SWX AI Assistant – your documents, your AI, your computer
A free Windows program that searches your own documents and answers questions about them – fully local on your computer, no cloud and no data leaving the building.
What is it for?
Many public authorities, companies and teams hold large, grown knowledge in documents: tickets, manuals, instructions, minutes, spreadsheets. Searching them is tedious, and the right answer is often known only by an experienced colleague.
Cloud AI like ChatGPT & Co. would be helpful, but for sensitive or personal data it is off-limits – it would be transmitted to external servers. This is exactly where the SWX AI Assistant comes in: it brings convenient AI search and answers to your own documents without a single byte leaving your computer. Think of it as “a ChatGPT for your internal documents, but everything stays on your own machine”.
What the tool can do
Convenient search and answers on your own documents – completely offline.
Read in your own documents
PDF, Word (.docx), Excel (.xlsx), text/CSV/Markdown and OTRS ticket exports (JSON) are processed locally and made searchable.
Intelligent search
Finds content by meaning, not just by keyword – complemented by a classic keyword search for technical terms, proper names and error codes.
AI answers with sources
A local language model writes a concise answer exclusively from the documents found and cites the source. If nothing fits, it says so honestly.
Freely selectable language model
Uses virtually any local language model – from small and fast to large and especially accurate. Download at the touch of a button and switch any time.
Every hit is backed up
The original passages found are shown as well – you can always see what the answer is based on.
Setup wizard
A Windows program with a wizard that guides you step by step through the initial setup.
Shareable in a team
As a single workstation, as a small server for several workstations, or as a pure search client against that server.
Adaptable to the purpose
Profiles for “IT tickets”, “documents & manuals” or “mixed” set the appropriate wording of the answers.
Bilingual: German & English
The entire interface and help can be switched between German and English at a click (top right) – your choice is remembered.
Topics kept cleanly separate
Different collections can be managed in separate “knowledge spaces” (e.g. “IT tickets” and “manuals”) and switched as needed – so topics don't get mixed up during search.
As a Windows service
The services can run as a real Windows service: automatic start at boot (even before login) and restart after a crash – ideal for a server that should always be available. Alternatively, a simple autostart at login.
Integration with other programs
Via a built-in HTTP API, other applications can ask questions and get answers back – the interface can be secured with a key if needed.
Who and what for
Wherever knowledge sits in documents and data must not leave the computer.
“Have we had this before?”
Search past tickets and get solution suggestions instead of reinventing the wheel.
Query manuals
Query policies, instructions and manuals directly instead of leafing through page after page.
New employees
Find answers independently in the internal knowledge – without having to keep asking.
Document research
Search PDFs and reports specifically by content – by meaning, not just by keyword.
Particularly suited to public authorities and administration, companies with sensitive data, IT departments and small teams without their own AI infrastructure.
How it works – in 3 steps
All steps run on your own computer. No internet required (except once to download a language model).
1 · Read in documents
The tool breaks each file into meaningful sections and stores them locally in a searchable form – a kind of “meaning map”.
2 · Ask a question
For a question, the tool finds the most fitting sections – by meaning and keywords – and ranks them by relevance.
3 · Get an answer
A local AI language model summarises the answer from exactly those sections and cites the source.
OTRS integration (optional)
If you use an OTRS ticketing system, you get a handy direct link: when the search finds a matching ticket, a double-click on the result is enough – and the complete original ticket opens directly in OTRS in the browser. So you jump in seconds from the AI search result to the full case with all details and history.
The address of your own OTRS server is stored once in the program (the “Connection” tab). The function is optional and only relevant for OTRS users – all other content (PDF, Word, Excel, text …) works independently of it.
Privacy & security
The most important promise: your data stays with you.
No cloud, no telemetry
Search and AI answers run completely locally – no external servers, no transmission in the background.
Data doesn't leave the computer
Ideal for personal or confidential content and for environments with no internet access at all.
Full control
Documents, search index and language model reside exclusively with the user – nothing is outsourced.
Made for public authorities
Developed with strict requirements for data minimisation and data sovereignty in mind.
Technical requirements
- Operating system: Windows 10/11 or Windows Server
- Hardware: a normal PC/server, recommended approx. 8 CPU cores and 16 GB RAM. Runs purely on the CPU – an expensive graphics-card server is not necessary.
- Optionally faster: with an NVIDIA graphics card (CUDA) or AMD/Intel GPU (Vulkan); the matching accelerator package can be loaded at the touch of a button.
- Internet: only needed once to download a language model – then fully operable offline.
Licence & costs
- Free for private individuals and small businesses – under the PolyForm Small Business License 1.0.0: free use, copying and distribution for private individuals, associations, educational institutions and organisations with fewer than 100 people and under USD 1 million in annual revenue.
- Licensable only above this size: larger companies need a paid licence for business use (enquiries via kreutzweb.de). The full licence text is included as LICENSE.txt.
- Built on established open-source software (incl. llama.cpp, ChromaDB, sentence-transformers, FastAPI) – each under free licences (MIT/Apache/BSD).
- Models not included: the AI language model is conveniently downloaded via the program (on a PC with internet).
Setup in brief
- Download the package and unzip it into a folder.
- Start the program – a setup wizard guides you through all steps: base installation, operating mode, application profile, language model, start.
- Read in your own documents – done, ask questions.
No deep installation into the system, no administrator rights strictly required for operation – everything sits in one folder.
Frequently asked questions
Does my data leave the computer?
No. Search and AI answers run completely locally. There is no cloud connection and no telemetry.
Do I need internet?
Only once, to download a language model. After that everything runs offline.
Do I need an expensive graphics card?
No. The tool runs on a normal CPU. A GPU only accelerates optionally.
Which file formats can I import?
PDF, Word (.docx), Excel (.xlsx), text/CSV/Markdown and OTRS ticket exports (JSON).
Can I freely choose the language model?
Yes. You can integrate virtually any local language model and switch at any time. Larger models give better answers but need more power – you decide what fits your hardware.
Which languages is the program available in?
The interface can be switched between German and English (top right in the Search tab); the choice is remembered.
Can I keep different topics separate?
Yes. Using knowledge spaces you can create several separate collections and switch between them – so, e.g., IT tickets and manuals don't get mixed up.
What does it cost?
For private individuals and small businesses, nothing: it is provided under the PolyForm Small Business License – free for fewer than 100 people and under USD 1 million in annual revenue. Larger companies need a paid licence for business use (enquiries via kreutzweb.de).
Can I use it in a team?
Yes. It can run as a small server on the network, and several workstations then access it.
Does the AI make up answers?
It is instructed to answer only from the documents found and to cite the source. If nothing fits, it says so honestly.
Honest limitations
- It is not a cloud service and not an all-knowing chatbot: it answers only from your own, imported documents, not from general knowledge.
- The answer quality depends on the chosen language model and on the quality of the documents. Larger models answer better but need more power.
- On a pure CPU, answers are not real-time but take a few seconds depending on the model.
- Provided “as is”, without warranty and without guaranteed support – it is a free tool.
Download
Most of the size is due to the AI models required for offline search. The program itself is small. Free for private individuals and small businesses (PolyForm Small Business License), provided “as is” without warranty.
Installation: download the ZIP, unzip it into any folder and run KI-Assistent.exe – done. No deep installation into the system needed.
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