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aniongithub edited this page May 19, 2026 · 1 revision

title: Out-of-the-box type: guide

Out-of-the-box

mind-map is designed to be useful with zero configuration. The defaults reflect a year of "what should this just do?" decisions.

Defaults that just work

Thing Default Why
Wiki directory ~/.mind-map/wiki XDG-ish; one place for everything
Index file ~/.mind-map/wiki/.mind-map.db Lives alongside the wiki, syncs/backs up with it
HTTP port 4242 Non-privileged, memorable, low collision
Bind address 127.0.0.1 Local-first; never accidentally public
Config file ~/.mind-map/config.json Auto-created on first run
Log file ~/.mind-map/mind-map.log Rotates at 10 MB
Service name mind-map Sensible; works across OSes

You can override any of these (CLI flags, config file), but you shouldn't have to.

What happens on first launch

sequenceDiagram
    participant U as User
    participant MM as mind-map
    participant FS as ~/.mind-map/
    U->>MM: mind-map serve
    MM->>FS: mkdir -p wiki/
    MM->>FS: write seed index.md if empty
    MM->>FS: open wiki/.mind-map.db (creates if missing)
    MM->>MM: run initial Reindex
    MM->>MM: bind 127.0.0.1:4242
    MM-->>U: serving at http://127.0.0.1:4242
Loading

No init step. No "first time setup wizard." The first time you run it, you have a working empty wiki.

Zero-config agent setup

A single block in your agent's MCP config wires up everything:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mind-map": {
      "command": "mind-map",
      "args": ["serve", "--stdio"]
    }
  }
}

No flags needed. No env vars. The agent uses the same wiki the web UI does.

Sensible feature defaults

  • Search uses FTS5 with bare-token AND semantics, exactly like a search box should — see concepts/search.
  • Wikilinks use [[target]] and [[target|display]] — same as Obsidian/Logseq so muscle memory transfers — see concepts/wikilinks.
  • Sort: Recent in the sidebar — newest edits first.
  • Light/dark theme follows your last manual choice; persists across reloads.
  • Search query and tree-collapsed state persist via architecture/web-ui — bookmarkable views.
  • Atomic agents/mcp-tools so refactoring doesn't break links.

What you don't have to configure

  • Auth. It's local. No tokens, no logins.
  • TLS. It's local. Plain HTTP on loopback.
  • Database setup. SQLite file appears on first run.
  • CORS / proxies / reverse proxy. No need.
  • A separate "frontend dev server." The Go binary serves the UI.

See also

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