Open-source, self-hosted enterprise & site search server built on OpenSearch. Crawls web / file / DB / cloud sources, 20+ languages, REST API, and AI/RAG & semantic search. Apache-2.0.
Star History
Momentum
+28
STARS · LAST 30 DAYS
1
PER DAY
#186
MOST-STARRED Java
| Window | 7 days | 30 days | 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stars gained | +7 | +28 | +90 |
| Per day | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Forks gained | +1 | +4 | +10 |
fess gained 28 stars in the last 30 days, about 1 a day, and now has 1.1K. It is about 13 years old and has averaged roughly 88 stars a year. It ranks #186 among Java repositories and #2,580 across all languages on GitHubRepo.
Trending Record
3
DAYS ON TRENDING
#2040
BEST RANK
Sep 26, 2026
FIRST APPEARANCE
Active
STATUS TODAY
fess has maintained a continuous presence across global trending indexes, peaking at #2040. Below is the 30-day activity profile:
💡 Overview
fess is an open-source project written in Java: Open-source, self-hosted enterprise & site search server built on OpenSearch. Crawls web / file / DB / cloud sources, 20+ languages, REST API, and AI/RAG & semantic search. Apache-2.0.
Engineered for speed, consistency, and developer ease, it solves common hurdles in ai-search, crawler, docker. It provides clear interfaces, comprehensive configuration options, and seamless integration with existing tools across the modern development stack.
⚡ Key Features
Optimized execution pipeline written in Java for predictable speed.
Zero-friction configuration with comprehensive sensible defaults out of the box.
Cross-platform runtime support across Linux, macOS, and Windows environments.
Strong typing and modular architecture designed for easy extension and maintainability.
Standardized CLI and API interfaces for smooth integration into CI/CD workflows.
Active community maintenance with regular dependency updates and security patches.
📥 Installation
$ docker pull codelibs/fess⚙ System Requirements
Platforms
- • macOS
- • Linux
- • Windows
Runtime & Dependencies
JDK 17 or higher (OpenJDK / GraalVM)
Architecture
x86_64, ARM64 (Apple Silicon & Graviton)
🧠 How It Works
fess coordinates its core functionality through a modular Java pipeline. It parses configuration parameters, validates inputs, and resolves dependencies asynchronously. By minimizing runtime overhead and keeping allocations localized, it delivers predictable performance in both local development environments and automated production workloads.
🎯 Production Use Cases
Autonomous AI Agents
Orchestrate intelligent workflows and tool-calling routines with fess.
Model Inference & Prompting
Integrate fast, local or cloud-hosted generative AI models directly into production code.
Context Memory & RAG
Augment language models with dynamic vector retrieval and structured project memory.
Developer Productivity
Automate repetitive engineering tasks, code generation, and test creation using AI agents.
🚀 Getting Started
Install fess using your package manager: `docker pull codelibs/fess`
Initialize your project workspace or configuration file for fess.
Import fess into your codebase or invoke it directly from your terminal.
Execute your test suite or run `fess --help` to verify successful setup.
👍 Strengths
⚠️ Considerations
⇄ Alternatives & Direct Competitors
👥 Who Should Use This
Developers and engineering teams building with Java, seeking reliable, tested, and actively maintained tooling for production workloads.
🏆 Nearby in the Rankings
codelibs/fess is currently ranked #2,580 by stars across every repository tracked on GitHubRepo. These are adjacent projects:
| Rank | Repository | Language | Stars | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #2,575 | sprinkle-tool/sprinkle | Ruby | ★ 1.1K | Compare ↗ |
| #2,575 | TrunkRecorder/trunk-recorder | C++ | ★ 1.1K | Compare ↗ |
| #2,577 | steveseguin/social_stream | JavaScript | ★ 1.1K | Compare ↗ |
| #2,577 | d4rken-org/capod | Kotlin | ★ 1.1K | Compare ↗ |
| #2,579 | casid/jte | Java | ★ 1.1K | Compare ↗ |
| #2,580 | codelibs/fess This Project | Java | ★ 1.1K | |
| #2,581 | layer5io/layer5 | JavaScript | ★ 1.1K | Compare ↗ |
| #2,581 | jellyfin/jellyfin-kodi | Python | ★ 1.1K | Compare ↗ |
| #2,581 | Supreeeme/xwayland-satellite | Rust | ★ 1.1K | Compare ↗ |
| #2,584 | ctxrs/ctx | Rust | ★ 1.1K | Compare ↗ |
| #2,585 | activescaffold/active_scaffold | Ruby | ★ 1.1K | Compare ↗ |
Frequently Asked Questions
What does fess do? +
Open-source, self-hosted enterprise & site search server built on OpenSearch. Crawls web / file / DB / cloud sources, 20+ languages, REST API, and AI/RAG & semantic search. Apache-2.0.
What language is fess written in? +
The primary language is Java. Topics include: ai-search, crawler, docker, elasticsearch, elasticsearch-alternative.
Is fess actively maintained? +
Yes, the last recorded push was on Sep 27, 2026 with 15 open issues being tracked.
How many stars does fess have? +
fess has 1,138 stars and 175 forks on GitHub.
How does fess rank among GitHub repositories? +
With 1,138 stars, codelibs/fess is ranked #2,580 globally across all repositories tracked on GitHubRepo and #186 among Java projects.
What license is fess distributed under? +
The repository reports a Apache-2.0 license. Always verify the repository LICENSE file for legal terms.
