Foam

A personal knowledge management system built on Visual Studio Code and Git, with wikilinks, backlinks and a graph of your Markdown notes.

17.5k stars, 792 forks TypeScript On GitHub since June 2020

Visit website View on GitHub How to run it

What is Foam?

Foam turns VS Code into a note-taking environment. You write Markdown files, connect them with wikilinks, and Foam adds backlinks, link autocompletion, a graph view of how notes relate, templates and daily notes. Because notes are plain files, you can version them with Git, edit them in any tool, and publish them to the web if you want. It draws on the same ideas as Roam Research and Obsidian, inside an editor many developers already use.

Good fit if

  • You live in VS Code and want your notes there too.
  • You want plain Markdown files in a Git repository.

Look elsewhere if

  • You want a standalone app with an outliner: Logseq.
  • You want to publish your notes as a website: Quartz.

Before you adopt it

Foam is MIT-licensed and free, and it depends on VS Code, so it suits people who are comfortable in a code editor. One maintainer writes over 90% of the commits.

Drafted with AI from the project's README and repository data, then checked against that data on 30 October 2026. Report a correction

Foam health: is it still maintained?

68 of 100, actively developed

  • Activity
    106 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 29 October 2026.
    25 / 30
  • Contributors
    3 people wrote the latest 100 commits; the most active wrote 92% of them.
    5 / 20
  • Releases
    15 releases in the last 12 months; the latest, vscode@0.46.0, on 30 September 2026.
    19 / 20
  • Replies to issues
    Maintainers answered 75% of recent issues, with a median first reply after 4 days.
    13 / 20
  • Security practices
    OpenSSF Scorecard 5.7 of 10.
    6 / 10

Read from GitHub on 1 November 2026. How the score works

Foam license: is it open source?

Foam uses MIT, an open-source license approved by the OSI.

  1. June 2020First published on GitHub.
  2. TodayMIT.

How to run Foam yourself

Docker
No Docker files in the repository
Compose file
None in the repository
Setup effort
Not rated: no compose file to judge from
Kubernetes
No Helm chart in the repository
Desktop and mobile
No app builds in GitHub releases
Interface languages
English only

Install instructions: foam.md or the README on GitHub.

Alternatives to Foam

  • Trilium NotesBuild your personal knowledge base with Trilium Notes 80 health · AGPL-3.0 · 38.6k stars
  • LogseqA privacy-first, open-source platform for knowledge management and collaboration. Download link:… 69 health · AGPL-3.0 · 45.4k stars
  • QOwnNotesQOwnNotes is a plain-text file notepad and todo-list manager with Markdown support and Nextcloud / ownCloud… 79 health · GPL-2.0 · 5.9k stars
  • MiaoYanA quiet, local-first Markdown writing app for Mac, to help you write great sentences. 75 health · MIT · 8.7k stars
  • FSNotesFast Markdown note-taking app for Mac and iPhone 66 health · MIT · 7.6k stars

All 34 projects in Notes & knowledge bases

Questions about Foam

Is Foam open source?

Yes. Foam is published under MIT, an OSI-approved open-source license.

Is Foam still maintained?

Its health score is 68 of 100 (actively developed). It had 106 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 29 October 2026, and its latest release came out on 30 September 2026.

How do I run Foam?

The repository has no Docker files or app builds, so you build it from source. The README on GitHub has the steps.

What are the alternatives to Foam?

Close alternatives in the Notes & knowledge bases category include Trilium Notes, Logseq, QOwnNotes.