stashbase vs mcp-local-rag
stashbase: StashBase enables AI agents to search and utilize content from your local files, including PDFs, DOCX, images, audio, and video. It creates a searchable index from your folders, allowing agents to find relevant context by meaning rather than just keywords.; mcp-local-rag: MCP Local RAG provides a fully private, zero-setup Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) system for developers, enabling semantic search with keyword boosting on local documents. It integrates seamlessly with AI coding tools via MCP or offers direct command-line access, ensuring data privacy and offline functionality.
TL;DR
- You want a desktop app that indexes folders of PDFs, DOCX, images, audio and video and shares them with Claude, Codex and other MCP clients.
- Your files must stay the source of truth: the index can be rebuilt, and removing a folder never deletes files.
- You want exact text search with no key, and semantic search only if you opt in.
- Your documents cannot leave the machine and you need semantic search: it sends content to OpenAI or OpenRouter.
- You are on Linux and need official support: Linux builds are community-supported.
- You only need one file converted now and then: an MCP converter is lighter.
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