Launched this week
Bamboo
Markdown notes with AI under your control
125 followers
Markdown notes with AI under your control
125 followers
Bamboo is a Markdown-first notes app for people who want a simple, portable workspace for ideas, documents, tasks, research, and personal knowledge. It combines a focused editor, collections, wiki links, web clipping, import/export, backups, and cross-device sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. AI is optional and controlled by you: connect supported providers, choose your model, and draft, rewrite, summarize, or brainstorm inside your notes.
Bamboo
I like that AI is optional and that I choose the model. One thing I could not find: can I connect a local model, like Ollama or LM Studio, or are only cloud providers supported?
Bamboo
@alieksia Yes, local models are supported as long as they expose an OpenAI-compatible API.
In Bamboo, add a new provider with type “OpenAI Compatible”, then set the Base URL and model identifier manually. For example:
- Ollama: http://localhost:11434/v1
- LM Studio: usually http://localhost:1234/v1
One note: there is no special Ollama/LM Studio auto-discovery yet. It works through the generic OpenAI-compatible provider setup.
On iOS, “localhost” means the device itself. If the model is running on your Mac, use your Mac’s local network IP instead, for example http://192.168.x.x:11434/v1 .
@zhigui Thank you, that is perfect for me. Appreciate the clear steps, including the iOS localhost note :)
How does the cross-device sync actually work under the hood, and is my data ever routed through your servers or does it stay on my own iCloud/Drive setup?
Bamboo
@selma174792 Bamboo syncs through iCloud, using your own Apple iCloud account. Your notes are not routed through our servers, and we don’t run a separate sync backend for your data. The goal is to keep sync native, private, and fully within your iCloud setup across iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
How does the sync actually work under the hood — is it your own backend or something like iCloud Drive, and is there any limit on the number of notes or storage before pricing kicks in?
Bamboo
@sercan258794 Bamboo uses iCloud for sync — not our own backend. Your notes are synced through your own Apple iCloud account, so they are not routed through Bamboo-owned servers.
There’s no Bamboo-specific limit on the number of notes or storage before pricing kicks in. Storage and sync capacity depend on your available iCloud storage. Bamboo’s pricing is for Pro features, not for charging you based on note count or storage usage.
The Markdown-first core plus import/export and wiki links is what makes this feel safe to actually commit to. When I export, do wiki links come out as portable [[note]]/relative-path Markdown that still resolves in another editor, or do they only work inside Bamboo? Same for web clippings, are they stored as clean Markdown or wrapped HTML?
Bamboo
@hi_i_am_mimo Notes and web clippings are stored as Markdown. Wiki links are preserved as [[Note Title]] style links in Markdown/TextBundle exports, so they remain readable and portable in editors that support wiki links. Bamboo does not yet rewrite them into relative links automatically. Web clippings are extracted into Markdown with source metadata, not saved as wrapped full-page HTML.
Curious how the cross-device sync actually works under the hood, is it your own backend or something like iCloud Drive, and what happens to my notes if you ever shut down the service?
Bamboo
@oriklisani80768 Bamboo uses iCloud for cross-device sync, not our own backend. Your notes sync through your own Apple iCloud account, and they are not routed through Bamboo-owned servers.
You can also use Bamboo offline. Since Bamboo is not tied to a required backend service that we operate, your notes are not locked behind our servers. And because Bamboo is built around Markdown/plain text portability, your content remains exportable, so you can keep, back up, or move your notes if needed.
Curious how the AI credits or provider billing works if I bring my own key, do you charge any markup or is it purely pass-through to whatever API the note uses?
Bamboo
@kemalcakandg84 If you bring your own key, it is pass-through. Bamboo does not add a markup, resell AI credits, or bill per token. Your API key is encrypted and stored locally on your device. Requests go directly to the provider/model you configure, and any usage cost is billed by that provider to your account. Bamboo Pro unlocks app features; it does not include or surcharge AI usage.