A Research Workflow That Starts With Sources, Not Prompts

How private AI notebooks turn scattered files, links, notes, and local models into a reusable thinking loop. Based on public materials from openotebook.shop and the open-source open-notebook repository reviewed on April 30, 2026. Many AI note-taking tools begin with the same interface: a blank prompt box. That is convenient, but it quietly puts the wrong thing at the center. Real research does not start with a prompt. It starts with a pile of material: papers, links, meeting notes, transcripts,