AI AGENT WITH LOCAL DATA
An AI agent that works with your local data
An AI agent with local data reads and searches files on your own computer instead of a copy you uploaded somewhere. C5 by Growther.si keeps your attachments, notes and agent output encrypted on your disk and indexes it for keyword and semantic search on the same machine. Any agent can find what was written weeks ago, and with a local model your files never have to leave the computer.
- Keyword + semantic search, local
- 3 search models, 2.26 GB, once
- 2D/3D vector database viewer
What the agent can read
Your files do not have to be uploaded anywhere to be useful to an agent. Everything C5 works with sits in your data folder, on your disk, and agents can draw on all of it without you pointing at a file.
- Files you attach — documents, spreadsheets, PDFs, images, code and plain text, dropped into a chat or a task.
- Folders you choose — under Settings › Locations, tell C5 which folders to bring documents in from and where finished work should land.
- Everything agents write — deliverables, documents, notes and raw output, kept in the Library and indexed for search.
- Your earlier AI sessions — the Claude, ChatGPT Codex and Google Antigravity sessions already on your machine can join the same searchable memory, so what you worked out in another tool is findable here. See importing Claude, Codex and Antigravity sessions.
How local search works
Finding a note that contains an exact phrase and finding a note you only half remember are different jobs. Memory search does both, and both run on your machine:
- Keyword search finds documents containing the words you typed. It works the moment C5 starts.
- Semantic search finds documents that mean the same thing in different words — asking about “customer churn” can surface a note titled “why people cancel”.
Semantic search needs three small models: one to build the index, one to put the most relevant results first, and one to expand a question into several searches. C5 downloads them once, about 2.26 GB in total, from Hugging Face, pinned to a fixed version and checked by size and sha256 before use. Nothing about that download goes to Growther.si, and an offline machine can have them placed by hand — the details are in the memory search docs.
See your data
Search results are only half the picture. C5's 2D/3D vector database viewer lets you visualize the data from your tasks and imported context. The Ops film above shows it, alongside budgets and audit logs.
For finished work, the Library keeps Projects, Deliverables, Documents, Notes, Attachments and Output in one place, with search, date and tag filters. Its search looks inside your files, not only at their names; Attachments searches names, descriptions and C5's analysis of each file.
Keeping your data local
| With a local model | With a cloud model | |
|---|---|---|
| Files, notes and attachments | Your disk, encrypted | Your disk, encrypted |
| Search index and search models | Your computer | Your computer |
| Passages an agent sends to the model | Stay on your computer | Reach the provider you chose, for that task |
Indexing and search never leave the machine. A cloud model sees only the passages a task sends it — nothing more, but nothing less — so for sensitive material, use a local model. The private AI agent page sets out the whole boundary, and C5 as a local AI agent explains which layers are always local.
If you want your documents searchable from a hosted service with no computer of your own running, C5 is the wrong fit: it works on the files on this machine.
Export it, or delete it
- Download anything — an attachment from its preview, several at once, or a whole project as a zip.
- Export everything — decrypt and export your data at any time from Settings.
- Delete what you do not need — deleting from the Library cannot be undone, and destroying the device key makes any surviving copy of the databases unreadable.
Researchers who live in their reading notes may want the AI agent for researchers page next.
Frequently asked questions
Does C5 upload my files?
No. Your files and notes stay on your computer, encrypted at rest, and the search index is built and searched on your machine. If a task uses a cloud model, the passages that task sends reach that provider; with a local model, nothing has to leave the machine.
What file types can the agent read?
Most common types: documents, spreadsheets, PDFs, images, code and plain text. Attach them to a chat or task, or point C5 at the folders you work in under Settings › Locations.
Does local semantic search need the internet?
Only once, to download its three search models (about 2.26 GB) from Hugging Face. Keyword search works without them. On a machine with no internet, the models can be copied over and placed by hand.
Can it search my old Claude and Codex sessions?
Yes. C5 reads the Claude, ChatGPT Codex and Google Antigravity sessions already on your machine and brings them into its local, searchable memory, one tool at a time, with nothing uploaded to do it. For Claude, the Claude app needs to be installed on the same computer; chats on chatgpt.com are not read.
Can I delete what the agent remembers?
Yes. Delete items from the Library — this cannot be undone — or export and delete your data from Settings. Destroying the device key makes any remaining copy of the encrypted databases unreadable.
In the docs
Search your own files on your own disk
Attachments, notes and agent output stay encrypted on your computer and searchable by meaning. Download C5 and point it at the folders you already work in.