Introduction

ChatLab is a free, open-source, local-first chat analysis app.

In the digital era, chat histories are no longer just plain text. They carry a decade of social connections, precious voice notes from loved ones, and serve as the emotional memory we keep in the digital world.

ChatLab was built to give everyone a private, secure way to analyze and revisit their own conversations.

What you can do with ChatLab

• Visual analytics: Word frequency, word clouds, activity rankings, interaction heatmaps, time-of-day breakdowns — understand your chat history at a glance.
• AI chat: Connect an AI model and explore your chat history in natural language — search, summarize, and analyze with an AI Agent.
• Privacy first: Everything stays on your device. No uploads, no cloud, no exceptions.
• What's next: ChatLab's goal is to become the standard infrastructure for social memory — building a persistent record of every relationship, and serving as the local interface through which AI Agents understand your social world. See the Roadmap.

Supported platforms

Platform	Status
QQ	✅ Supported
WhatsApp	✅ Supported
LINE	✅ Supported
Discord	✅ Supported
Instagram	✅ Supported
Telegram	✅ Supported
iMessage	✅ Supported
Messenger / KakaoTalk	🔜 Coming soon

Two ways to run ChatLab

Desktop app: Download the installer and double-click to get started. Best for personal use.

CLI: Install via npm and run from the terminal. Good for server deployments, automation scripts, or pairing with an AI Agent like Claude Desktop.

Both share the same underlying data engine — your data works across both.

Next steps

Ready to install and import your first chat records? See Quick Start.

Running into import or AI issues? Check Troubleshooting.

Your export format isn't supported yet? See the AI Conversion Guide.

Building a tool or integrating with the API? See API & Standards.

For anything else, join the community: Community