Frequently Asked Questions

What is Beta?

Surf is currently in Beta, which means we have the core foundation in place but it’s still evolving.

You might notice some features missing compared to what you’ve seen in early demos & alpha. That’s intentional — we’re focusing on the essentials first. Your favorite features aren’t gone; we plan for many to return as we refine ship updates. We just need to find the right place.

How is my data kept secure?

Surf is local-first. Everything you save — your notes, notebooks, and resources — are stored directly on your device. You can even open the Surf data folder yourself and move or delete files however you like.

We run untrusted content from the web in an isolated sandbox.

When you use some of the smart features of Surf, whatever pages are “in context” (via e.g. an @ mention) is sent to LLMs hosted on Deta’s servers. You can also use your own API key, or connect Surf to a local language model.

Is Surf a browser? An "AI browser"?

Web browsers are tools for consuming.

Surf’s takes inspiration from the personal notebook. We want to build a tool to help people explore, think, and create. But to do so with web pages as material in your process.

Many “AI Browsers” start with the consumer intent but add a twist: automate a lot of the consuming (clicking, navigating, reading), and give people a chatbot to do it. We’re not sure this makes much sense.

Some of Surf’s features integrate large language models, but we don’t think “AI” (or talking with a machine) is an end, just one of many means (however many billboards in San Francisco say otherwise).

Is Surf built on Electron? I heard Electron was bad.

Surf uses Electron.

Electron is a tool for building apps that work across Mac, Windows, and Linux. Electron makes this possible by including the Chromium browser engine, which is what Google Chrome is based on. A browser engine is a heavy piece of software, so it can be seen as overhead. But for an app that needs “browsing” functionalities, a browser engine is necessary! With Electron, there are apps that aren’t really browsers but have “browsing” (Obsidian, Kosmik), more than a handful of browsers, and many great apps that don’t support “browsing” at all, but still rely on the infrastructure Electron provides.

Electron gives small teams the ability to maintain compatibility with the web, while re-thinking our interactions with it. We think the web browser is flawed, more people should be working on this, and it shouldn’t just be the domain of large and well funded companies. For that reason, we think Electron is a very good technology!

Why does the Beta feel different from the Alpha?

The Alpha was full of experiments (desktops, Surflets, vision, live contexts, ‘go wild’ mode, etc). The Beta is a rebuild with a new foundation focused on performance and simplicity. That means some Alpha features are missing for now. We plan to bring the right ones back over time, in a way that works with the new design.

Will my favorite features return?

Yes. Fan favorites like Vision and more personalization are on our roadmap. Some had to be paused while we rebuilt the core, but we know how much they mean to you. The Beta is a starting point, not the finish line.

Your Feedback

We’re actively expanding this FAQ based on community feedback. If there’s a question you think should be here, reach out on Discord and let us know!