# Hister: build your own private search engine

> A free tool that indexes your web pages and files locally so you can search your own content without relying on big tech.
- Title: Hister: build your own private search engine · GitHub
- Summary: A free tool that indexes your web pages and files locally so you can search your own content without relying on big tech. Hister lets you create a personal…
- Keywords: hister, search engine, privacy, local indexing, open source, browser extension, full text search, self-hosted, personal knowledge management, firefox, chrome, agplv3
- Source: GitHub — https://github.com/asciimoo/hister
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: hister, search engine, privacy, local indexing, open source, browser extension, full text search, self-hosted, personal knowledge management, firefox, chrome, agplv3
## Search your own content privately
Hister indexes web pages you visit and files you keep, letting you search their full contents from a web interface, terminal, or AI assistant. Everything stays on your server with zero telemetry.

> Your content stays on your Hister server, making it useful for finding information you've already encountered without relying on a third-party search provider.
## Install and start indexing in minutes
Download the binary for your platform, run the server command, install the browser extension for Firefox or Chrome, then visit web pages to index them automatically.
## Import your existing data
Bring in browser history, bookmarks, local directories, or individual files. You can also crawl websites to index them automatically.
## Powerful search with optional AI
Use field filters, phrases, wildcards, and negation to find what you need. Add semantic search by connecting your own embeddings endpoint to find documents by meaning.
## Search from web, terminal, or AI
Access your index through the web interface, command line, or connect it to an AI assistant using MCP. Multi-user support keeps each person's documents separate.
## Open source and fully yours
Hister is licensed under AGPLv3, runs on your infrastructure with no cloud sync, and has no mandatory telemetry. Install via Homebrew, Docker, or Nix.
## Key takeaway

Hister lets you create a personal search engine that runs on your own computer or server, keeping all your data private and searchable.