Guide

Quolla is a thinking tool. It pairs an AI chat with a spatial map, so the ideas worth keeping do not scroll away. You pull them out, place them, and connect them by hand. What you connect is what the AI looks at. Your thinking stays on your machine.

Three steps to begin

1. Get Quolla. Try the free browser demo to see how it feels, or download the full app.
2. Add your API key. Quolla uses your own AI provider key. See Adding Your API Keys.
3. Think. Chat on the left, drag the parts worth keeping onto the map, then connect them with lines to shape what the AI sees.

Download

Download Quolla for your platform from the website. After purchase you will receive a download link and a license key.

macOS

1. Open the downloaded .dmg and drag Quolla to your Applications folder.
2. Launch Quolla. It will open normally; the macOS build is signed and notarized.

Windows

The Windows build may show a Windows protected your PC message the first time you run it. This warning means Quolla is not yet code-signed with a paid Windows certificate. It does not mean Windows found malware; it means the publisher reputation is not established yet.

What the Windows warning means

Quolla is still a small independent app. macOS is already signed and notarized, and Windows code signing is on the roadmap. Until that Windows certificate is in place, SmartScreen may ask you to confirm that you trust the app before launching it.

How to proceed on Windows

1. Download Quolla only from the official website or release link.
2. Run the installer.
3. When Windows shows the warning, click More info.
4. Confirm the app name, then click Run anyway.
5. Follow the installer and launch Quolla.

How to verify Quolla yourself

You do not have to trust a vague promise. Quolla is designed so its behavior is inspectable: your chats, maps, files, and API keys stay local, and there is no telemetry collecting what you write.

• AI provider requests: when you send a message, Quolla contacts the provider you chose with your own API key.
• License validation: the download app checks your license with the licensing provider when needed.
• Purchase/download pages: the website uses Lemon Squeezy checkout and GitHub Releases links.

You can verify this with browser or system DevTools by watching the network panel while using Quolla. There should be no hidden analytics stream and no background upload of your local thinking data.

After launching

Enter your license key to activate, then add your AI API key to start using Quolla.

Quolla uses a bring your own key model: you connect your own AI provider account, and Quolla sends requests directly from your device using your key. We never see your conversations or your key.

The price of Quolla is separate from AI usage. You pay the AI provider directly for what you use, with no markup from us.

OpenAI (GPT)

1. Go to platform.openai.com and sign in.
2. Add a payment method under Settings → Billing.
3. Open Settings → API Keys and create a new secret key.
4. Copy the key immediately. It starts with sk-.
5. In Quolla, open Settings and paste the key into the OpenAI field.

Anthropic (Claude)

1. Go to console.anthropic.com and sign in.
2. Add a payment method under Settings → Billing.
3. Create an API key and copy it. It starts with sk-ant-.
4. Paste it into the Anthropic field in Quolla Settings.

Google (Gemini)

1. Go to aistudio.google.com and sign in.
2. Open the API keys section and create a key.
3. Paste it into the Google field in Quolla Settings.

Once a key is saved, choose your model near the message box. You can switch models any time.

Chat

Type on the left, just like any AI chat. Switch models from the selector near the message box.

Turn a thought into a node

When something is worth keeping, select the text and drag the highlighted text onto the map, or click Add to map. It becomes a node on the right.

Work the map

• Place nodes anywhere by dragging.
• Create your own node by double-clicking empty space; edit by double-clicking a node.
• Connect two nodes by dragging from a node edge to another.
• Classify with color and shape for your own use.
• Use pointer, hand, and box-select tools from the bottom-left toolbar.
• Tidy snaps nodes to a grid. Undo and redo use Cmd/Ctrl+Z.

This is the heart of Quolla: the lines you draw decide what the AI sees.

Lines decide references

Only nodes connected by lines enter the AI context. Isolated nodes are not mixed in, so connecting and disconnecting nodes directly controls what the AI is looking at.

Origin mode

Select a node as the origin, and the AI attention is biased toward everything reachable from it through lines. This is a bias, not a wall.

Sources: map only

Toggle Sources: map only to confine the AI to connected nodes and files on the map. If the map does not contain the answer, Quolla should say so instead of filling gaps with outside knowledge.

Trace the origin

Nodes from chat remember their source. Click origin on a node to jump back to the exact message.

Bring your own documents into your thinking.

Add a file

Drop a PDF or image onto the map, use the upload button at the top of the map, or attach it in the chat. Any of these creates a file node.

Connect to reference it

Like any node, a file is referenced only when you connect it with a line. Leave unrelated files unconnected and they stay out.

Your own grounded knowledge base

Connect source files, turn on Sources: map only, and you get a private knowledge base whose grounds are visible and under your control. Files are stored locally on your device.

After you buy

Your purchase is handled by Lemon Squeezy. You will receive a download link and license key.

Activate

1. Install and launch Quolla.
2. Enter your license key on the activation screen.
3. Quolla verifies it online once, then re-checks occasionally.

Two different keys

• License key: proves you bought Quolla.
• API key: connects your own AI provider account.

Browser demo

• Bring your own API key.
• One map, up to 10 messages per day.
• No file attachments and no Sources: map only.
• Nothing is saved after reload or tab close.

Download version

• All features: multiple maps, files, pseudo-RAG, closed mode, and all models.
• Saved locally on your device and persists across restarts.
• Yours with a one-time purchase.

Made something in the demo you want to keep? Export it, then import it in the download version.