You've read the books.
You remember almost nothing.

Within 24 hours of reading, you forget up to 70% of what you learned. Within a week — up to 90%. That's not a personal failure. That's biology.

ReadGraph is a self-hosted AI workstation that fights back — turning your books, documents, and the web into a knowledge base you can actually question, test, and build on. Everything runs on your machine. You own it forever.

Join Waitlist See it in action

One-time payment · Full source code · No subscription · No cloud · Runs locally forever

AI Mentor

Chat grounded in your books, files, and the web — with sources for every answer

The problem with how we learn

Reading without a system is just expensive time consumption.

You highlight. You forget.

The average reader forgets 50% of new information within an hour and up to 90% within a week — even when they highlight, take notes, and pay attention. Your Kindle highlights are a graveyard of good intentions.

Your tools don't connect.

ChatGPT doesn't know what you've read. Readwise stores highlights but can't answer questions. Notion holds notes but can't reason across them. You'restitching together six tools to do what one should do.

You can't verify what AI tells you.

Every AI tool gives you confident answers. Most don't tell you where they came from. You can't tell if it's insight or hallucination. That's not learning — that's outsourcing your thinking to a black box.

What if your AI actually knew your books — and showed every source it used to answer?

ReadGraph builds a personal knowledge base from everything you read and upload. When you ask a question, it searches your notes, your files, and the web — then cites every source in the response. You learn faster because you're connecting new information to what you already know. That's not a feature. That's how the human brain actually retains knowledge.

AI Mentor

An AI that reads your books, your documents, and the web. Then shows you exactly where every answer came from.

Ask anything. The AI searches your page notes, your uploaded files, your knowledge base, and live web results before answering — automatically, in the right order, with no prompting from you. Every response includes a Sources panel: which chapter, which PDF, which website. You can verify every claim. Nothing is a black box.
Searches your KB firstWeb fallback with citationsTool calls visible in real time

How does what Thiel says about monopoly connect to the market report I uploaded?

Based on your notes from Chapter 3 of "Zero to One" and your uploaded Q2 market report, Thiel's monopoly thesis directly applies...

Source: Zero to One, Ch 3Source: Q2-report.pdfWeb: a16z.com
Upload Anything

Don't restrict yourself just because it's not a book.

PDFs. Images. Spreadsheets. Pitch decks. Market reports. Competitor analyses. Financial models. Drop any file into a chat session and the AI reads it alongside everything you've already learned. Your uploaded documents never leave your machine — processed locally and stored in your database.
PDFImagesExcel / CSVWord docsScreenshots
Attached Files
pitch-deck-v3.pdf4.2 MB
market-analysis.xlsx1.8 MB
competitor-screenshot.png890 KB
Knowledge Graph

Watch your knowledge compound across every book.

Every concept, connection, and insight from your reading — mapped as an interactive 3D graph that grows richer with every book you add. Click any node to see its full context and connections. Filter by book or concept type. The relationships you discover between books are often more valuable than the books themselves.
Network Effects
Assessments

Don't just read an author's ideas. Prove you understand them — with your own data.

Weekly AI-generated assessments grounded in your reading — not generic questions about a book, but questions built from your page notes, your knowledge base, and your gap analysis. Questions follow Bloom's taxonomy: recall, analysis, synthesis, evaluation. The same progression used in every rigorous learning curriculum.
SynthesisQuestion 4 of 10

How does the concept of 'Anti-fragility' apply to your current supply chain setup?

It makes it robust against shocks
It allows it to gain from disorder
It reduces operational costs
It creates redundancy
300+ AI Models

Access any model you want. Don't restrict yourself to one provider or one price.

ReadGraph connects to 300+ AI models via OpenRouter — Claude, Gemini, GPT-4o, Llama, Mistral, and dozens more, including models that cost nothing per query. Use a free model for web enrichment. Use Claude for deep analysis. Set a different model per task type in Settings. Switch any time.
Free models availableCost controls built inYour key. Your data.
Model Selection
Claude Sonnet 4$3/1M tokens
Gemini 2.5 Flash$0.15/1M tokens
GPT-4o$2.50/1M tokens
Llama 3.3 70BFree
Mistral Large$2/1M tokens
Web Enrichment

The web is part of your knowledge base. Not a separate tab.

When you add a book, ReadGraph automatically enriches each chapter with the most relevant articles from YC, Paul Graham, a16z, First Round Review, Lenny's Newsletter, Substack, and 10+ other sources. During chat, the AI searches the web in real time when your local knowledge base doesn't have the answer.
Auto-Enrichment
Y Combinator

Market validation patterns

Paul Graham

Why startups fail

a16z

Network effects in SaaS

First Round Review

Pricing strategy

Private Journal

Every serious person building something needs a space to process it privately.

ReadGraph's Founder Journal is a private space with a mood-aware AI companion that reads what you wrote, adapts to how you're feeling, and responds as a thinking partner — not a productivity coach. Write about stress: the AI brings lightness. Write about a breakthrough: it helps you extract what you actually learned. Every entry stays in your local PostgreSQL database.
April 16, 2026Mood: Stressed

"I'm worried the new feature won't ship on time. The team is burning out."

AI Reflection

It's normal to feel the pressure of deadlines. Remember what 'The Hard Thing About Hard Things' noted about managing through peacetime vs wartime. What's one thing you can deprioritize today?

This is what $149 buys you.

The science behind it

ReadGraph is built on how the brain actually learns. Not how we think it does.

The Forgetting Curve

Hermann Ebbinghaus demonstrated in 1885 — and researchers have replicated since — that people forget 50% of new information within an hour and up to 90% within a week without reinforcement. The curve is exponential. Passive re-reading does almost nothing to flatten it.

ReadGraph's spaced repetition assessments interrupt the forgetting curve at the optimal moment — just before knowledge fades — using the SM-2 algorithm that powers Anki and Duolingo.

Retrieval Practice

The most robust finding in learning research: you remember what you actively retrieve — not what you passively re-read. Testing yourself strengthens memory far more effectively than reviewing notes.

ReadGraph's assessments are built on retrieval practice: you're asked to recall and apply, not recognise. The AI grades you, identifies gaps, and adjusts future questions accordingly.

Connected Knowledge

“Understanding is remembering in disguise.” — Dan Willingham, cognitive psychologist. Knowledge integrated into a connected web is far more resistant to forgetting than isolated facts.

The 3D Knowledge Graph is the physical embodiment of this principle. Every concept connects to related concepts. Every connection is a memory anchor.

“Students using spaced repetition scored 6.2 to 10.7% higher on standardized exams compared to those using traditional study methods.”

— Frontiers in Medicine, 2025 (Vagha et al.)

Your data. Your machine. Full stop.

No cloud storage

Your books, notes, chat history, assessments, and journal entries live in your local PostgreSQL database. There is no ReadGraph server. We have no access to your data — because we have no server that stores it.

Your API key

Your OpenRouter or Anthropic key goes from your .env file directly to the provider. Your reading and conversations never pass through us.

Your documents

PDFs, images, spreadsheets — every file you upload is processed and stored locally. Not cached on a cloud server. Not indexed for training. Yours, in your database, on your machine.

No subscription

One payment. No recurring charges. No account to delete. No service shutdown that takes your knowledge with it. Pocket had 17 million users. It shut down in July 2025 and deleted everything. That can't happen here.

Up and running in 20 minutes.

1

Clone and install

Download the ZIP. Run npm install in frontend and backend.Takes 3 minutes if you have Node.js installed.

~ unzip readgraph-v7.8.0.zip

~ cd readgraph && npm install

~ npm run dev

2

Set up PostgreSQL

Create a local database. Migrations run automatically on first start. No manual SQL required.

3

Add your API key

One key is enough. OpenRouter covers everything — 300+ models through a single key. Anthropic and Google AI keys also supported.

OPENROUTER_API_KEY=

sk-or-
4

Add your first book

Photograph the cover and table of contents. AI extracts all chapters. Add page photos to build your knowledge base. Start asking questions.

Requirements: Node.js 18+ · PostgreSQL 14+ · One API key · 15-20 min setup

Everything you need. Nothing you don't.

In the ZIP download:

  • Complete source code — Next.js 15 frontend + Node.js/Express backend
  • 15 database migrations — apply automatically on startup
  • SETUP.md — step-by-step from zero to running
  • .env.example — every key documented with instructions
  • prompts/ — all AI system instructions, editable if you want to customise
  • LICENSE-personal.md — PolyForm Shield personal use license
  • CHANGELOG.md — full history from v1.0 to v7.8.0 (78 releases)

What this is and isn't:

This is not a SaaS. There is no cloud. There is no monthly fee. You own the code, the database, and everything in it.

This is production-quality software at v7.8.0 — 78 releases across active development, 15 database tables, 12 API route modules, file attachment processing, live web search, citation extraction, and budget tracking baked in.

One price. Yours forever.

Less than what Readwise charges in a single year — with 10x the capability.

Personal License

$189$149

(launch price)

For individuals who read to grow — founders, researchers, developers, executives, and anyone building something.

  • AI Mentor chat with file attachments (PDF, images, Excel, Word)
  • Web search in every chat — with citations for every source
  • 3D Knowledge Graph across all your books and uploads
  • Spaced repetition assessments built from your own reading
  • Gap analysis — know exactly where your understanding is shallow
  • Founder Journal with mood-adaptive AI companion
  • CommLab — investor role-play (5 personas × 7 scenarios)
  • Study Planner with AI-generated daily schedule and calendar
  • Bookmarks — save AI responses, KG nodes, chat insights
  • Budget controls — set a limit, never overspend
  • 300+ AI models via OpenRouter, including free models
  • Full source code — yours forever
  • All v7.x updates included
Join Waitlist

One-time payment · Instant download · No subscription

Internal Use License

$499$399

(launch price)

For companies deploying ReadGraph internally for their team.

  • Everything in Starter — identical feature set, same codebase
  • Deploy on your company's own infrastructure
  • Use by your entire internal team on company machines
  • PolyForm Internal Use license — permits company-wide internal deployment
  • Priority email support
Join Waitlist

For internal/company use only · Not for external distribution

Obsidian Sync + Deep Research

In development

Export your Knowledge Graph directly to your Obsidian vault. Multi-agent deep research. Local LLM support.

Join the waitlist

20% off for early buyers when it ships

Still have questions?

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to know how to code?

What exactly do I get for $149?

Is this a one-time payment or a subscription?

How much will the AI actually cost me per month?

Do I need an Anthropic API key?

What's the difference between Personal ($149) and Team ($399)?

Can I upload my own documents — not just books?

Does this work on Windows?

What happens if I hit a problem during setup?

Can I modify the source code?

What's your refund policy?

Will ReadGraph work if I'm not a startup founder?

I don't understand any of this. Can someone just set it up for me?

Every serious person building something is already a founder.

Founder doesn't mean you have a company. It means you're building something — a career, a body of knowledge, a set of skills, a version of yourself that's more capable than last year.

Most people read the right books. They highlight, they note, they intend to apply. Then they forget. Not because they're not serious. Because they don't have a system that fights the biology of forgetting.

ReadGraph is that system. Built on 140 years of memory science. Running on your machine. Yours forever.

Join Waitlist

One price. Yours forever. No subscription.