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Quick Start

Get WikiMind running locally in 5 minutes.

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.11+ (3.12 recommended)
  • Node.js 20+ (for the React frontend, optional)
  • An LLM API key (any one of: Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, or a local Ollama instance)

1. Clone and set up

git clone https://github.com/manavgup/wikimind.git
cd wikimind

# Create virtual environment and install dependencies
make venv
make install-dev

# Verify everything is installed correctly
make check-env

2. Configure an LLM provider

Copy the example environment file and add at least one API key:

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env and set one of:

# Pick ONE -- the provider auto-enables when a key is detected
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
# or
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
# or
GOOGLE_API_KEY=...

That is all you need. WikiMind auto-detects which providers have keys configured and enables them automatically.

Using Ollama (no API key needed)

If you have Ollama running locally, enable it explicitly: 

WIKIMIND_LLM__OLLAMA__ENABLED=true
WIKIMIND_LLM__DEFAULT_PROVIDER=ollama

3. Start the gateway

make dev

The FastAPI server starts on http://localhost:7842. You can verify it is running:

curl http://localhost:7842/health
# {"status": "ok", "version": "0.1.0"}

4. (Optional) Start the React UI

In a separate terminal:

cd apps/web
npm install
npm run dev
# Opens http://localhost:5173

5. Ingest your first source

# Ingest a web article
curl -X POST http://localhost:7842/ingest/url \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com/interesting-article"}'

# Ingest a PDF
curl -X POST http://localhost:7842/ingest/pdf \
  -F "file=@paper.pdf"

# Ingest raw text
curl -X POST http://localhost:7842/ingest/text \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"content": "Your text here...", "title": "My Notes"}'

Open http://localhost:5173 and use the Inbox view to paste URLs, upload PDFs, or enter text directly.

6. Ask a question

Once your source has been compiled (watch the terminal for "Article saved"):

curl -X POST http://localhost:7842/query \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"question": "What are the key claims from the article I just ingested?"}'

The response includes the answer, confidence level, cited sources, and follow-up questions.

Next steps