Quickstart

Install

pip install -e '.[all]'          # core + UI (Streamlit) + MCP server

The [all] extra pulls in the Streamlit explorer and the MCP server. For a narrower install, pick the extras you need — [ui], [mcp], [serve], [semantic], [opensearch].

Try the bundled example

The repo ships a support brain (products, issues, segments, comments) you can run immediately.

open-index index --brain examples/support-brain
open-index ui    --brain examples/support-brain      # open the Map tab, pick an anchor

Three runnable examples ship in examples/: support-brain, infra-brain, and personal-brain. Each is a complete brain you can index, search, and explore.

Start your own brain

Scaffold a brain

open-index init my-brain

This writes brain.yaml, a doc_types/ folder, an entities/ folder, and optional Claude Code conveniences (.mcp.json, CLAUDE.md, an editing skill).

Define a concept

open-index add-doc-type customer --brain my-brain

Edit the generated doc_types/customer.yaml to declare the fields you want to store.

Add entities

Author one JSON per entity under my-brain/entities/**/*.json, or import in bulk:

open-index import customers.csv --doc-type customer --brain my-brain

Index and explore

open-index index --brain my-brain
open-index ui    --brain my-brain

A brain on disk

my-brain/
  brain.yaml            # name + storage/search backend
  doc_types/*.yaml      # one schema per doc_type (fields, boosts, display color)
  entities/**/*.json    # entities, with related_to edges
  connectors/*.py       # optional ingestion scripts (MCP → entities)

Storage defaults to SQLite + FTS5 (zero external services). The backend sits behind a pluggable interface with two implementations: SQLite (default, local/dev) and OpenSearch (select with search.backend: opensearch).

Next steps

Core concepts

Understand doc_types, entities, and the relationship graph.

Creating a brain

Define schemas and author entities step by step.

Connect an agent

Wire the brain into Claude Code, Claude Desktop, or Cursor over MCP.

Deploy a shared brain

Run the brain remotely for a team, cloud agents, or CI.

Get Started

Build a Brain

Agents & Connectors

Deploy

Reference

Install

Try the bundled example

Start your own brain

A brain on disk

Next steps

Core concepts

Creating a brain

Connect an agent

Deploy a shared brain

​Install

​Try the bundled example

​Start your own brain

​A brain on disk

​Next steps

Core concepts

Creating a brain

Connect an agent

Deploy a shared brain

Install

Try the bundled example

Start your own brain

A brain on disk

Next steps