I Built an Open Source Alternative to Logseq

I built an open source alternative to Logseq.

For the past few years, I’ve tracked my entire day in a single daily note. Thoughts, todos, random links, half-baked ideas, all in one file. See more in johnjeong.com/journals.

Files are files. My journals folder sits in my vault, and I can open it in Obsidian, Logseq, or anything else that reads plain text. No lock-in, no export anxiety.

I switched from Obsidian to Logseq because I hated the tab-based UI for reviewing older notes. Logseq’s block structure makes scanning history easier.

But after a few months, one thing kept bothering me. I was losing track of my todos. Tasks were buried in past daily notes. Some half-done, some forgotten entirely. The system was adding mental load, not reducing it.

I built my own. It’s called Philo.

It uses the same opinionated Tiptap editor setup we use in Char. Minimal UI, just text and structure.

Every day, Philo pulls unfinished todos from previous daily notes into today’s note. If something’s not done, it follows you forward.

I want daily notes to feel lightweight, just open and type. But I think there’s a version of AI that fits here. Not autocomplete, but context that shows up when it’s relevant and helps you reflect on what you wrote last week. I’m still figuring out what that looks like.