What is MindGenius AI?

MindGenius AI is a self-hostable AI agent called Hermas that reads PDF documents and generates editable mind maps in real time. It runs as a single Docker container on your own infrastructure, keeping all documents and API keys local — nothing is uploaded to external servers. The agent uses a visible multi-step tool loop (plan, retrieve, draw, edit) powered by Vercel AI SDK v5, supports surgical node edits by ID, and maintains a two-way canvas where manual changes are seen by the agent on the next turn. It brings your own API keys for OpenAI, Anthropic (Claude), DeepSeek, or Kimi/Moonshot, with optional RAG embeddings via OpenAI-compatible endpoints. Features include keyboard-first canvas navigation, a command palette (⌘K), import/export of Markdown, OPML, PNG, SVG, and Mermaid, bilingual EN/中文 UI, and a dark theme. The license is BSL 1.1, which permits individual, scholarly, research, and non-commercial use at no cost, while commercial use requires a paid license.

Should you self-host MindGenius AI?

MindGenius AI scores 44/100 on selfhost.directory (how scoring works) and ranks #71 of 120 in AI Assistant. It has 284 GitHub stars.

It shipped 1 stable release in the past year. The latest, v2.0.0, came out on 10 June 2026.

Setup is easy: most people get it running in one sitting. An official Docker image is available. It is Other-licensed and written mostly in Typescript.

Its closest alternative on selfhost.directory is hermes-agent (89/100, 257 885 stars). It scores higher overall, so compare the two before you pick. See MindGenius AI vs hermes-agent side by side.