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KiwiFS turns a folder of markdown files into a knowledge server. Agents and people read and write the same files over REST, MCP, NFS, S3, WebDAV, or a FUSE mount, and KiwiFS indexes, versions, and serves them through a built-in web UI. The files on disk stay the source of truth. Search indexes, link graphs, and query caches are derived from them and can be rebuilt at any time.

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Why KiwiFS

  • Plain files, no lock-in. Every page is a markdown file with YAML frontmatter. Copy the folder and you have everything.
  • Agents already know the interface. Mount the folder and use cat, grep, and echo, or call the REST API or the 78 MCP tools.
  • Every write is a git commit. History, blame, diff, and restore come for free, with the writer’s identity as the commit author.
  • Search that works out of the box. BM25 full-text search over SQLite FTS5 by default, with optional vector search through OpenAI, Ollama, Cohere, Voyage, Bedrock, Vertex, or any HTTP embedder.
  • Frontmatter you can query. DQL runs SQL-like queries over frontmatter, and Bases save them as table and board views.
  • Restructure without breaking links. Refactor plans move, merge, and split pages and rewrite every wiki link that pointed at them. Agents can plan and apply them over MCP, with approval thresholds for large changes.
  • Pages that explain. Wiki links, steppable Mermaid, D2 diagrams rendered on the server, typed widget fences (arrays, trees, graphs, plots, timelines, and more), and quiz callouts whose answers stay out of search.
  • Built for many writers. Optimistic concurrency with ETags, draft spaces, path claims, workflows, webhooks, and a live event stream.
  • One binary. The Go server embeds the web UI. No Node, database, or Docker required.
  • Source available. BSL 1.1: run it in production and embed it in your own products. Each release converts to Apache 2.0 after four years.

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How it works

Every write takes the same path no matter where it comes from: it lands on disk, becomes a git commit, updates the search and link indexes, and broadcasts an event to open web UIs and subscribers. A file watcher catches edits made directly on disk and sends them through the same pipeline. The REST API, web UI, and MCP-over-HTTP endpoint share port 3333. S3, WebDAV, and NFS stay off until you start the server with --s3, --webdav, or --nfs. See Alternate protocols.

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For agents

These docs are published in machine-readable form:
  • llms.txt: a short overview with key endpoints and MCP tool names.
  • llms-full.txt: the full API, MCP, and CLI reference in one file.
A running KiwiFS server also serves its own /llms.txt and /llms-full.txt for the knowledge base it hosts. When auth is on, both list only public or published pages. See Agent interface.

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Next steps

Quickstart

Install KiwiFS, start a server, and make your first write.

Connect an agent over MCP

Give Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client the 78 KiwiFS tools.

Agent interface

Filesystem, REST, and MCP access patterns.

Widgets and diagrams

Typed widget fences, D2, Mermaid, and quiz callouts.

Web UI

Browse, edit, search, and visualize your knowledge base.

Configuration

Every .kiwi/config.toml key and its default.
Last modified on October 19, 2026