WorkShadow: a local-first work log companion with AI-powered semantic search and automated report generation

What it solves

WorkShadow is a local-first desktop work log application designed to help professionals record daily tasks, decisions, and clues without worrying about data privacy or platform lock-in. It addresses the common problem of "easy to write, hard to find" in traditional note-taking apps by combining keyword and semantic search with AI-powered summarization and Q&A for historical logs.

How it works

The application stores data locally on the user's computer. Users can integrate their own AI model services via settings to enable advanced features. It uses a rich text editor for logging and supports the following AI mechanisms:

• Semantic Search: Uses embedding models to find content based on meaning rather than just exact keywords.
• AI Workbench: Leverages LLMs to generate reports (daily, weekly, monthly) from selected logs and answer questions based on historical data.
• Local Inference: The installed version includes built-in local models for summarization, Q&A, and smart completion (predictive text based on local logs) that run entirely on the device.

Who it’s for

It is built for individuals who need a dedicated companion for continuous recording, reviewing, and reporting of their work, particularly those who prioritize data ownership and the ability to to configure their own AI models.

Highlights

• Local-First Privacy: Data remains on the user's machine; AI is only called when the user configures a model.
• AI-Powered Reporting: Automatically generates drafts for reports, emails, and project summaries from selected logs.
• Semantic Retrieval: Natural language search to find conceptually related information.
• Local Smart Completion: Learns from the user's writing style locally to provide completion suggestions.
• Rich Media Support: Includes support for tables, images, videos, formulas, and code blocks with syntax highlighting.