Download Burrow Search

Windows: run the installer and open Burrow Search from the Start menu. It needs no administrator rights, starts in the background when you log in, and is removed in Settings > Apps.

macOS: open the disk image and drag Burrow Search into Applications. It works on Intel and Apple Silicon Macs, and sits in the menu bar while it runs, showing whether it's running and on which port. To remove it, untick Open at Login in its menu, quit it and drag it to the Trash. We can't pay Apple to vouch for the app yet, so the first time you open it, macOS says it can't check it: open System Settings > Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway.

Both open the search page in your browser, which asks for a pack the first time: download the newest index-vNNN.bin with its .sha256 and .sig files from the pack folder and upload them there. Our key comes with the app, so the page checks them against it.

Linux: unpack the download and run ./install.sh in it, or skip the download and run this (it works on a Mac too):

$ curl -fsSL https://burrowproject.org/install.sh | bash

The script installs the programs into ~/.local/bin, checks the publisher's key fingerprint, downloads and verifies the newest pack, and starts the web interface on localhost:8080 every time you log in. Later, burrow-update fetches newer packs. --images adds image search, --help lists the rest.

If you'd rather see what happens at each step:

Use a download above, or build it from source. It takes a few minutes and needs Rust 1.85 or newer:

$ git clone https://github.com/bisaek/search-engine
$ cd search-engine
$ cargo build --release --workspace

This gives you three programs in target/release/: local-search for searching in the terminal, local-search-web for the web interface, and index for installing and checking packs.

Download the .bin file together with its .sha256 and .sig files. Our key's fingerprint is 42ffb7b06daaec47.

The file is the same for everyone, so downloading it tells us nothing about what you will search. If you don't want us to see your IP address at all, get it through Tor Browser, from a mirror, or from someone who already has it. See a safer setup.

Trust the publisher's key once, then install. The app checks the hash and signature and refuses anything that doesn't match.

$ index trust provider.pub        # compare the fingerprint it prints
$ index install index-v001.bin

In the terminal, or in your browser through the local web interface:

$ local-search "rust ownership"
$ local-search-web                 # then open http://localhost:8080

You can switch off your network now. To check that nothing is sent, see check it yourself.