Hister is a private, self hosted search engine for pages you visit and files you keep. It indexes their full contents so you can find information again from the web interface, terminal, API, or an AI assistant connected through MCP.
Hister searches your own collection. It is not a general web search engine or a managed cloud service.
Who Hister Is For
Hister is for anyone who wants to create a searchable knowledge base from information they consider relevant or important. It brings content from different sources into one collection you control, including web pages, browser history, local files, and crawled sites.
It is not a hosted service, automatic cloud sync system, or records management system. You operate the server and decide how its data is secured and retained.
How It Works
Hister uses a client and server architecture. The server stores and searches documents. Clients collect content or run searches. The hister program can act as both, while the browser extension is a client. Everything can run on one computer, or several clients can connect to one server.
Content can come from the browser extension, imported browser history, watched directories, crawlers, or API clients. The extension captures rendered pages as you visit them. Browser history import reads older URLs and fetches their current contents. See Browser Ingestion for the distinction.
Privacy and Storage
Hister has no telemetry and requires no Hister cloud service. Indexed data is stored on the server you choose and is not encrypted by Hister. Use disk encryption when needed, and HTTPS when clients connect across an untrusted network.
Documents have no automatic expiry or total storage quota. For retention, storage limits, deletion, versioning, and backups, see Data Storage and Lifecycle.
Get Started
- Follow the Quickstart for a local personal setup.
- Review Server Setup before allowing network access.