# Z: Local-first search layer for humans and agents

> Source: <https://github.com/zvec-ai/zvec-grep>
> Published: 2026-09-02 19:56:26+00:00

English | [中文](/zvec-ai/zvec-grep/blob/main/README_CN.md)

**Know the words—or don’t. Just zg.**

The local-first search layer for humans and agents.

[🎬 Tour](#tour) |

[💫](#features)|

**Features**[🚀](#try-it-yourself)|

**Try it yourself**[📚](/zvec-ai/zvec-grep/blob/main/docs/README.md)|

**Docs**[📊](#benchmarks)|

**Benchmarks**[🤝](#community)

**Community****zg** (**z** vec-**g** rep) unifies ripgrep, BM25, and vector search behind
[one local-first interface](/zvec-ai/zvec-grep/blob/main/docs/05-architecture.md). Use it directly from the
terminal, or let your agent use it for you.

**Ready for humans and agents**— install once, index once, then use the same workspace from the CLI or your agent on macOS, Linux, and Windows.** Search beyond keywords**— discover by meaning, rank by relevance, then verify with exact text or regex when needed.** Multi-format search**— search source code, documents, and structured data while preserving useful structure and source locations.** Less searching, less context**— ranked, source-linked results surface the right evidence with fewer tool calls, fewer tokens, and less noise.** Local by default**— files, indexes, and local models stay on your machine; remote embeddings receive data only with your permission.

```
# Requires Node.js 22 or newer.
npm install -g @zvec/zvec-grep

mkdir zg-mystery && cd zg-mystery
curl --retry 3 --retry-all-errors --progress-bar -fL \
  -o alice-in-wonderland.txt https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GITenberg/Alice-s-Adventures-in-Wonderland_11/master/11.txt \
  -o sherlock-holmes.txt https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GITenberg/The-Memoirs-of-Sherlock-Holmes_834/master/834.txt

zg index --embedding local/potion-retrieval-32m
```

With [OpenCode](https://opencode.ai/) configured:

```
zg install --target opencode --yes
opencode models
opencode run --model opencode/nemotron-3-ultra-free \
  "An unseen creature left a few marks. What did the detective infer? Cite local evidence."
```

Free model availability can change. Check `opencode models`

and replace the
example model with one that is currently available in your environment.

OpenCode chooses zg on its own—the prompt does not name a tool.

**See the full agent run and answer**

```
⚙ zvec_grep_zvec_grep_search {"root":".../zg-mystery","query":"An unseen creature left a few marks. What did the detective infer?","fts":["marks","unseen creature","inferred","detective"],"fuse":true}
→ Read sherlock-holmes.txt [offset=5440, limit=120]

Answer:
The detective is Sherlock Holmes in *The Adventure of the Crooked Man*.
From the animal's foot-marks, he inferred:

- It was not a dog, cat, monkey, or other familiar creature: its print had
  five foot-pads, long nails, and was nearly as large as a dessert-spoon
  (sherlock-holmes.txt:5479-5486).
- It had a long body and very short legs: nearly two feet long, but with a
  stride of only about three inches (sherlock-holmes.txt:5497-5502).
- It was carnivorous because it climbed the curtain toward a canary's cage
  (sherlock-holmes.txt:5509-5510).
- It was probably from the weasel or stoat tribe, though unusually large
  (sherlock-holmes.txt:5514-5516).

Holmes also inferred that a man entered through the window with it and later
left with the key (sherlock-holmes.txt:5464-5470, 5527-5528).
```

Search the same bookshelf directly, without an agent:

```
zg query --human "An unseen creature left a few marks. What did the detective infer?" --limit 3
```

zg returns the relevant passages from `sherlock-holmes.txt`

, ranked ahead of
`alice-in-wonderland.txt`

.

Each benchmark uses paired A/B runs with tasks, agent/model, prompt, environment, and limits held constant; only zg access and usage guidance differ.

See the [benchmark documentation](/zvec-ai/zvec-grep/blob/main/benchmarks/README.md) for full results and
reproduction details.

[SWE-QA-Bench](/zvec-ai/zvec-grep/blob/main/benchmarks/swe-qa-bench/README.md) uses Claude Code with
Claude Opus 5 at high reasoning effort;
[BrowseComp-Plus](/zvec-ai/zvec-grep/blob/main/benchmarks/browse-comp-plus/README.md) uses Codex
gpt-5.6-sol at medium reasoning effort. Both zg profiles use Qwen3.7 Text
Embedding.

**Why it helps:** semantic discovery narrows the search space, ranked lexical retrieval anchors exact identifiers, and compact evidence reduces broad scans, repeated tool calls, and model context.**Why it generalizes:** the same retrieval loop works across domains—code is indexed with symbols, signatures, and breadcrumbs, while prose is retrieved as focused sections and chunks.

|
|

the task asks how AST node handling separates annotated and non-annotated attribute initialization. Symbol-aware retrieval is useful because the architectural entry point is not known in advance.[Pylint](https://github.com/pylint-dev/pylint)— Python static analysis:the task traces[Matplotlib](https://github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib)— plotting and rendering:`FontInfo`

and font selection through multiple math-text rendering stages. Ranked semantic and lexical evidence helps reconstruct the cross-file data and control flow.the task connects username uniqueness, ORM transactions, and formset bulk operations. Compact ranked evidence brings the distributed design rationale together.[Django](https://github.com/django/django)— web framework:

**Repository questions**

| Repository | Question type | Question |
|---|---|---|
`pylint-dev/pylint` |
What Architecture exploration |
What is the architectural pattern that distinguishes type-annotated from non-annotated instance attribute initialization using AST node type separation? |
`matplotlib/matplotlib` |
Where Data / Control-flow |
Where does the `FontInfo` NamedTuple propagate font metrics and glyph data through the mathematical text rendering pipeline, and what control flow determines whether the `postscript_name` or the `FT2Font` object is used at different stages of character rendering? |
`django/django` |
Why Design rationale |
Why does the User model's unique constraint on the username field interact with Django's ORM transaction handling, and what cascading effects would occur if this constraint were removed on an existing database with formset-based bulk operations? |

zg works best when evidence spans files or modules and the target location is unknown, especially for call-chain, data-flow, and architectural questions. Since agents decide when and how to use it, results vary by model and run; repeated-run averages are more reliable.

| Guide | What you can do |
|---|---|
|

[CLI guide](/zvec-ai/zvec-grep/blob/main/docs/02-cli.md)[MCP guide](/zvec-ai/zvec-grep/blob/main/docs/03-mcp.md)[Retrieval pipeline](/zvec-ai/zvec-grep/blob/main/docs/04-pipeline.md)[Architecture](/zvec-ai/zvec-grep/blob/main/docs/05-architecture.md)[Server and execution modes](/zvec-ai/zvec-grep/blob/main/docs/06-server.md)[Embedding models](/zvec-ai/zvec-grep/blob/main/docs/07-embedding.md)[Roadmap](/zvec-ai/zvec-grep/blob/main/docs/08-roadmap.md)Community contributions are always welcome—bug fixes, features, and documentation improvements all help make zvec-grep better.

Check out our [Contributing Guide](/zvec-ai/zvec-grep/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) to get started!