How to Build a Personal Knowledge Base with Local LLM and Search

import chromadb
import os

# Create a persistent local vector store
client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path='./personal_kb')
collection = client.get_or_create_collection('knowledge')

def add_note(title: str, content: str, tags: list = None):
    """Add a note to the personal knowledge base."""
    doc_id = title.lower().replace(' ', '-')[:50]
    metadata = {'title': title, 'tags': ','.join(tags or [])}
    collection.upsert(
        documents=[f'{title}\n{content}'],
        metadatas=[metadata],
        ids=[doc_id]
    )
    print(f'Added: {title}')

def search_local(query: str, n: int = 3) -> list:
    """Search the local knowledge base."""
    results = collection.query(query_texts=[query], n_results=n)
    docs = []
    for i, doc in enumerate(results['documents'][0]):
        meta = results['metadatas'][0][i]
        distance = results['distances'][0][i]
        docs.append({'content': doc, 'title': meta.get('title', ''),
                    'distance': distance, 'source': 'local'})
    return docs

# Add some personal notes
add_note('Python project structure', 'I prefer src/ layout with pyproject.toml. Tests go in tests/ at root level.', ['python', 'setup'])
add_note('API design preferences', 'Always use POST for search endpoints. Return JSON with consistent error format.', ['api', 'design'])
add_note('Deployment checklist', 'Railway for APIs, Vercel for frontends, Cloudflare for workers.', ['deploy'])

results = search_local('how do I structure python projects')
print(f'\nFound {len(results)} local results')
for r in results:
    print(f'  [{r["distance"]:.3f}] {r["title"]}')

import requests

SCAVIO_KEY = os.environ['SCAVIO_API_KEY']

def search_web(query: str, num: int = 5) -> list:
    resp = requests.post('https://api.scavio.dev/api/v1/search',
        headers={'x-api-key': SCAVIO_KEY, 'Content-Type': 'application/json'},
        json={'query': query, 'country_code': 'us', 'num_results': num})
    return [{'content': f"{r['title']}\n{r.get('snippet', '')}",
             'title': r['title'], 'url': r['link'],
             'source': 'web'} for r in resp.json().get('organic_results', [])]

def smart_search(query: str, local_threshold: float = 1.0) -> list:
    """Search local KB first, fall back to web if needed."""
    local_results = search_local(query)
    # Check if local results are good enough
    if local_results and local_results[0]['distance'] < local_threshold:
        print(f'[LOCAL] Found {len(local_results)} relevant notes')
        return local_results
    # Fall back to web search
    print(f'[WEB] Local KB insufficient, searching web ($0.005)')
    web_results = search_web(query)
    return local_results + web_results

# Test: should find local result
print('Query: python project structure')
results = smart_search('python project structure')
print()

# Test: should fall back to web
print('Query: latest FastAPI release 2026')
results = smart_search('latest FastAPI release 2026')

LLM_URL = 'http://localhost:11434/v1/chat/completions'

def ask_kb(question: str) -> dict:
    """Ask a question to the personal KB."""
    results = smart_search(question)
    # Build context
    context_parts = []
    for i, r in enumerate(results, 1):
        source = r['source']
        if source == 'local':
            context_parts.append(f'[{i}] (Personal Note) {r["content"]}')
        else:
            context_parts.append(f'[{i}] (Web) {r["content"]}')
    context = '\n\n'.join(context_parts)
    messages = [
        {'role': 'system', 'content': (
            'You are a personal assistant with access to the user\'s notes and web search. '
            'Prefer personal notes when relevant. Cite sources as [1], [2], etc. '
            'Mark whether each source is from personal notes or web search.'
        )},
        {'role': 'user', 'content': f'Context:\n{context}\n\nQuestion: {question}'}
    ]
    resp = requests.post(LLM_URL, json={
        'model': 'llama3', 'messages': messages, 'max_tokens': 512
    })
    answer = resp.json()['choices'][0]['message']['content']
    used_web = any(r['source'] == 'web' for r in results)
    return {
        'answer': answer,
        'sources': [r['source'] for r in results],
        'cost': 0.005 if used_web else 0,
    }

result = ask_kb('How should I structure a new Python project?')
print(f'A: {result["answer"]}')
print(f'Sources: {result["sources"]}, Cost: ${result["cost"]}')

def ask_and_learn(question: str) -> dict:
    """Ask a question and save useful web results to local KB."""
    result = ask_kb(question)
    # If web search was used, save results as notes
    if 0.005 == result['cost']:
        web_results = [r for r in smart_search(question) if r['source'] == 'web']
        for r in web_results[:2]:  # Save top 2 web results
            add_note(
                title=f'[Auto] {r.get("title", question)[:50]}',
                content=r['content'],
                tags=['auto-learned', 'web-search']
            )
        print(f'Saved {min(2, len(web_results))} web results to local KB')
    return result

# First time: will search web
print('--- First query (web search) ---')
result = ask_and_learn('What is the latest FastAPI version?')
print(f'Cost: ${result["cost"]}')
print()

# Second time: should find local result
print('--- Same query again (should be local) ---')
result = ask_and_learn('What is the latest FastAPI version?')
print(f'Cost: ${result["cost"]}')
print()

print(f'Total notes in KB: {collection.count()}')