Hackeatutiempo/mapache

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## Why Mapache?
Most whiteboard tools want an account, a monthly fee and a copy of your ideas on their servers.
Mapache is a folder you run on your own computer. Your boards are plain files on your disk, it opens instantly,
it keeps working on a plane, and your AI agent can read them and build on them with you.
⚡ Fast like a native app. No framework, no build step, no loading spinners.
🧠 Mind maps that keep up with you. Tab for a child, Enter for a sibling, drag to re-parent, colored
branches, and as many maps as you want on one board.
🎨 A real whiteboard around them. Sticky notes, 12 shapes, sections, connectors that route around
objects, freehand drawing with shape recognition, images and videos.
📊 Data built in. Paste a table from Excel or Google Sheets and turn it into any of 17 chart types.
💬 Comments and mentions. Pin a comment anywhere, reply, resolve, and @mention people (or let your agent leave
notes for you to review).
🤖 Made for AI agents. A built-in MCP server lets Claude, Codex, Cursor and friends read your boards and create
mind maps, notes, flowcharts and tables. You watch them appear live.
🔒 Yours, for real. Local-first, no telemetry, plain JSON files you can read, back up or put in Git. AGPL-3.0.
| | Mapache | Typical SaaS whiteboard |
| Price | Free | Free tier, then per seat |
| Account required | No | Yes |
| Where your boards live | Files on your computer | Their cloud |
| Works offline | Yes | Limited |
| Your AI agent can read and edit boards | Yes, locally (MCP) | Through their cloud, if at all |
| Team server with accounts and live cursors | Yes, self-hosted with Docker | Their cloud, per seat |
| Open source and self-hostable | Yes | No |
| Dependencies to install | 0 | — |
## 🤖 Let your AI agent install it
Not technical? Give this to your AI agent (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor…) and it does everything for you:
text
Install Mapache for me following https://github.com/Hackeatutiempo/mapache/blob/main/AGENTS.md,
connect it to yourself as an MCP server, and leave a shortcut so I can open it with a double-click.
The step-by-step guide for agents lives in AGENTS.md: it checks Node.js, gets the code, starts it,
creates a desktop shortcut, connects the MCP server and explains where your boards are saved.
## 🚀 Quick start
All you need is Node.js 18 or newer. There is nothing else to install.
bash
git clone https://github.com/Hackeatutiempo/mapache.git
cd mapache
npm start
Open and start thinking. Next time, double-click Abrir Mapache.cmd (Windows) or run
./start.sh (macOS and Linux): they start Mapache in the background if needed and open the browser.
> Tip: in Chrome or Edge choose Install app in the address bar. Mapache gets its own window and icon and
> works even when the server is off; your changes sync to your files as soon as it is back.
Your boards are saved automatically as JSON files in ~/.mapache (run node bin/mapache.js where to see the exact
folder). Export backup (bottom left) still gives you everything in one file.
When a new version comes out, Mapache tells you in the app. Update with node bin/mapache.js update (or ask your