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ThonkBoard

thonkboard.com - a spatial canvas for building and pressure-testing ideas. No backend, no accounts, no server. Everything runs in the browser.

ThonkBoard

What it does

You build a graph of ideas. Each node is a thought. AI can question, critique, propose, and argue around any node. Questions wait for answers. Answers get approved and integrated back into the parent - rewriting it in place with what you learned.

Getting started

npm install
npm run dev

Add an AI key via the "Set AI key" button in the top bar. Keys are stored in localStorage only, sent directly to your chosen provider.

AI providers

Provider Free tier Notes
Google Gemini Yes Default. Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite / Gemini 3.5 Flash.
OpenAI No GPT-4.1 mini / GPT-4.1
Anthropic No Claude Haiku 4.5 / Claude Sonnet 4.6
DeepSeek No deepseek-chat / deepseek-reasoner.
Ollama Local only Requires running ThonkBoard locally - Ollama blocks cross-origin requests (CORS).

The AI Settings cog (next to the key button) has two toggles:

  • Turbo Thonking — switches to the smarter model for the active provider
  • Web Search — Gemini, OpenAI, Anthropic only. Enriches answers with current facts. Adds cost per query.

Browser & installation

Chrome is recommended. ThonkBoard uses the File System Access API for silent saves (Ctrl+S without a download prompt) - this only works in Chromium-based browsers. Firefox works but saves always trigger a download.

You can also install ThonkBoard as a PWA from Chrome's address bar ("Install ThonkBoard"). The installed app can be set as the default handler for .thonk files, so double-clicking a board file opens it directly.

Privacy

No server. Nothing you type leaves your browser. AI calls go directly to your provider using your own key. With Ollama, everything is local.

Don't use ThonkBoard in incognito - browsers wipe localStorage on close.

Tech stack

  • Vite + React + TypeScript
  • @xyflow/react v12 - spatial canvas, controlled mode
  • Tailwind CSS v4 - @theme {} tokens, no tailwind.config.js
  • shadcn/ui - manually installed (CLI incompatible with Tailwind v4)
  • Google Gemini / OpenAI / Anthropic / DeepSeek / Ollama

License

Polyform NonCommercial 1.0.0 - free for personal, educational, and internal business use. Commercial use requires permission.

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An AI-powered spatial canvas for thinking through ideas.

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