This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by retrovirusretro
Most RAG tools make you choose between simplicity and power. MaxKB doesn't try to be powerful — it tries to be simple, and it nails it.
20K+ GitHub stars. Apache 2.0. Almost no English content. Here's the guide.
What is MaxKB?
MaxKB (Max Knowledge Base) is a knowledge base Q&A system by the 1Panel team. It connects to any OpenAI-compatible API — including Ollama — and lets you upload documents, ask questions, and embed a chat widget into any website.
That last part is the killer feature: MaxKB generates a JavaScript snippet that drops a chat widget into any HTML page. One script tag. No iframe, no backend changes needed. Apache 2.0 means you can embed this in commercial products with no restrictions.
Setup
3 commands, under 5 minutes.
Clone the repo, copy .env.example to .env, then docker compose up -d. Open localhost:8081 → admin / admin123 → Settings → Model Provider → Ollama → http://ollama:11434.
Create a knowledge base, upload a PDF, start asking questions. That's the entire setup.
Full docker-compose: maxkb-english-guide
Embed Widget
MaxKB generates a JavaScript snippet — drop it into any HTML page and a chat widget appears bottom-right. No iframe, no backend changes. This is what makes MaxKB unique among RAG tools: it's designed to be embedded.
Go to: Application → your app → Embed → copy the script tag → paste into any HTML page.
API
Works from Python, JavaScript, curl, n8n — anything that speaks HTTP. POST your question to /api/application/{app_id}/chat/completions with a Bearer token. Returns {"content": "the answer"}.
Full Python + JavaScript examples in the repo.
MaxKB vs the Alternatives
| MaxKB | WeKnora | FastGPT | RAGFlow | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Setup time | ⚡ 3 min | 5 min | 10 min | 15 min |
| License | Apache 2.0 | MIT | Custom* | Apache 2.0 |
| Embed widget | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Autonomous agent | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| PDF table parsing | Basic | Basic | Good | Excellent |
| Commercial embed | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
*FastGPT prohibits SaaS resale.
Pick MaxKB when: working knowledge base in 5 minutes, embed widget needed, Apache 2.0 matters.
Pick something else when: complex PDFs → RAGFlow · pipeline builder → FastGPT · multi-hop reasoning → WeKnora
Supported LLM Providers
MaxKB works with any OpenAI-compatible API: Ollama (local, free), OpenAI, Groq, Together, or Anthropic via LiteLLM proxy.
Full Guide
→ github.com/retrovirusretro/maxkb-english-guide
Part of a broader series:
→ chinese-ai-tools-english-guide
MaxKB is the tool I recommend to people who just want RAG working quickly without reading 40 pages of docs.
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by retrovirusretro
retrovirusretro | Sciencx (2026-05-20T21:24:39+00:00) The simplest self-hosted RAG you’ll ever set up (Apache 2.0, 20K stars). Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2026/05/20/the-simplest-self-hosted-rag-youll-ever-set-up-apache-2-0-20k-stars/
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