Local-first software keeps a working copy of your records on your device. That can let you read or edit them without asking a provider each time, but network features, privacy, backup, export, and recovery need separate checks. Test one record offline and restore a separate copy before moving an important collection.
Find the working copy
Add a record you would recognize later: a film title and one sentence about it. Close the app, disconnect, and open that record again. Can you read and edit your sentence? If you can, you have tested those actions on this device. You have not yet tested what happens after a device failure or a move to another computer.
Ask where the record is stored and which part of the experience still comes from a server. Cover art, search results, updates, account checks, or shared features may need a connection even when your own note does not. A tool can be useful while having those dependencies; the point is to know them before you rely on it.
Offline, private, and durable answer different questions
Offline asks what you can do without a connection. Private asks who can see or process your records. Durable asks whether you can recover them after something breaks. A local working copy may help with the first two, but it is not a backup. You need a separate copy and a way to read or restore it.
Before importing years of notes, try a small backup. Find the supported route, copy the sample somewhere separate, and see whether the same sentence returns. If the app offers export, check whether dates and notes come with the titles. If it does not, ask how you would leave with your records.
The boundary depends on the product
Curatale is a paid application for a personal collection of games, films, music, and other cultural finds; its working records are kept locally. That does not, by itself, establish which backup or export steps are available in the version you would buy. Check the current product instructions and purchase terms before moving a library into it.
Critterarium works differently. Its public Atlas is hosted, while personal encounters made on the web are kept in the browser. Clearing browser data can remove those entries. Its separate Windows application has its own storage boundary. Calling all of these surfaces “local-first” without naming the record and device would hide the difference that matters to the person using them.
A simple test is better than a label: create one record, unplug, reopen it, make a separate copy, and see what returns. Then decide whether the remaining dependencies fit the way you want to keep your collection. For the wider choice of access, backup, exit, and purchase terms, read what makes a media library stay yours.