Best for
- Individuals or teams who want control over their data and need a self-hosted AI chat workspace
- Developers familiar with Next.js, React, and TypeScript
- Users needing multi-provider integration and plugin extensibility
N
Neo Chat
Community
A local-first AI chat workspace for models, agents, skills, plugins, search, RAG, voice, memory, and artifacts.
GitHub source repository ↗
58FMRS · C
Neo Chat is a feature-rich local-first AI chat application emphasizing data ownership and self-hosting. It offers multi-provider integration, skills, plugins, RAG, search, voice, and sync, suitable for technical users. However, it is not a turnkey public SaaS and requires secure deployment and configuration.
Neo Chat is a self-hostable, local-first AI chat application built with Next.js, React, TypeScript, and Zustand. It brings multi-provider chat, assistant presets, text-only Skills, OpenAPI-style plugin tools, remote MCP servers and an optional local stdio bridge, web and local global search, knowledge-base RAG, opt-in encrypted cross-device sync, versioned backup and restore, local memory, an offline PWA, voice, generated media, rich message rendering, citations, and editable artifacts into one clean workspace. It is designed for people who want the power of modern AI workspaces without giving up local data ownership. Chat history, workspace metadata, skills, plugin configuration, memories, search indexes, and files stay in the browser by default; server routes act as controlled proxies for model providers, web search, RAG, document parsing, voice, plugin and MCP execution, and deployment health.
Tools
The tool list has not been reviewed yet.
Setup
Local run requires Node.js 22 and pnpm 10.30.3. Use pnpm install then pnpm dev, open http://localhost:3000, and configure at least one model provider in Settings. Deployment options include Docker Compose (docker compose up --build), Docker image (docker build -t neo-chat:local .), Vercel, and Cloudflare Workers.
Fit and risk
Not for
- Public multi-user services requiring a turnkey SaaS security boundary (accounts, tenant isolation)
- Users who do not want to manage their own deployment and configuration
- Users needing native agent orchestration (only limited Agent mode in browser)
Required permissions
- Browser storage access (localStorage, IndexedDB, OPFS)
- Network access to connect to model providers, search, RAG, voice, and MCP servers
- Server-side API routes execute plugins, MCP, and proxy requests
- Optional server environment variables for deployment defaults and security
- Docker deployments may expose port 3000
Risks and side effects
- Self-hosting entails security responsibilities; public exposure requires additional hardening
- User-entered provider credentials are encrypted in the browser, but server misconfiguration could expose them
- Hosted mode depends on shared stores like Upstash and restricts network policies
- Remote MCP servers can execute tools; configure carefully
- Data is stored in the browser by default; clearing browser data may cause loss unless backed up or synced
Troubleshooting
- Check Node.js and pnpm versions meet requirements (Node 22, pnpm 10.30.3)
- Ensure at least one model provider is configured
- Check browser console and server logs for errors
- Inspect /api/health endpoint for deployment health status
- Verify environment variables like BYOK_ALLOW_EPHEMERAL_KEY are set correctly
- For Docker, ensure port mapping and network configuration are correct
Use cases
Local-first AI chat with data ownership
Multi-provider chat (Google, Anthropic, OpenAI, and compatible endpoints)
Extending functionality with skills, plugins, and MCP servers
Knowledge-base RAG and local global search
End-to-end encrypted cross-device sync
Offline PWA support
Supported clients
Supported clients have not been confirmed yet.