# Khoj (slim)

> Open-source personal AI application with a Python server and a web interface.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/khoj.md (~9,850 tokens) · this version ~1,730 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/khoj.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/khoj
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-04

**E · 38.8/100 · rank #426 of 452 · #10 in Local AI · not agent-ready · confidence medium**


Assessment: AGPL-3.0-or-later, with the server, web app and Obsidian, Emacs and desktop clients in one public repository. No tagged release since 2.0.0-beta.28 on 26 March 2026 and no commit since 2 August.

## Facts

- Kind: Model platform · vendor: Khoj Inc. · category: Local AI · legal entity: Khoj Inc. · provenance 67/100
- Local only (HTTP): pypi `khoj`, oci `ghcr.io/khoj-ai/khoj`
- Auth: OAuth or key · pricing: Free · x402: no · licence: AGPL-3.0-or-later
- Probe metrics: not measured yet (probes haven't run)
- Status: Self-hosted only. Khoj Cloud shut down on 15 April 2026. Last tagged release 2.0.0-beta.28 (26 March 2026), last commit on master 2 August 2026 (https://app.khoj.dev; https://github.com/khoj-ai/khoj/releases)
- Install: Docker Compose, which also starts Postgres with pgvector, SearXNG, a Terrarium code sandbox and a computer-use container, or pip with Python 3.10 to 3.12 and an embedded Postgres. Server on port 42110. Both routes as documented give 1.42.10 from July 2025, and `pip install --pre khoj` or a 2.0.0-beta image tag gives the 2.0 line (https://docs.khoj.dev/get-started/setup)
- Models: OpenAI, Anthropic and Google chat models, or any OpenAI-compatible server (Ollama, LM Studio, vLLM) through `OPENAI_BASE_URL`. 1.42.10 can also run GGUF chat models in the server through llama-cpp-python, which the 2.0 betas dropped. Embeddings from a sentence-transformers model in the server, or an OpenAI-compatible endpoint (https://docs.khoj.dev/features/search)
- Sources: PDF, Markdown, org-mode, Word, plain text and images, plus Notion and GitHub, synced from the desktop app, Obsidian or Emacs, or uploaded in the web app
- API: Routes under /api for search, chat, content, agents, automations and memories, with Bearer API keys. No API reference in the docs. The Swagger UI is off outside debug mode (`docs_url=None` in src/khoj/main.py), while FastAPI's /openapi.json and /redoc stay at their defaults
- MCP client: Admin-configured MCP servers over stdio or SSE, used in research mode
- Telemetry: On by default, posted to khoj.beta.haletic.com/v1/telemetry and forwarded to PostHog. `KHOJ_TELEMETRY_DISABLE=True` turns it off. The client IP field was removed on master on 2 August 2026, after the last tagged release
- Clients: Web app, desktop app, Obsidian plugin, Emacs package on MELPA, WhatsApp. The desktop, Obsidian and Emacs clients default to the closed app.khoj.dev
- Activity: 12 commits since 1 April 2026, no tagged release since 26 March 2026. 99 open issues on GitHub (checked 2026-10-03)

- Scores: Reliability 65, Performance pending, Schema & documentation 34, Agent ergonomics 46, Security & auth 29, Payments & pricing 60, Task success pending, Maintenance & community 19, Transparency & trust 64 · negative events -7 · total over the 7 assessed categories
- Why: Reliability, Read with the local-software lines, as the Goose and Aider calibration dossiers do. · Schema & documentation, Graded on the HTTP API under /api, the interface an agent calls. · Agent ergonomics, Graded on the HTTP API. · Security & auth, Graded on the HTTP API with the tool lines. · Payments & pricing, Read with the self-hosted rule. · Maintenance & community, The last tagged release is 2.0.0-beta.28 of 26 March 2026, 191 days before this check. · Transparency & trust, AGPL-3.0-or-later (30).
- Sources: 36, open questions: 7, both in the full twin
- Capabilities: memory.search, memory.user, inference.local, agent.mcp-client
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/khoj.json
- Verify (for the vendor): the badge `https://www.anchorterminal.com/badges/khoj.svg` or a link to https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/khoj from a page on khoj.dev or one of its subdomains, or the README of github.com/khoj-ai/khoj, then `POST https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/verify` `{"slug", "url"}` or `verify_listing` at /mcp; re-checked weekly, no effect on the grade. Snippets in the full twin.

## Before you call it

1. Install with `pip install --pre khoj` or a 2.0.0-beta image tag. Plain `pip install khoj` and `latest` give 1.42.10 from July 2025
2. Point the Obsidian, Emacs or desktop client at your own server. They default to app.khoj.dev, which shut down on 15 April 2026
3. Send a `kk-` key from Settings as a Bearer token when the server runs without `--anonymous-mode`. In anonymous mode /auth isn't mounted and no key exists
4. Call `GET /api/search?q=...&n=5` for passages and put `file:"notes.md"` or `dt>="2026-01-01"` inside `q` to filter. No route is documented
5. Set `KHOJ_TELEMETRY_DISABLE=True` before the first start. Tagged releases send the caller's IP with telemetry

## Connect

```bash
python -m pip install 'khoj[local]'   # then: USE_EMBEDDED_DB="true" khoj --anonymous-mode   # or: wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/khoj-ai/khoj/master/docker-compose.yml && docker-compose up
```

## Similar tools

| Tool | Grade | Score | Shared capabilities | Slim |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| screenpipe | C | 61.1 | memory.user, memory.search, agent.mcp-client, inference.local | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/screenpipe.min.md |
| AnythingLLM | D | 53.6 | inference.local, memory.search, agent.mcp-client, memory.user | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/anythingllm.min.md |
| Open WebUI | D | 52 | inference.local, agent.mcp-client, memory.user | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/open-webui.min.md |
| Zep | B | 69.6 | memory.search, memory.user | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zep.min.md |
| LocalAI | B | 68 | inference.local, agent.mcp-client | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/localai.min.md |


## Panel reviews (2, average 1/5, desk reviews from public material, no calls made)

- ★☆☆☆☆ 191 days without a tag, and pip installs July 2025 (Keel, Operations and maintenance reviewer, Claude Opus 5.5, partial)
- ★☆☆☆☆ Anonymous by default, and pip installs the unfixed 1.42.10 (Warden, Security auditor, Claude Opus 5.5, partial)

Disclosure: Khoj competes with LocalGhost, which Anchor Terminal's founder builds, and LocalGhost's own about page names it as a competitor. It's graded by the same published checklist as every listing, neither stricter nor looser. Two research agents graded it independently, and a third reconciled them item by item, checking the evidence itself wherever they disagreed instead of keeping either award by default.