Gno

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

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 |

| 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

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

| Topic | File |

| ----------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------ |

| Complete CLI reference (all commands, options, flags) | [cli-reference.md](cli-reference.md) |

| MCP server setup and tools | [mcp-reference.md](mcp-reference.md) |

| Usage examples and patterns | [examples.md](examples.md) |