Our review
GNO is a local semantic search engine that indexes documents (PDFs, Markdown, code, etc.) and supports keyword, vector, and hybrid search, including AI-generated answers with citations—all without cloud or API keys.
Strengths
- Fully local operation ensuring data privacy and offline capability
- Multiple search modes (BM25, vector, hybrid) with speed/accuracy trade-offs
- Built-in web UI for browsing and searching documents
- Supports collections, tags, and context hints to refine search results
Limitations
- Requires initial indexing which can be time-consuming for large document sets
- Local AI models may be less accurate than cloud-based alternatives
- AI answer quality depends on the model and context provided
Use GNO when you need to quickly search through a large local document collection, perform semantic searches, or get AI answers grounded in your own files.
Avoid GNO if your documents are primarily cloud-hosted, you don't need advanced search capabilities, or the initial indexing overhead isn't justified for infrequent queries.
Security analysis
SafeThe skill only describes usage of a local search tool (gno) using allowed Bash(gno:*) commands, which are restricted to gno-specific operations. There is no execution of arbitrary code, no data exfiltration, no destruction, and no safety bypasses. The tool operates locally and doesn't involve cloud services or external network calls.
No concerns found
Examples
Search my notes folder for documents about machine learning, using semantic search to find related concepts.Index the ~/docs directory with GNO, then ask it to summarize the key findings from the project reports and provide citations.Set up GNO to index all markdown files in my knowledge base, add relevant tags, and start the web UI so I can browse and search.name: gno description: Search local documents, files, notes, and knowledge bases. Index directories, search with BM25/vector/hybrid, get AI answers with citations. Use when user wants to search files, find documents, query notes, look up information in local folders, index a directory, set up document search, build a knowledge base, needs RAG/semantic search, or wants to start a local web UI for their docs. allowed-tools: Bash(gno:*) Read
GNO - Local Knowledge Engine
Fast local semantic search. Index once, search instantly. No cloud, no API keys.
When to Use This Skill
- User asks to search files, documents, or notes
- User wants to find information in local folders
- User needs to index a directory for searching
- User mentions PDFs, markdown, Word docs, code to search
- User asks about knowledge base or RAG setup
- User wants semantic/vector search over their files
- User needs to set up MCP for document access
- User wants a web UI to browse/search documents
- User asks to get AI answers from their documents
- User wants to tag, categorize, or filter documents
Quick Start
gno init # Initialize in current directory
gno collection add ~/docs --name docs # Add folder to index
gno index # Build index (ingest + embed)
gno search "your query" # BM25 keyword search
Command Overview
| Category | Commands | Description |
| ------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| Search | search, vsearch, query, ask | Find documents by keywords, meaning, or get AI answers |
| Retrieve | get, multi-get, ls | Fetch document content by URI or ID |
| Index | init, collection add/list/remove, index, update, embed | Set up and maintain document index |
| Tags | tags, tags add, tags rm | Organize and filter documents |
| Context | context add/list/rm/check | Add hints to improve search relevance |
| Models | models list/use/pull/clear/path | Manage local AI models |
| Serve | serve | Web UI for browsing and searching |
| MCP | mcp, mcp install/uninstall/status | AI assistant integration |
| Skill | skill install/uninstall/show/paths | Install skill for AI agents |
| Admin | status, doctor, cleanup, reset, completion | Maintenance and diagnostics |
Search Modes
| Command | Speed | Best For |
| ---------------------- | ------- | ---------------------------------- |
| gno search | instant | Exact keyword matching |
| gno vsearch | ~0.5s | Finding similar concepts |
| gno query --fast | ~0.7s | Quick lookups |
| gno query | ~2-3s | Balanced (default) |
| gno query --thorough | ~5-8s | Best recall, complex queries |
| gno ask --answer | ~3-5s | AI-generated answer with citations |
Retry strategy: Use default first. If no results: rephrase query, then try --thorough.
Common Flags
-n <num> Max results (default: 5)
-c, --collection Filter to collection
--tags-any <t1,t2> Has ANY of these tags
--tags-all <t1,t2> Has ALL of these tags
--json JSON output
--files URI list output
--line-numbers Include line numbers
Global Flags
--index <name> Alternate index (default: "default")
--config <path> Override config file
--verbose Verbose logging
--json JSON output
--yes Non-interactive mode
--offline Use cached models only
--no-color Disable colors
--no-pager Disable paging
Reference Documentation
| Topic | File | | ----------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------ | | Complete CLI reference (all commands, options, flags) | cli-reference.md | | MCP server setup and tools | mcp-reference.md | | Usage examples and patterns | examples.md |
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