Deta Surf is a cross‑platform, local‑first notebook that merges web browsing, file handling, and note‑taking within a sandboxed Electron interface. It enables users to attach any large language model—via API key, hosted service, or local deployment—to produce on‑demand summaries, citations, and interactive visualizations without leaving the workspace. All content is saved in open formats, supports drag‑and‑drop imports, and includes an extensible “Surflets” framework for custom mini‑apps.
Funding
$3.6M raised to dateRaised to date based on public sources. This may differ from the amount the company actually raised and is based only on what is publicly available on the internet.
Founders
Product
Problem
Users typically switch between a web browser, file manager, and separate note‑taking apps to research, capture, and synthesize information. This fragmented workflow leads to context loss, duplicated effort, and difficulty maintaining personal control over data, especially when integrating AI assistance.
Solution
Deta Surf delivers a unified, AI‑enhanced notebook that embeds web browsing, file handling, and note creation within a single interface. The application stores all content locally in open formats, giving users full ownership of their data while supporting import and export of PDFs, images, and other files. By allowing users to connect any Large Language Model—via API key, hosted service, or local deployment—Surf provides on‑demand summarization, citation generation, and interactive visualizations without leaving the workspace. The platform’s sandboxed Electron environment ensures cross‑platform compatibility (Windows, macOS, Linux) and isolates untrusted web content. Together, these capabilities reduce context switching and streamline the research‑to‑insight pipeline.
Target Audience
The primary users are knowledge workers, researchers, and students who need to combine web research, document handling, and AI assistance in a single, privacy‑focused environment. Additionally, developers seeking an open‑source, extensible AI notebook platform are a key audience.
Features
- Local‑first storage of notebooks, files, and web snapshots in open, user‑accessible directories.
- Integrated LLM connectivity: use your own API key, select from hosted models, or run a local model for AI‑driven summarization, Q&A, and content generation.
- AI‑powered note creation that extracts citations, generates summaries, and produces interactive graphs or applets without manual coding.
- Vertical tab sidebar and multi‑desktop layout for organized browsing and notebook management.
- Drag‑and‑drop import of PDFs, images, and other documents directly into notebooks.
- Smart annotations and searchable “My Stuff” that index text across web pages, files, and notes.
- Extensible “Surflets” framework allowing users to build lightweight mini‑apps within the notebook.
- Dark mode, theming, and customizable sketching tools for personalized workspace aesthetics.
- Open‑source codebase on GitHub and Electron‑based cross‑platform deployment.
- Secure sandbox execution of web content to isolate potentially unsafe scripts.