Dendrite

Dendrite is a Markdown-based multi-model semantic engine for Personal Knowledge Management (PKM).

Note

While inspired by Dendron, Dendrite is built on a generalized SemanticModel abstraction. This allows it to support various ecosystems (Obsidian, Logseq, Dendron, etc.) through a single, editor-agnostic engine.

Core Philosophy: The Semantic Model

Unlike traditional Markdown tools that are hardcoded to a specific file structure, Dendrite uses a pluggable Semantic Model.

Each knowledge ecosystem (Obsidian, Dendron, Logseq) has its own "logic" for:

• Identity: How a file maps to a Note Key.
• Hierarchy: How parent-child relationships are formed (folders vs. naming conventions).
• References: How links are resolved and formatted.

Dendrite abstracts these behaviors, allowing the same core engine to power different workflows seamlessly.

Prerequisites

• Rust (latest stable)
• Node.js and pnpm
• VS Code (for extension development)

Development

Install Dependencies

# Install Rust dependencies (handled automatically)
cargo build

# Install Node.js dependencies
pnpm install

Build

Development (VS Code):

1. Open the project in VS Code
2. Press F5 to launch Extension Development Host
3. The extension will automatically build before launching

Manual Build:

# Build Rust server (debug mode)
cargo build

# Build VS Code extension
pnpm -C clients/vscode compile

Release Build:

# Sync version, build server (release), and build extension
npm run release

Project Structure

dendrite/
├── crates/          # Rust code (Cargo workspace)
│   ├── dendrite-core/
│   └── dendrite-lsp/
├── clients/         # Clients
│   └── vscode/      # VS Code extension
└── scripts/         # Build scripts

License

This project is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0).

For commercial licensing options, please contact the project maintainers.