docbank
Alpha software. Keep independent copies of irreplaceable material and
verify backups before relying on them.
Keep, find, and recover documents in a vault you control.
Docbank is an open-source document vault for people, applications, and agents. Import files, organize them in folders, and search their names and extracted text. Move or rename a document without changing its ID. Save new versions without overwriting earlier ones, and verify backups before you need them.
!The Docbank web application browsing a synthetic vault.
Use the command line, local web app, terminal browser, or authenticated HTTP API. A local background process, the daemon, owns the vault and handles these requests. Go applications can also embed separately rooted vaults.
What can I use it for?
| Task | Guide | | --- | --- | | Import and organize records | Importing and tagging | | Find a document | Searching | | Keep earlier content versions | Editing and versions | | Automate filing and retrieval | Agent integration | | Recover deleted documents | Trash and recovery | | Create and verify backups | Backup and restore | | Retain a permanent record of changes | Audited history | | Add filesystem or S3-compatible storage | Multi-store storage |
Docbank does not synchronize a working folder across devices or create public share links. See capabilities for the product overview and roadmap for planned work.
Install
Linux or macOS:
curl -fsSL https://docbank.ai/install.sh | shWindows PowerShell:
irm https://docbank.ai/install.ps1 | iexThe installers select the native Linux, macOS, or Windows archive for amd64 or
arm64 and refuse to install it unless its digest matches the release's
SHA256SUMS. GitHub Releases
also provides the archives for manual verification.
To build from source, install Go 1.27+, CGO, a C compiler, Node 24+, and npm:
git clone https://github.com/kenn-io/docbank.git
cd docbank
make installThe setup guide lists the build requirements for each platform.
Start a vault
The first data command creates the vault and starts its daemon:
docbank add ~/Documents --dest /archive
docbank tree /archive
docbank search "tax return"
docbank webRetrieve a complete file only after Docbank verifies it, then inspect or change the same stable document without rewriting prior content:
docbank get /archive/Documents/receipt.pdf ./receipt.pdf
docbank versions list /archive/Documents/receipt.pdf
docbank put revised-receipt.pdf /archive/Documents/receipt.pdf
docbank mv /archive/Documents/receipt.pdf /archive/Documents/receipt-2026.pdf
docbank verifyCreate a backup, verify it, and restore a separate copy to inspect:
docbank backup init --repo ~/Backups/docbank
docbank backup create --repo ~/Backups/docbank --tag first-import
docbank backup verify --repo ~/Backups/docbank
docbank backup restore --repo ~/Backups/docbank --target ~/Restores/docbank-testThe ten-minute quickstart walks through versions, tags, search, recoverable trash, maintenance, and restore.
Who owns the vault and its storage?
- Standalone: one daemon owns a vault; every CLI, browser, TUI, script, and
- Embedded: one Go application owns each independently rooted vault
- Secondary storage: Docbank verifies content in configured filesystem and
- Backup: a stopped copy of the local database and primary blob directory
docbank backup create to include retained content held only in secondary
stores. See the backup guide for the full rules.
Documentation
- Documentation homepage and visual tour
- Setup and quickstart
- Capabilities and vault lifecycle
- Web application and terminal browser
- Multi-store storage and backup & restore
- Docbank for agents and integration guide
- Embed in Go and document processing packages
- CLI reference and architecture overview
License
Copyright 2026 Kenn Software LLC.
Docbank is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See NOTICE for attribution information.