AppFlowy User Guide: How to Efficiently Build a Personal Knowledge Management System by 2025?
By 2025, knowledge management will be entering a new era of "autonomy and controllability + intelligence".This news feature focuses on the rising open-source star appflowy, systematically outlining its functional highlights, AI assistant integration, data sovereignty, and collaboration advantages. Through practical installation and advanced case studies, it helps knowledge workers comprehensively build efficient, secure, and evolvable intelligent knowledge bases for individuals and teams.Master AppFlowy and make yourKnowledge Management Embraces the AI WaveTowards a new height by 2025!

An Introduction to Appflowy and the New Era of PKM
What is appflowy?
appflowy It is an open-source, cross-platform knowledge management and collaboration platform, hailed as an open-source alternative to Notion. Rust 和 Flutter Development, with Secure and self-sufficient, offline priority, highly customizable Features include: support for multi-view databases, local + private cloud deployment, and deep AI integration, making it an efficient knowledge management tool for professionals and teams. The latest 2025 version supports multi-view databases, local + private cloud deployment, and deep AI integration.
– Appflowy Official Website
– GitHub – AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy
New Trends in Personal Knowledge Management
The era of large models,“"Intelligent knowledge base, private data"”It has become the mainstream trend. Appflowy's outstanding capabilities are manifested in:
- Local data self-sufficiency/private cloud deploymentSay goodbye to platform lock-in and ensure information security.
- Plug-in Access OpenAI, Claude AI models, to achieve Automatic sorting, intelligent retrieval, semantic association。
- With its modular architecture, it can be used in all scenarios, from individuals and groups to families and enterprises.

A complete overview of appflowy's core features
Comparison of core parameters of mainstream competing products
| Dimension | appflowy (2025) | Notion | Obsidian |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open source/closed source | 100% Open Source | Closed source | Local + Plugin Ecosystem |
| Data sovereignty | Local/Private Cloud Self-Owned | cloud | local |
| cross-platform | All platforms | All platforms | Desktop + Mobile |
| AI Integration | Custom plugins/local models | Built-in AI | Community Plugin |
| cooperation | Multiple users/flexible permissions | Multi-person collaboration | backend plugin |
| cost | Free (all features) | Paywall | Free + Paid Plugins |
For those who value data security, intelligence, and high-end customization, appflowy is the top choice for 2025!

Summary of key features
- Modular pages/multi-view libraryIt allows for flexible switching between tables, dashboards, calendars, relationship views, and more.
- AI assistant integrationSummary, organization, translation, and Q&A functions can all be extended with plugins.
- On-premises/private cloud deploymentCompatible with PC, mobile, Docker, and NAS, with 100% of data self-owned.
- Offline priorityEditing, adding, deleting, searching, and backing up can all be performed smoothly even when offline.
- Team collaboration and permissionsFeatures include: member grouping, tiered permissions, historical tracking, and real-time multi-user access.
- Multimedia & Knowledge ConnectionOne-stop management of PDFs, images, audio, hyperlinks, and knowledge graphs.
AppFlowy Installation and Deployment Guide
1. Quick installation on desktop/mobile devices
PC Download:Windows | macOS | Linux
Android APK:beta version| iOS (to be released)

Download the installation package > Follow the prompts to install > Start and use immediately, defaults to local private storage.
2. One-click deployment of servers/private clouds (Docker example)
version: "3" services: appflowy: image: appflowyio/appflowy:latest restart: unless-stopped ports: - 8080:8080 volumes: - ./data:/appflowy/data
Suitable for multi-terminal synchronization/team collaboration/enterprise IT automation, and supports horizontal scaling of NAS or cloud servers.
3. Plugin Marketplace and Community
In 2025,Official Plugin MarketplaceNow available, with a wealth of AI, automation, and data analytics plugins. Search online and install with a single click to unlock endless possibilities!

Intelligent Knowledge Systems: AI Integration Practices
AI Assistant Integration and Application Scenarios
| AI capabilities | Practical Applications | Integration method |
|---|---|---|
| Smart Summary | Automatic note-taking summary/keyword generation | OpenAI Plugins/Private APIs |
| Intelligent Question Answering | Full-database content linked chat | GPT/Local Large Model/Plugin |
| Content generation | Automatic expansion/daily/weekly report generation | Copilot plugin/custom prompt |
| knowledge graph | Automatically link notes/highlight tag relationships | Graph Plugin + AI |
| Multilingual | Automatic translation/multilingual notes | DeepL/Google API Integration |
Practical Cases:
- One-click weekly reportSelect the task > AI Auto Summarize > Export Markdown or PDF.
- Meeting minutes summaryUpload audio transcript > AI transcription highlights key points, automatically converts to a dashboard.
Rapid integration of AI assistants (using OpenAI as an example):
- Search for "OpenAI Assistant" in the plugin marketplace and install it.
- Enter your private API key (data will never be uploaded to the cloud).
- Right-click on the page > Use AI Assistant > Tweets/Summaries/Expands… select as needed.

Advanced Techniques and Practical Scenarios
Knowledge base structure recommendation
- First-level page: Projects/Topics
- Partitioned databases: literature, tasks, meeting minutes, decision outlines, attachments (tables/kanban boards/multimedia).
Server multi-account + group permission collaborationIt is suitable for research groups, startups, and families to synchronize across multiple devices.
Data import, export and backup
- Supports importing and exporting all formats including Markdown, CSV, OPML, and JSON.
- The plugin supports bidirectional synchronization between Notion and Obsidian.
- One-click packaging and export to meet compliance/off-site disaster recovery requirements.
Data security and privacy compliance
Local/private cloud/intranet deployments, combined with auditing and granular permissions, comply with GDPR/China's Cybersecurity Law and higher enterprise-level requirements.

Knowledge Management Exemplary Practices and Recommended Practices by 2025
| Functional categories | describe | Recommended audience |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-view database | Rich features including tables, dashboards, calendars, and filters. | Project Manager/R&D/Scientific Research |
| Rich text blocks | Code, mind maps, multimedia | Developers/Content Creators |
| AI intelligent prototype | Automatic sorting/intelligent question answering | White-collar worker/student/editor |
| Collaboration permissions | Team grouping, message notification | Organizations/Businesses/Households |
| Plugin Marketplace | Over 100 free plugins + customizable | Advanced users/developers |
| Backup migration | One-click export/import of all formats | Migrating users/data under strict control scenarios |
| Local privatization | Works offline; Docker can be installed with one click. | State-owned enterprises/security-sensitive users |
Community Trends and Future Outlook
By 2025, appflowy had become a high-level knowledge management and AI collaboration platform, with a comprehensive plugin marketplace covering AI, automation, team building, and security. The official platform actively adapts to large open-source models such as Ollama and Mistral 7B, and launches innovative modules like enterprise-level knowledge graphs, enabling both individual and business empowerment.
With the rise of awareness of knowledge sovereignty and the AI revolution, appflowy is becoming the golden choice for efficient and intelligent personal knowledge management. Experience appflowy now and embrace the new era of intelligent knowledge management in 2025!
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