Read-only local-first MCP server for private Markdown, PDF, and Tika-backed search on Windows.
A local-first Windows desktop app and read-only MCP server for searching private Markdown, PDF, and Tika-backed knowledge bases.
Download Windows app · 中文说明 · Website · User Wiki · MCP Setup
Caelune builds searchable indexes from knowledge you already keep on your own computer. It combines exact-text retrieval, structural signals, semantic vector search, optional reranking, and source-aware context assembly.
The desktop app manages data roots, Runtime components, models, knowledge-base builds, live watch, queries, and result review. The optional MCP server exposes the same retrieval core to MCP-capable AI clients through two read-only tools.
Search local Markdown, PDF, and other documents, review source-linked results directly, or provide selected evidence to AI.
| I want to… | Start here |
|---|---|
| Install the Windows app and build my first index | Getting Started |
| Understand Runtime, models, CPU, CUDA, or resource messages | Runtime and Models |
| Keep indexes current after editing notes | Knowledge Bases and Live Watch |
| Connect an AI client through MCP | MCP Integration |
| Diagnose a problem safely | Troubleshooting |
The Query Console keeps input, scope, retrieval settings, and live query state together. Results and Details uses a separate page for source-labelled hits, snippet review, full-context selection, and page filtering.
Open the latest release and choose the package that matches your use case:
| Package label | Use it for |
|---|---|
WIN-EXE | Normal Windows desktop use: configure, build, watch, search, and review results |
MCP-...-win64.zip | Manual stdio setup for an MCP client |
.mcpb | MCP Registry or MCPB-aware clients |
The MCP package does not build or modify knowledge bases. Build the index with the Windows desktop app first.
BAAI/bge-m3, and optional BAAI/bge-reranker-v2-m3.Caelune is local-first, not a promise that every possible workflow is permanently offline.
Keep backups of important source material and review retrieved context before using it in high-stakes work.
WIN-EXE.Caelune.exe.Detailed instructions: Getting Started.
The Runtime and models are external sidecars so healthy components can be reused across application versions. See Runtime and Models.
flowchart LR
A["Markdown / PDF / Tika sources"] --> B["Local parsing and indexes"]
B --> C["FTS5 lexical recall"]
B --> D["LanceDB semantic recall"]
C --> E["Fusion and filters"]
D --> E
E --> F["Optional reranking"]
F --> G["Results and context pack"]
G --> H["Clipboard or read-only MCP"]
stdio configuration, or use the Registry/MCPB package.Caelune-MCP.exe.omniclip.status to inspect readiness and active retrieval modeomniclip.search to retrieve source-labelled resultsSome clients do not accept local stdio servers directly and may require a local proxy. See the MCP Integration Wiki and MCP_SETUP.md.
| Topic | Guide |
|---|---|
| Installation and first build | Getting Started |
| Runtime, models, CPU, and CUDA | Runtime and Models |
| Knowledge bases and live watch | Knowledge Bases and Live Watch |
| Query stages and resource messages | Search and Resources |
| PDF and Tika sources | PDF and Tika |
| MCP clients and tools | MCP Integration |
| Common problems | Troubleshooting |
# Desktop GUI
.\scripts\run_gui.ps1
# CLI status and query
.\scripts\run.ps1 status
.\scripts\run.ps1 query "your question"
# Build Windows packages
.\scripts\build_exe.ps1
# MCP self-check from source
python launcher_mcp.py --mcp-selfcheck
Developer orientation and architecture links live in Development and Architecture.
Caelune is released under the MIT License. It relies on open-source projects including PySide6, SQLite, LanceDB, Apache Arrow, PyTorch, sentence-transformers, Transformers, BGE models, PyPDF, Apache Tika, Eclipse Temurin, watchdog, PyInstaller, and the Model Context Protocol SDK.
See THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md for the repository-level legal and distribution notices.
Caelune and its retrieval results are provided without warranty. Verify important results, maintain backups, and do not use retrieved context or downstream AI output as the sole basis for medical, legal, financial, safety-critical, or other high-stakes decisions.
This listing does not have a supported local package template. Use the maintainer’s documentation for its hosted endpoint, authentication, and client-specific setup. No install command has been inferred.
https://github.com/EllisMorrow/OmniClip-RAG/releases/download/v0.4.13/omniclip-rag-mcp-win-x64-v0.4.13.mcpbotherOmniClip RAG works with any MCP-compatible client. Copy the config snippet from the Configuration section above and add it to the file shown for your client, then restart the application.
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.jsonRestart Claude Desktop completely for changes to take effect.~/.cursor/mcp.jsonRestart Cursor for changes to take effect..vscode/mcp.jsonReload VS Code window for changes to take effect.~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.jsonRestart Windsurf for changes to take effect..mcp.jsonSave at the project root, then start Claude Code in that project and review the MCP server approval prompt. Keep real credentials out of shared files.