# Start here

> Install Kempt and build a working system in about fifteen minutes.

Kempt is a local-first home for your notes, plans, and an AI that works on your files. Everything you make lives in one folder on your computer, as plain Markdown you own.

This page walks you from download to a working daily system in about fifteen minutes. The chapters in the sidebar go deeper on each part.

  <a class="docs-pop" href="/help/import"><b>Coming from Obsidian or Notion?</b><span>Your vault opens as it is. Notion exports to Markdown.</span></a>
  <a class="docs-pop" href="/help/planning"><b>Plan your work</b><span>The five building blocks and the seven views.</span></a>
  <a class="docs-pop" href="/help/ai"><b>Your AI, on your account</b><span>Setup, permissions, schedules, learning.</span></a>
  <a class="docs-pop" href="/help/sync"><b>Kempt Sync (beta)</b><span>Encrypted sync across your computers.</span></a>

## 1. Install Kempt

Download Kempt for Windows or macOS from the [home page](/#download) and run the installer.

> **Note:** on Windows, SmartScreen may show "Windows protected your PC" because we are a new publisher. Click **More info**, then **Run anyway**. The installer is code-signed; the notice is normal for new desktop apps. More in [Troubleshooting](/help/troubleshooting).

## 2. Pick your home folder

On first launch, Kempt asks where your data should live.

1. Choose **Create a new folder** (the suggested location is fine), or **Choose an existing folder** if you already have Markdown notes. [Coming from Obsidian or Notion?](/help/import)
2. Confirm with **Start with this folder**.

Kempt adds two folders (`_config/` for settings and the search index, `_claude/` for AI settings) and touches nothing else. Copy this folder and you have a full backup.

> **Note:** pick a normal local folder. If you choose a spot inside OneDrive or Dropbox, Kempt warns you: sync engines and live files do not mix well. More in [Your data and safety](/help/data).

## 3. Create your first area

A workspace is one area of your life: work, daily, a side project. The setup wizard asks for your first one (**Create your first area**). Give it a name and a color. Add more anytime from the sidebar with **New workspace**.

The wizard's first step offers to connect your AI. You can skip it; step 7 below covers it.

## 4. Capture your first task

Press `Q` (or `Cmd/Ctrl+N`) anywhere in the app and type one line:

```
tomorrow submit the report p1
```

Kempt reads the natural language: the task is created with tomorrow's date and priority 1. One line in, one planned task out. More in [Find anything, move fast](/help/speed).

## 5. Shape a plan

1. In your workspace, create a project and open it.
2. Add a task, then paste several lines of text into it as subtasks: each line becomes its own subtask.
3. Now switch the view: **List**, **Board**, **Timeline**, **Project Map**. Same work, four shapes. Drag a card on the Board and its status changes; drag a bar on the Timeline and its dates change.

Every one of those edits is written to the same plain Markdown file. More in [Plan your work](/help/planning).

## 6. Run your day from Today

Open **Today** in the left rail. It gathers what is due across every workspace into one list. Check something off and it updates at the source, in its own project and file.

This is the loop Kempt is built around: capture, plan, then work from one honest list.

## 7. Optional: connect your AI

Kempt works completely without AI. When you want it, the AI panel embeds Claude Code, Anthropic's agent, running on your own Claude account. No API key, and your notes are not routed through us.

1. Open **Settings > AI**. If Claude Code is already installed, Kempt has found it.
2. If not, click **Install Claude Code**. It needs a paid Claude plan (Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise).
3. Sign in once, then open the AI panel with `Cmd/Ctrl+L` and ask something about your notes.

What makes Kempt's AI different: it learns in the open. Skills and memories are saved as Markdown notes you can read, edit, and undo. And it is not limited to your notes: link an outside folder (a code repository, a client folder) and mention it with `@` to let the AI work with what is inside. See [Your AI, on your account](/help/ai).

## Where next

- [Plan your work](/help/planning): the five building blocks and the seven views.
- [Notes and knowledge](/help/notes): the editor, wikilinks, graph, canvas, journal.
- [Your AI, on your account](/help/ai): setup, permissions, schedules, learning.
- [Kempt Sync](/help/sync): encrypted sync across your computers, in beta.
- [Your data and safety](/help/data): backups, version history, leaving anytime.

Stuck? Ask in [Discord](https://discord.gg/ktE8eUeyTj) or email [hello@kempt.md](mailto:hello@kempt.md).