{"id":"zen","name":"Zen","homepage":"https://github.com/sheshbabu/zen","repo_url":"https://github.com/sheshbabu/zen","category":"productivity","subcategories":["note-taking","self-hosted","mcp-server"],"tags":["notes","markdown","self-hosted","go","sqlite","full-text-search","bm25","single-binary","docker","preact","mcp","agpl"],"what_it_does":"Zen is a self-hosted, single-binary notes app that stores markdown notes in SQLite with tag-based organization, BM25 full-text search, and an optional MCP server for AI agent integration with note operations.","use_cases":["Self-hosting a lightweight personal notes app without cloud dependencies or subscriptions","Markdown-based note-taking with tag organization and full-text search for private knowledge management","Enabling AI agents to read, create, and search personal notes via MCP integration","Running a minimal-resource notes server on a home server or VPS"],"not_for":["Teams needing collaborative or multi-user note-taking with real-time sync","Users who need rich media embeds, databases, or spreadsheet views (Notion-style)","Deployments requiring commercial support or uptime SLAs"],"best_when":"You want a dead-simple, privacy-first self-hosted notes app with markdown support and full-text search, deployable as a single binary without external database dependencies.","avoid_when":"You need multi-user collaboration, rich block-based editing, or integrations with third-party productivity tools.","alternatives":["obsidian","joplin","silverbullet","notesnook"],"af_score":62.5,"security_score":45.0,"reliability_score":null,"package_type":"mcp_server","discovery_source":["github"],"priority":"low","status":"evaluated","version_evaluated":"latest (AGPL-3.0)","last_evaluated":"2026-03-01T09:50:06.435898+00:00","performance":{"latency_p50_ms":null,"latency_p99_ms":null,"uptime_sla_percent":null,"rate_limits":null,"data_source":"llm_estimated","measured_on":null}}