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
- User asks about backlinks, wiki links, or related notes
- User wants to visualize document connections or see a knowledge graph
- User wants to export a note or collection for gno.sh publishing
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 |
| Links | links, backlinks, similar, graph | Navigate document relationships and visualize connections |
| 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 |
| Publish | publish export | Export gno.sh publish artifacts |
| 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, vec, 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
Index names follow the CLI filesystem-identity contract: 1–64 UTF-16 code
units, letter/number first, no trailing space or ., no .., separators, or
platform-invalid punctuation. NFC/case-equivalent names share one identity.
See docs/CLI.md under Global Options for the complete byte limits.
Non-default index search results may include ?index=<name> on gno:// URIs.
Keep that query string when passing the URI to gno get.
Important: Embedding After Changes
If you edit/create files that should be searchable via vector search:
gno index # Full re-index (sync + embed)
# or
gno embed # Embed only (if already synced)
MCP gno.sync and gno.capture do NOT auto-embed. Use CLI for embedding.
Reference Documentation