RootMind

RootMind

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Install · Connect MCP clients · How it works · Why a tool loop · Security · Limitations

Ask your documents a question. Get the answer with the page it came from.

RootMind indexes the folders you choose on your own computer (PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, CSV, Markdown and text files). When you ask a question, a language model searches that index and reads the passages it asks for, then answers with sources down to the page, slide or sheet. There is no embedding model and no vector database: indexing is plain full-text search in SQLite, and the model drives the retrieval.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/d3cc0249-a550-4de5-ae6b-55c1291a282f

• Cited answers. Every answer names its files and, where it can be resolved, the page, slide or sheet.
• Your files stay on your computer. Indexing and search are local and need no LLM and no API key. Answering a question sends the question and the excerpts the model reads to the provider you configure (Anthropic, OpenAI or xAI). With a local Ollama server as the provider, nothing leaves your computer (see Local models with Ollama).
• It reads, it does not stuff. Instead of pasting whole documents into a chat, the model searches and reads targeted windows, and every step is a visible tool call. The cost is more model round trips than classic RAG; see Why a tool loop instead of embedding RAG.
• Usable from your other tools. The same read-only tools are served over MCP, for Claude Desktop, Claude Code, n8n and other agents.
• Windows and Linux. The desktop app is in English and German; the license is MIT.

Try it in a few minutes

1. Download [RootMind-Setup-x64.exe](https://github.com/cgaeking/rootmind/releases/latest/download/RootMind-Setup-x64.exe) (Windows 10 or 11) or the .deb, .rpm or AppImage (Linux).
2. Start RootMind and add a folder with your documents under Folders.
3. Open Chat, tick Search only and search. This needs no API key. For answers, add a key under Settings and untick Search only.

The Quickstart has the details.

What it is

The repository has two parts:

• Backend (Python, FastAPI): indexer, full-text search, the agent loop, a localhost REST API, and MCP servers over stdio and HTTP.
• Desktop app (Tauri 2 with React and TypeScript, plus a Rust shell): a chat and search UI for Windows and Linux, in English and German. On Windows its installer sets up the backend as a Windows service; on Linux the app sets it up as systemd user services of your account. The app talks to that service.

Status: this is a personal project. It is not commercially maintained and

comes with no support commitment. Issues and pull requests are welcome and

get a best-effort response.

Install

Each release has these downloads for Windows (x64); the Linux packages are described in Install on Linux:

• [RootMind-Setup-x64.exe](https://github.com/cgaeking/rootmind/releases/latest/download/RootMind-Setup-x64.exe), for most users, on Windows 10 or 11: the desktop app and its Windows service. Run it and approve the administrator prompt once; no Python is needed. It installs the app to %ProgramFiles%\RootMind and sets up the RootMind service for the account that is signed in to Windows.
• [rootmind-backend-windows-x64.zip](https://github.com/cgaeking/rootmind/releases/latest/download/rootmind-backend-windows-x64.zip), for the command line and servers: the backend alone, without the app (see Install for developers and servers).
• [rootmind.mcpb](https://github.com/cgaeking/rootmind/releases/latest/download/rootmind.mcpb), RootMind for Claude Desktop, to install after the app (see Use RootMind in Claude Desktop).

Installing needs an administrator account. The service belongs to the account that uses RootMind, so the installer sets it up only when it runs as the account signed in to Windows. The install folder is always %ProgramFiles%\RootMind, a folder that only administrators can change; the installer refuses another one (for example with /D=, exit code 10).

Silent and managed installs. winget, Intune, Configuration Manager and similar tools often run the installer silently (/S) as SYSTEM. Then, and when an administrator approves the prompt while another account is signed in, the installer installs the app but not the service, and exits with 0. The service is set up when the account that uses RootMind first opens it: RootMind says "The RootMind service is not set up yet", and Set up sets it up for that account with one administrator approval. A standard account cannot set it up; it needs an administrator account that uses RootMind itself. If the installer could not set the service up for another reason, it also exits with 0 and RootMind shows the problem and Repair. The outcome is recorded in the uninstall entry HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\RootMind (RootMindServiceSetup: installed, skipped or failed, with RootMindServiceSetupReason and, for a failure, RootMindServiceSetupCode). Updates run as SYSTEM update an existing service in place.

The installer is not code-signed yet. Windows SmartScreen may show "Windows protected your PC": choose More info, then Run anyway. If Smart App Control is on, it may block the installer or RootMind's service program without that choice. Smart App Control has no exception for a single app; signed releases, which are planned, will avoid this (see the code signing policy).

Then start RootMind and add a folder under Folders. Indexing starts within about a minute, and search works without an API key once the folder is indexed. To ask questions, add an API key for Anthropic, OpenAI or xAI under Settings and save it, or choose Ollama to use a local model. The service keeps the index up to date while the app is closed.

The app follows the Windows display language (English or German); Settings → Appearance → Language changes it. Settings → About shows the app and backend versions and links to releases and issues.

Install on Linux

Each release also has the app for Linux on x86-64 with glibc 2.35 or later (Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12, Fedora 38, openSUSE Tumbleweed and newer). Pick the package for your distribution:

The packages install the app and its backend to /usr/lib/RootMind and pull in WebKitGTK 4.1; only that step needs root. The AppImage needs no installation; it needs FUSE 2 (the package libfuse2, on Ubuntu 24.04 libfuse2t64). Text recognition (OCR, per folder) uses the distribution's Tesseract: the packages recommend it, so apt installs it along; with the AppImage, install tesseract-ocr and tesseract-ocr-deu (Fedora: tesseract, tesseract-langpack-deu) yourself. The Windows installer brings its own. Check the download with sha256sum --check --ignore-missing SHA256SUMS.txt (see Verify downloads).

Start RootMind from your app menu, or in a terminal with:

rootmind-desktop

The .deb and .rpm print this command when they are installed. The AppImage starts when you run the file.

Windows Subsystem for Linux. On Windows 11, RootMind runs in WSL too, and its window opens on the Windows desktop (WSLg). WSL needs systemd for the service: add the following to /etc/wsl.conf, then run wsl --shutdown in Windows and open the distribution again. Without systemd, RootMind says that it cannot set up its service.

[boot]

systemd=true

What happens on the first start. RootMind sets up its background service for your account, without a question and without root: two systemd user services, rootmind-backend.service (REST API and indexing) and rootmind-mcp-http.service (MCP over HTTP), in ~/.config/systemd/user/. They run a copy of the backend in ~/.local/share/rootmind/runtime/, so the service keeps working when the AppImage is closed or moved, and keep their data in ~/.local/share/rootmind. When a newer version of the app starts, it updates the service to its own version. If setting it up fails, RootMind says why, and Set up (or Repair) tries again; Settings → RootMind service → Details shows the service's state and the end of its logs/install.log. Then add a folder under Folders, as on Windows.

The services start when you log in and stop when your last session ends. To keep them running while nobody is logged in, for example for n8n on the same computer, turn on lingering for your account once:

loginctl enable-linger "$USER"

Update by installing the package of the new version (as above, or sudo dnf upgrade ./RootMind-x86_64.rpm) or by replacing the AppImage; RootMind updates its service when it starts.

Uninstall the service first, then the app:

# the .deb and .rpm (from the AppImage: ~/.local/share/rootmind/runtime/*/rootmind-backend)

/usr/lib/RootMind/backend/rootmind-backend service uninstall sudo apt remove root-mind # or: sudo dnf remove root-mind

service uninstall stops and removes the two user services and the program copy, and keeps your settings, API keys, index and MCP token in ~/.local/share/rootmind; service uninstall --purge deletes them as well. Chats are in ~/.local/share/io.github.cgaeking.rootmind.

Upgrade from 1.x

RootMind 1.x was installed per account and, unless the background service was turned on, ran its backend inside the app. The 2.0 installer removes a 1.x ins