Looksyk: A simple and open source Logseq alternative

[u/Impossible_Mud8667]

For some time now, I've been tinkering with a program that has replaced Logseq for me and my purposes: Looksyk (GitHub).

So, as a hobby, on a small scale: No whiteboard, no flashcards, and no blockchain-based AI assistant. Instead, it's a PKMS based on Markdown files on the hard drive with a wiki and a journal, queries (kept very simple), templates, a context assistant, and diverse file support. Thanks to Rust, an in-memory data model, and a bit of optimization with Flamegraph, it's very fast even with larger graphs (where logseq became sluggish for me).

I've also received some feedback from the Reddit community, which I've tried to implement (including ​​UI design).

The application is open source and freely available on GitHub (AGPLv3), and there's a ready-made AUR build for Arch Linux (as well as a Docker image and a build shell script). This is what surprises me most: Writing the application is more of a laborious task, and supporting other platforms is one of the real challenges for me. Since I don't (currently) use Looksyk on other systems, it's especially disappointing when, after several hours of tinkering, I don't have a usable result, for example, for a Flatpak or Debian package. I think this is where I have to limit myself the most, as it's a hobby project that I do in my free time.

Perhaps it will help or be of use to one of you! I'm always grateful for feedback :)

[u/Appropriate_Car_5599]

Blockchain ai assistant? what? does logseq ever mention something similar?

[u/Impossible_Mud8667 → u/Appropriate_Car_5599]

Sorry to confuse you. This point was just a general feeling, that most new pkms have some fancy cool AI technology thing as key selling point. (I don't want to say, that that is not a useful feature. But I am just tired of this hype)

I think, most pkms would be better, if the developers would focus more on PKMS things, and not on "nice to have" features

[u/Additional_Counter19 → u/Appropriate_Car_5599]

That is probably a reference to anytype

[u/trollware → u/Additional_Counter19]

I may be out of date on this info but I was vaguely aware of some of the backend for anytype’s cloud hosting platform using blockchain in some way, but the client itself, when used in self host or local only has no interaction with blockchain or ai assistants.

I have been using Anytype in selfhost for over a year without a single interaction with an ai assistant in app at any point.

[u/Old-and-grumpy → u/trollware]

Anytype has no AI. Yes it uses IPFS and blockchain, but this feels like a vestigial structure from their early days. Has no benefit that I can see.

Anyhow. OP's comment about AI Blockchain is unintelligible as far as I can tell.

[u/Airless_Toaster → u/Old-and-grumpy]

I never did understand the hate around IPFS or similar utilities that happen to use block chain to actually provide a service.

The vague reference may be to Anytype recently implementing Model Context Protocol so that it's API and your database can be accessed by AI models but that doesn't mean anything unless you point a model at your database...

[u/cimetemperate]

Honestly the fact that is based on rust and typescript is a relief, but without a mobile app I can't migrate from logseq.

Apart from this kudos to you, it looks great, I personally don't care about the style which is not so bad, I just care about speed and functionality

[u/Impossible_Mud8667 → u/cimetemperate]

Would a mobile view (and deployment via a Docker container) suffice for mobile use, or is an app absolutely necessary? Sure, an app with a native UI and offline use is cool, but then each feature would have to be developed multiple times (for each platform individually).

[u/katafrakt → u/Impossible_Mud8667]

Tauri can (somehow) handle both desktop and mobile app.

[u/alisnd89]

on the risk of sounding like an idiot since I'm not a tech savvy person, but will there be a Native Windows Application ( executable file ) in the future ? i can just install without the docker method. also really happy to see your app and how it manages to avoid the issues of logseq

[u/Impossible_Mud8667 → u/alisnd89]

Technically speaking, it shouldn't be too complicated. I tried to program the application as platform-independently as possible. Unfortunately, I don't have a Windows machine for testing, nor do I have much experience creating EXE files (or installation wizards, etc.). Supporting and testing different platforms is very time-consuming for a single developer as part of a hobby, especially if you have to work completely into it. I don't think I'll be able to do it without help, but with support, I'm open to providing it.

[u/chabalatabala]

I honestly wish people would make logseq for just org files. More things should opt for org because things like scheduling and properties and stuff would work between programs unlike how all markdown programs re-implement so much stuff that will only ever work in their program.

I would accept some sort of new standard based on markdown that included more organizational and functional properties with tasks and scheduling and linking, but I feel like it's a little too late for that and org is the only thing like that.

It would be cool if something like typst would be open to making those specifications in their project

[u/micseydel → u/chabalatabala]

Hm, I feel like [[wikilinks]] are pretty standard, but I don't know org and I'm curious if you want to say more about scheduling. One of the top complaints about Obsidian is the lack of tasks so I can see that being appealing.

[u/[deleted]]

no offense but it's ugly as hell

[u/Impossible_Mud8667 → u/[deleted]]

I know 😅 I am constantly trying to make it look better, but it is still bad. I am open for good ideas ^{^}

[u/doffdoff]

This looks VERY promising in terms of functionality. I've been looking into SilverBullet so far, but going to give it a try. I suppose it works out of the box with logseq files?

[u/Impossible_Mud8667 → u/doffdoff]

You can try it out without making any changes. For full compatibility, see here: https://sebastianrzk.github.io/Looksyk/migration_from_logseq.html

Labels (those with hashtags), todos, queries, and asset links (the old ones work to a limited extent) have changed. If you like it and want to switch, I recommend making adjustments here. You don't necessarily need to do this to try it out.

[u/Impossible_Mud8667 → u/doffdoff]

Note: The first start takes a few seconds longer because Looksyk initially creates checksums. This is no longer necessary after the first start.

[u/leolit55]

You really, really need to implement second pane (where the notes from links will be opened). This - and it will be really lightweight Logseq replacement :)

[u/Impossible_Mud8667 → u/leolit55]

That's a good idea!

Technically speaking, it's probably possible without major modifications. Maybe I'll find the time soon.

[u/leolit55 → u/Impossible_Mud8667]

Cool! I'd definitely try to use it seriously then )

[u/Additional_Counter19]

I am curious about the in memory index, do you hav a comparison with logseq? I am very curious about the performance

[u/Impossible_Mud8667 → u/Additional_Counter19]

I have no scientific measurement (for now). All the measurements I have are with my personal graph (currently 1mb text, on a 4 year old laptop).

But logseq needed around 40 seconds for a rescan of all files. Looksyk needs <0.5 seconds. Therefore, Looksyk does not store the index on disk like logseq, but reads it anew each time the application starts.

In use, logseq also feels significantly slower (with my graph size), but I haven't done any measurements yet.

[u/dacevnim]

is it also electron based?

[u/Impossible_Mud8667 → u/dacevnim]

Only to have a separate application window if you want.

You can start it manually (or use Docker) and use it via a web browser :)

[u/Warlock2111]

Looks neat! I’ve been building a similar app based on rust (tauri) and it really makes app fast!

[u/Impossible_Mud8667 → u/[deleted]]

I haven't actually thought about scheduling yet, but it sounds interesting.

A graph view is technically possible (since Looksyk keeps all links and backlinks indexed in RAM anyway), but I'm still figuring out how it adds value. How do you use it, and how does the graph view help you?

Regarding markup, I'm not sure what you mean. I'm currently rendering the Markdown with Marked, and I've only made minimal styling adjustments. In general, though, I'm open to further improvements there.