File Palaces Documentation
File Palaces is a local-first AI document intelligence desktop app. You add folders ("Wings"), the app mines them into a local ChromaDB vector store, and you can then chat with your documents via a streaming LLM. Your data never leaves your machine.
Where to start
System requirements, installing the Python sidecar, and running the Tauri app.
Add your first Wing, watch it mine, and ask your first question.
Understand Wings, Rooms, and Drawers — the spatial metaphor behind the index.
Full HTTP API table for the Python FastAPI sidecar.
Architecture in brief
File Palaces is a Tauri v2 desktop app with a React/TypeScript frontend. All AI and file-processing work runs in a separate Python FastAPI sidecar that Tauri spawns as a child process. The two halves communicate over HTTP on localhost only.
The sidecar uses MemPalace to manage a local ChromaDB vector store and routes LLM calls through LiteLLM, which abstracts Ollama, OpenAI, Anthropic, and any OpenAI-compatible endpoint.