Practical overview
When it fits
Use it when you want a locally hosted research or reference archive and can manage Docker, storage and local model services. The Google Drive integration is optional and requires OAuth configuration.
Who it is for
- People building a self-hosted archive of research documents, images and notes.
- Users who want text, image or combined semantic search over their own collection.
- Researchers who want to explore relationships and topic clusters across stored material.
Documented uses
- Collect and search documents, images and ideas in a personal knowledge base.
- Find relevant material using text search, image similarity or hybrid vector and full-text search.
- Analyze images and documents with local vision and language models, including OCR.
- Explore connections between stored items through a knowledge graph.
- Optionally stream and synchronize supported files from Google Drive.
Requirements & limits
The repository is public and licensed under AGPL-3.0. The documented setup runs with Docker Desktop; the README recommends 16 GB or more of RAM and 20 GB or more of free disk space.
- Docker Desktop is required, and the README recommends substantial memory and disk capacity.
- The described local stack separates the FastAPI application and PostgreSQL/pgvector storage from LM Studio, CLIP and LLaVA model services.
- The README describes GPU services as optional for GPU-accelerated vision features.
- Google Drive is optional and requires OAuth credentials; the integration streams files rather than requiring app storage.
- The project is licensed under AGPL-3.0.
Check current requirements in the official documentation. Source-based guidance does not mean OpenViST has run or independently tested this project.
Set up the self-hosted application
Prepare the repository configuration and start the application with Docker.
Before you start
- Docker Desktop
- At least 16 GB RAM recommended
- At least 20 GB free disk space recommended
Steps
Clone the repository and change into its directory.
Copy .env.example to .env.
Run ./setup-platform.sh on Mac or Linux to configure the platform.
Start the services with docker-compose up -d.
Open the main app at http://localhost:8000.
Expected outcome
The README directs users to the local application at http://localhost:8000 and API documentation at http://localhost:8000/docs.
Guide limitations
- The README labels the Windows setup and start batch files as coming soon.
- GPU services are a separate optional setup; the README identifies them for GPU-accelerated vision features.
Sources & review
Source record details
- Source availability
- Active
- Sources checked
- 15 October 2026
- Original website title
- raold/second-brain · Official homepage title · retained in its source language

