# Project N.O.M.A.D.
### Node for Offline Media, Archives, and Data
**Knowledge That Never Goes Offline**
[](https://www.projectnomad.us)
[](https://discord.com/invite/crosstalksolutions)
[](https://benchmark.projectnomad.us)
---
Project N.O.M.A.D. is a self-contained, offline-first knowledge and education server packed with critical tools, knowledge, and AI to keep you informed and empowered—anytime, anywhere.
## Installation & Quickstart
Project N.O.M.A.D. can be installed on any Debian-based operating system (we recommend Ubuntu). Installation is completely terminal-based, and all tools and resources are designed to be accessed through the browser, so there's no need for a desktop environment if you'd rather setup N.O.M.A.D. as a "server" and access it through other clients.
*Note: sudo/root privileges are required to run the install script*
#### Quick Install
```bash
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y curl && curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Crosstalk-Solutions/project-nomad/refs/heads/main/install/install_nomad.sh -o install_nomad.sh && sudo bash install_nomad.sh
```
Project N.O.M.A.D. is now installed on your device! Open a browser and navigate to `http://localhost:8080` (or `http://DEVICE_IP:8080`) to start exploring!
## How It Works
N.O.M.A.D. is a management UI ("Command Center") and API that orchestrates a collection of containerized tools and resources via [Docker](https://www.docker.com/). It handles installation, configuration, and updates for everything — so you don't have to.
**Built-in capabilities include:**
- **AI Chat with Knowledge Base** — local AI chat powered by [Ollama](https://ollama.com/), with document upload and semantic search (RAG via [Qdrant](https://qdrant.tech/))
- **Information Library** — offline Wikipedia, medical references, ebooks, and more via [Kiwix](https://kiwix.org/)
- **Education Platform** — Khan Academy courses with progress tracking via [Kolibri](https://learningequality.org/kolibri/)
- **Offline Maps** — downloadable regional maps via [ProtoMaps](https://protomaps.com)
- **Data Tools** — encryption, encoding, and analysis via [CyberChef](https://gchq.github.io/CyberChef/)
- **Notes** — local note-taking via [FlatNotes](https://github.com/dullage/flatnotes)
- **System Benchmark** — hardware scoring with a [community leaderboard](https://benchmark.projectnomad.us)
- **Easy Setup Wizard** — guided first-time configuration with curated content collections
N.O.M.A.D. also includes built-in tools like a Wikipedia content selector, ZIM library manager, and content explorer.
## What's Included
| Capability | Powered By | What You Get |
|-----------|-----------|-------------|
| Information Library | Kiwix | Offline Wikipedia, medical references, survival guides, ebooks |
| AI Assistant | Ollama + Qdrant | Built-in chat with document upload and semantic search |
| Education Platform | Kolibri | Khan Academy courses, progress tracking, multi-user support |
| Offline Maps | ProtoMaps | Downloadable regional maps with search and navigation |
| Data Tools | CyberChef | Encryption, encoding, hashing, and data analysis |
| Notes | FlatNotes | Local note-taking with markdown support |
| System Benchmark | Built-in | Hardware scoring, Builder Tags, and community leaderboard |
## Device Requirements
While many similar offline survival computers are designed to be run on bare-minimum, lightweight hardware, Project N.O.M.A.D. is quite the opposite. To install and run the
available AI tools, we highly encourage the use of a beefy, GPU-backed device to make the most of your install.
At it's core, however, N.O.M.A.D. is still very lightweight. For a barebones installation of the management application itself, the following minimal specs are required:
*Note: Project N.O.M.A.D. is not sponsored by any hardware manufacturer and is designed to be as hardware-agnostic as possible. The harware listed below is for example/comparison use only*
#### Minimum Specs
- Processor: 2 GHz dual-core processor or better
- RAM: 4GB system memory
- Storage: At least 5 GB free disk space
- OS: Debian-based (Ubuntu recommended)
- Stable internet connection (required during install only)
To run LLM's and other included AI tools:
#### Optimal Specs
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 or Intel Core i7 or better
- RAM: 32 GB system memory
- Graphics: NVIDIA RTX 3060 or AMD equivalent or better (more VRAM = run larger models)
- Storage: At least 250 GB free disk space (preferably on SSD)
- OS: Debian-based (Ubuntu recommended)
- Stable internet connection (required during install only)
Again, Project N.O.M.A.D. itself is quite lightweight - it's the tools and resources you choose to install with N.O.M.A.D. that will determine the specs required for your unique deployment
## About Internet Usage & Privacy
Project N.O.M.A.D. is designed for offline usage. An internet connection is only required during the initial installation (to download dependencies) and if you (the user) decide to download additional tools and resources at a later time. Otherwise, N.O.M.A.D. does not require an internet connection and has ZERO built-in telemetry.
To test internet connectivity, N.O.M.A.D. attempts to make a request to Cloudflare's utility endpoint, `https://1.1.1.1/cdn-cgi/trace` and checks for a successful response.
## About Security
By design, Project N.O.M.A.D. is intended to be open and available without hurdles - it includes no authentication. If you decide to connect your device to a local network after install (e.g. for allowing other devices to access it's resources), you can block/open ports to control which services are exposed.
**Will authentication be added in the future?** Maybe. It's not currently a priority, but if there's enough demand for it, we may consider building in an optional authentication layer in a future release to support uses cases where multiple users need access to the same instance but with different permission levels (e.g. family use with parental controls, classroom use with teacher/admin accounts, etc.). For now, we recommend using network-level controls to manage access if you're planning to expose your N.O.M.A.D. instance to other devices on a local network. N.O.M.A.D. is not designed to be exposed directly to the internet, and we strongly advise against doing so unless you really know what you're doing, have taken appropriate security measures, and understand the risks involved.
## Contributing
Contributions are welcome and appreciated! Please read this section fully to understand how to contribute to the project.
### General Guidelines
- **Open an issue first**: Before starting work on a new feature or bug fix, please open an issue to discuss your proposed changes. This helps ensure that your contribution aligns with the project's goals and avoids duplicate work. Title the issue clearly and provide a detailed description of the problem or feature you want to work on.
- **Fork the repository**: Click the "Fork" button at the top right of the repository page to create a copy of the project under your GitHub account.
- **Create a new branch**: In your forked repository, create a new branch for your work. Use a descriptive name for the branch that reflects the purpose of your changes (e.g., `fix/issue-123` or `feature/add-new-tool`).
- **Make your changes**: Implement your changes in the new branch. Follow the existing code style and conventions used in the project. Be sure to test your changes locally to ensure they work as expected.
- **Add Release Notes**: If your changes include new features, bug fixes, or improvements, please see the "Release Notes" section below to properly document your contribution for the next release.
- **Conventional Commits**: When committing your changes, please use conventional commit messages to provide clear and consistent commit history. The format is `