About

Built by one researcher, in the open

PaperLab is built by Malek Khannoussi. I started it on my way to a PhD, because I wanted a tool that let me read papers properly: every note attached to the passage it came from, and every answer checkable against the page. It didn't exist, so I built it, and it has been what I work on every day since.

What PaperLab stands for

• Your papers stay yours. Local-first, no accounts, and a written list of everything each setting sends.
• AI is labelled. Model text is stored apart from yours, with the model and prompt behind it.
• Answers show their sources. Every claim links to the passage it came from.
• No paywall tricks. Only free, legal copies of papers.

More on each: local-first and private,anchored notes, cited answers, and finding free papers.

I'm looking for a PhD position

If you supervise research, or know a group where this kind of work would fit, I would be glad to hear from you. A pointer to an opening, an introduction, or an honest opinion on the work would all help.

Reach me on LinkedIn or through malekkhannoussi.tn.

Follow and help

The PaperLab page on LinkedIn posts a weekly breakdown of how one feature works. The repository usually runs a few months ahead of what is posted, and a star puts each release in your GitHub feed. The most useful ten minutes you can give needs no code: add a question from your field to the retrieval eval, as CONTRIBUTING.md explains.