more about why note systems keep failing people in a piece on the blog.