Concept Maker

A Tauri desktop app that turns raw ideas, notes, URLs, and files into a clear project concept. The UI is React/Vite, the desktop shell is Tauri, and the Python backend is exposed through concept_api.py.

Features

• Add files, folders, and URLs as source material.
• Write freeform notes and ask a local Ollama model to rephrase, extend, or generate a concept.
• Build a JSONL knowledge base from selected files using corpus_builder.py when available, with a lightweight fallback in the backend.
• Search for prior art through SearXNG and Ollama embeddings.
• Preview concepts as Markdown/PDF.
• Generate an image prompt and optional image asset for a concept.
• Save and reopen local sessions.

Requirements

• Node.js and npm
• Rust toolchain
• Python 3.9+
• Ollama running locally, defaulting to http://localhost:11434
• Optional local SearXNG instance for prior-art search, defaulting to http://localhost:8888

Python packages are listed in requirements.txt. Some features also depend on external command-line tools:

• pandoc or wkhtmltopdf for higher-quality Markdown to PDF export
• tesseract and ocrmypdf for OCR-heavy ingestion
• ffmpeg/ffprobe for media handling

Setup

Install JavaScript dependencies:

npm install

Install Python backend dependencies:

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
pip install -r requirements.txt

Ensure Ollama is running before using model-backed actions:

ollama serve

Development

Run the desktop app:

npm run dev

Run the web UI in a browser:

npm run dev:web

Build the frontend:

npm run build

Build the desktop bundle:

npm run tauri build

Project Layout

• src/: React frontend
• src-tauri/: Tauri desktop shell and Rust commands
• concept_api.py: JSON action backend invoked by Tauri
• corpus_builder.py: optional richer file ingestion pipeline
• websearch.py: prior-art search helpers
• requirements.txt: Python backend dependencies

Configuration

Environment variables:

• OLLAMA_HOST: override the Ollama URL
• IDEA_HOLE_MODEL: default model name
• SEARX_URL: default SearXNG base URL

Runtime data is stored in .idea-hole/.