Markcat Docs Open app →

Getting Started

What is Markcat?

Markcat is an AI-powered bookmark manager that automatically classifies your bookmarks into a hierarchical category tree. Save a link, and Markcat fetches the page, reads the content, and sorts it into the right category — no manual tagging needed.

How It Works

  1. Save a bookmark (via extension, web app, or API).
  2. Fetch — Markcat downloads the page content: plain HTTP first, then a real browser for JS-heavy sites, then browser stealth mode for bot-protected sites.
  3. Classify — an LLM summarizes the content, then assigns a category path (e.g. Tech / Programming / Python).
  4. Browse — your bookmarks appear in a navigable category tree.

Installation

Option 1: Chrome Extension + Local Service (User A)

This runs entirely on your machine. No account needed. The source code will be available at public launch.

Requirements: Python 3.11+, Chrome/Chromium.

# From the project root
pip install -r service/requirements.txt

# Start the service
python -m service.main
# → http://127.0.0.1:8080

Then install the Chrome extension:

  1. Open chrome://extensions
  2. Enable “Developer mode”
  3. Click “Load unpacked” → select the markcat-extension/ folder

Option 2: Markcat Web App (User D)

Visit markcat.app, create an account, and start saving bookmarks. No local setup or API keys needed — classification runs on the hosted service.

Option 3: Self-Hosted Cloud (User B/C)

See self-hosting.md for PostgreSQL setup and deployment.

First Run

Web app (hosted): register at markcat.app and save your first link — it is fetched and classified automatically, nothing to configure.

Chrome extension: on first install, the extension opens a short setup wizard:

  1. Choose Local or Cloud mode.
  2. Enter and test the service URL.
  3. (Cloud) Sign in or create an account.

Local / self-hosted: classification needs an LLM provider. Open Settings → LLM Provider (in the web app, tick Self-hosted settings in the settings sidebar to reveal it), pick a provider, enter an API key if the provider needs one, and test the connection:

See llm-providers.md for details and costs.

Basic Usage

  1. Save a bookmark: Right-click any page → “Save to Markcat”, or click the extension icon.
  2. View bookmarks: Open the extension’s new tab page or the web app.
  3. Browse categories: The left sidebar shows your category tree. Click to filter.
  4. Search: Use the search bar to find bookmarks by title, URL, or content.
  5. Edit: Click a bookmark to change its category, title, or notes.

Next Steps