Hister is a free and open-source personal search engine that indexes the contents of web pages and local files so they can be searched later. It runs on infrastructure you control, provides a web interface and terminal search, and can also connect to AI assistants through MCP.
Features
Hister performs full-text indexing rather than searching only page titles and URLs. It can index pages visited through its Firefox and Chrome browser extensions and can also index local directories and imported browser history.
Its search system supports phrases, wildcards, field filters, negation, aliases, and result priorities. This provides more control than a basic keyword search when working with a large personal archive.
Hister also supports optional semantic search through a configurable embeddings endpoint. This allows searches based on meaning rather than exact words, although using a remote embeddings service means document text may be sent to that service.
The software can crawl websites recursively and import existing content. Recent releases have also added unified imports for browser history, local files, bookmarks, and archived content from services such as Linkwarden, Karakeep, and Shaarli.
Hister can be accessed through its web interface, terminal interface, TUI, command line, or an AI assistant using MCP. Multi-user support allows separate documents and search results to be maintained on a shared server.
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Hister v0.19.0 Source Code |
Hister v0.19.0 Release Notes:New FeaturesChatGPT and Hacker News ExtractorsNew ChatGPT and Hacker News extractors preserve complete conversations and discussion threads. ChatGPT extraction keeps visible user and assistant turns, including headings, lists, tables, code blocks, and safe links. It supports authenticated conversations, public shares, and custom GPT conversation URLs. Hacker News extraction records submission metadata, optional post text, and the complete nested comment tree. Shared discussion utilities also improve how Reddit and Discourse comments are represented. URL Regular Expression Search and Cleanup Queries can now use Safari History Imports
Terminal Focus and Native Appearance The terminal interface now separates search input from result navigation. Keyboard, pointer, and scroll actions move focus predictably, while contextual shortcuts and feedback reflect the active area. Dialogs, tabs, rules, previews, and narrow layouts have more consistent navigation and pointer behavior. The new default Richer Suggestions and PreviewsOpenSearch suggestions now include pinned and history results before index matches, together with descriptions and direct target URLs. Local and remote file suggestions open the appropriate file or readable preview. Readable previews display document type, language, label, visit count, ownership, and extractor metadata. They also provide links to the source and a standalone preview. Exact document identifiers keep previews and version history on the correct document when users index the same URL separately. Enhancements
statistics, including a direct file search.
menu provides automatic, light, and dark appearance choices.
a password, including for an account originally created through OAuth. Token regeneration now requires confirmation in the profile interface.
warns when stored vectors need reindexing. PostgreSQL configurations are validated against the 2000 dimension limit of its HNSW vector index.
background batches, so older indexes no longer delay server startup.
Generated pages avoid stale caching while immutable assets use long lived cache headers.
bounded request timeouts.
for additional supported sites. Archive.org pages no longer invoke it by default.
environment overrides appear earlier, and config path precedence is clearer. 10. Nix: the flake uses the upstream NixOS Hister module, and dependency -- hashes are maintained through Bug Fixes
Markdown snapshots remain classified as local files.
instead of selecting another user's copy of the same URL.
completes.
attempting to create the vector store.
10. The container health check works when Hister uses a nonroot base URL. 11. Safari browser extension origins are accepted by CSRF validation. 12. Unrelated files whose names resemble language indexes are ignored. 13. Bleve keeps its established open file allowance, avoiding index failures -- without reducing performance. Backward Compatibility NotesThe following changes require attention when upgrading from v0.18.0:
not support it. The Hister flake module now relies on the upstream |
Performance and Compatibility
Hister is written in Go and can run locally or on infrastructure controlled by the user. It supports SQLite and PostgreSQL as database backends, with PostgreSQL support added in version 0.12.0.
The application is designed for continuous personal indexing. Once the server is running, the browser extension can automatically send visited page content to the configured Hister server for indexing.
Hister does not require a cloud service or account for a local personal setup. The project states that it has no telemetry or mandatory cloud synchronization. Indexed documents and search indexes remain on the Hister server.
The current release series also includes features for public search deployments, documentation datasets, and additional import sources. Version 0.17.0 introduced a unified import interface and support for importing content from Linkwarden, Karakeep, and Shaarli.
System Requirements
Hister provides prebuilt binaries for supported platforms, including Windows, Linux, and macOS. The Windows version can be started directly from PowerShell using the hister.exe binary.
For normal use:
Windows, Linux, or macOS
Firefox or Chrome if browser history indexing is required
Storage for indexed documents and search indexes
A local or server environment where Hister can remain running
For building from source:
Go 1.26
npm
C compiler for CGO dependencies
Hardware requirements are not specified as a fixed minimum because resource usage depends on the amount of content being indexed and the selected database and search configuration.
Pros and Cons
Pros
Free and open source
Full-text personal search
Indexes web pages and local files
Firefox and Chrome integration
Browser history import
Website crawler
Powerful search operators
Optional semantic search
Web interface
Terminal and TUI access
MCP support for AI assistants
Multi-user support
No telemetry by default
No mandatory cloud service
Supports SQLite and PostgreSQL
Docker and Nix installation options
AGPLv3 licensed
Cons
Requires running and maintaining your own server
Initial indexing can consume significant storage and processing resources
Semantic search requires an embeddings endpoint
Browser integration requires an extension
More complex to configure than conventional desktop search tools
The AGPLv3 license may require consideration for organizations modifying and redistributing the software
How to Install
Download the Hister binary for your operating system from the project's releases. On Windows, rename the executable to hister.exe if necessary and start it from PowerShell with:
.\hister.exe listenOn Linux or macOS, make the binary executable and start it with:
chmod +x hister
./hister listenThen open the local Hister web interface at http://127.0.0.1:4433 and install the Firefox or Chrome browser extension. After visiting pages with the extension enabled, their content can be indexed and searched through Hister.
Hister can also be installed using Homebrew, Docker, or Nix. Existing browser history, local directories, and files can be imported after installation.
Final Verdict
Hister is a useful personal search engine for users who want to build their own searchable archive of web pages and files. Its full-text indexing, browser integration, local deployment, advanced queries, semantic search option, and MCP support make it more than a simple browser history search tool.
The main tradeoff is that Hister is self-hosted software. Users need to keep the server running and manage the storage and indexing environment themselves. For users who want a private search index under their own control, that approach provides considerably more control over their data.

