KnowledgeBrain

Beginner's guide

No account needed. Five minutes and you'll know your way around.

1. First launch: the four tabs

KnowledgeBrain works right away — no sign-up. The bottom bar has four tabs:

2. Put content in (Capture)

The Capture tab

Open the Capture tab and pick whichever fits:

  1. Type a note — write in the "Quick note" box at the top, then tap Save.
  2. Voice memo — tap Start recording, talk, tap stop. Your speech is transcribed into text right on your phone.
  3. Files — tap Files (PDF/EPUB/MD/TXT) and pick a document from the Files app. Great for papers and e-books.
  4. Photo text (OCR) — tap Photo library (OCR) to turn text in a picture into a searchable note.
  5. Obsidian — tap Obsidian Vault folder to import an existing vault in one go.
  6. From other apps — in Safari or any app, tap the system Share button and choose KnowledgeBrain. Saved in one tap.

Everything you save is automatically summarized, tagged and made searchable in the background. Just keep collecting.

3. Ask questions (Ask)

Asking a question Tapping a citation shows the original passage
  1. Open the Ask tab and type your question in the box at the bottom — plain language is fine.
  2. The answer is built from your library. At the bottom of each answer you'll see chips like [1] RAG notes.
  3. Tap a chip to see the exact original passage the answer came from — so you can always verify.
  4. The speaker icon reads the answer aloud; the copy icon copies it.

4. Find things (Library)

The Library tab lists everything you've saved. The search box at the top is a semantic search: type the rough meaning (for example "that article about databases") and it will find it — no need to remember exact words. Tap any entry to read the full text.

5. Optional: connect a cloud AI (your own API key)

On devices with Apple Intelligence, answers can be generated fully on-device and you can skip this. Otherwise, or if you want stronger answers, bring your own key:

  1. Get an API key from a provider's website (e.g. DeepSeek, Zhipu, Kimi — it's like a password for their AI service).
  2. In KnowledgeBrain go to Settings → Cloud API → Add configuration.
  3. Pick your provider, paste the API Key, and choose a model (the list loads automatically once the key is in).
  4. Tap Test connection — when it says success, tap Save.
  5. Back in the list, tap the configuration to make it active (green checkmark).

Your key is stored in the iOS Keychain and is only ever sent to the provider you configured. Usage is billed by your provider, not by us.

6. Sync and backup

FAQ

Still stuck? Email info@pixelart.tech.