A local-first tool for readers, writers, and researchers
For people who remember the point, not the filename.
Chauncy is a local-first tool for the writing, research, and reading you want to keep working with. Bring in the documents you already have, add new material as you find it, and search by meaning across all of it.
Ask in plain English. Inspect the source. Follow the connections.
Search input
The high-contrast pattern disrupts motion detection in biting flies and disorients group predators when zebras gather in herds.
The word "camouflage" does not appear in this article.
Search input
...the trick isn't winning the argument. It's making sure they walk out still wanting to talk to you next month...
No words in common with the query. Chauncy matched the topic.
Connected material
Chauncy surfaces evidence. You do the thinking.
Open a source, compare related material, add your interpretation, and keep the trail attached to the documents.
Private and safe by architecture.
Chauncy is not a runaway agent.
It does not browse the web for you, operate accounts, send email, buy things, delete files, or chain together background actions. Chauncy is a tool for working with material you've chosen to keep.
Local first
Your documents, search index, embeddings, and annotations live on your machine.
Optional AI
AI synthesis is optional. You choose whether to use it, which provider, and when excerpts leave your machine.
Human judgment
Chauncy can surface connections. It does not decide what is true, important, or ready to publish.
No system to maintain
The structure is in the meaning. You don't build it.
Other tools require you to do the organizing yourself — tagging, backlinking, sticking to naming conventions, keeping the system tidy for years before the connections become useful. Chauncy reads what you've already written and infers the structure itself. The work you put in is the reading and the writing. The connections follow.
Workflow
A practice that compounds.
Start with what you have. Add what you read. Chauncy becomes more useful as your collection grows.
Curate
Decide what's worth keeping. Add PDFs, email, Markdown, Word, PowerPoint, HTML, web URLs, and notes — files already on your machine, or new material as you encounter it.
Ask
Use plain English to search by meaning, not just filename, folder, or exact keyword.
Inspect
Open the source, check the surrounding context, and see related material beside it.
Interpret
Add your annotations, draw your conclusions, and keep the reasoning trail attached to the sources.
What you can bring in
Multiple paths in. One library out.
Files and folders
Point Chauncy at individual files or whole folder trees. PDFs, Word, PowerPoint, Markdown, HTML, and plain text — recursively, if you want.
Forward selected messages to a dedicated folder, drop saved emails into a watch folder, or ingest directly from an IMAP mailbox you configure.
Web pages
Paste a URL and Chauncy fetches and indexes the page. A browser extension for one-click capture is in development.
Voice input
Dictate search queries and notes directly into Chauncy using your machine's voice recognition.
Ingestion is always your choice. Chauncy doesn't scan your drive or pull from the cloud without you asking it to.
AI on your terms
Search works without AI. Add AI when you want it.
Chauncy's semantic search runs locally — no AI provider needed, nothing leaving your machine. When you want AI to summarize, draft, or answer questions across your sources, turn synthesis on and connect a provider.
Switch providers any time. Your files stay on your machine — only the excerpt you ask about leaves, and only when you initiate the request.
Capabilities
What Chauncy does.
Semantic retrieval
Find the memo, quote, email, or note even when you can't remember the exact words.
Automatic connections
See related material across formats and projects — no tagging, backlinking, or organizing required.
Your interpretation, kept with the source
Attach your reactions to source material — questions, connections, confirmations, conclusions. Annotations become part of the searchable collection and travel with the documents they describe.
Windows installer is ready
Windows launch pricing.
One-time purchase: $99. Buy through Stripe, download the installer immediately, license tied to your email.
Buy Chauncy for Windows - $99