# Introduction

Curator is a native macOS app that turns a folder or a bucket of files into a
library you can search by meaning, chat with, and ask to organize. You point
it at a folder on your Mac or at a cloud storage bucket you own. It reads those
files in place and builds a searchable index of what they contain.

Everything runs on your Mac. Nothing is uploaded. Curator never moves, copies,
renames, or alters your files unless you ask it to. The AI features use
**Ollama**, a free local engine that runs entirely on your Mac.

## What you can do with it

Curator does three main things.

<CapabilityGrid
  columns={3}
  capabilities={[
    {
      icon: 'magnifier',
      title: 'Search by meaning',
      description:
        'Find files by what they are about, not just by their name. Semantic search matches ideas, so a search for "quarterly budget" surfaces the right spreadsheet even if those words never appear in it.',
      href: '/using/search/',
    },
    {
      icon: 'comment',
      title: 'Chat with your files',
      description:
        'Ask questions in plain language. Curator searches, reads, and cites your own documents as it answers, with clickable links back to the source files.',
      href: '/using/chat/',
    },
    {
      icon: 'random',
      title: 'Let AI organize',
      description:
        'Curator groups related files into smart clusters for you. Clusters are virtual, so your real files stay exactly where they are.',
      href: '/using/organize/',
    },
  ]}
/>

## Who it's for

Curator is for anyone with a large or messy file collection who wants to find things again.

## What you need

- A Mac running **macOS 12 (Monterey)** or later.
- **Ollama**, the local AI engine that powers search and chat. You do not need
  to install it yourself first. Curator can install it for you in one click
  during setup.
- Some RAM for the AI models. Curator recommends models sized to what your Mac has.

The full requirements and the install steps live in
[Download & install](/get-started/install/) and
[First-run setup](/get-started/setup/).

## Next steps

First, [download and install](/get-started/install/) the app. Then follow
[First-run setup](/get-started/setup/) to create your profile, set up Ollama,
and point Curator at your files.