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BladeVault
Overview

Documentation

BladeVault documentation

A sharp, local-first knife collection manager. Catalog your knives, compare them side by side, and keep your collection data under your own control.

BladeVault collection view with Smart Collections, model-family browsing, and configurable knife cards
BladeVault collection view with Smart Collections, model-family browsing, and configurable knife cards

Start here

I want to Go to
Get running in a few minutes Quickstart
Run it as a container Docker and Podman
Run it on Kubernetes Kubernetes with Helm
Use the desktop app Desktop app
Build and run from source Run from source
Learn the collection, comparison, and insights workflows Organize your collection
Log cleaning, sharpening, or other care Maintenance
Find gaps or inconsistent values in my records Improve collection data quality
Back up the vault or restore a saved copy Back up and restore your vault
Connect an AI client to my collection MCP
Find my data, back it up, or lock the app Your data

What it does

  • Catalog — keep specifications, pricing, provenance, notes, links, and local photos for every knife. Import product details from supported retailer URLs, with an interactive browser fallback.
  • Organize — search, filter, pin, and bulk-edit records; add custom text, number, and date fields, and choose what appears on collection cards and in the pinned sidebar.
  • Browse — save filters as Smart Collections that update with your records, or browse variants together in Model families. Global search understands model names and /model A4301 for model numbers.
  • Compare — create named shortlists, add a knife to several lists, show only the differences, and print or export comparisons as PDF.
  • Maintain — log cleaning, lubrication, sharpening, stropping, and disassembly with dated notes, and review the history in Logs.
  • Understand — explore makers, materials, dimensions, completeness, and activity through collection insights.
  • Keep control — the vault lives in a local SQLite database, ZIP backups are portable, and cloud backup is optional.

Feature guides

Task Guide
Import a product page Add a knife from a product URL
Import several product pages Add several knives at once
Enter a knife without a product page Add a knife manually
Correct a saved record or mark it as sold Update a saved knife
Find records and narrow the collection Search, filter, and sort your collection
Save a filter for later Create and manage Smart Collections
Update or pin a selection of records Edit and pin several knives at once
Store additional information Add and manage custom fields
Group and inspect model variants Browse model families and variants
Change card details, theme, or time format Customize cards and collection appearance
Build and export a shortlist Compare knives
Record cleaning, sharpening, and other care Log maintenance and sharpening
Understand collection patterns Collection insights
Review missing data, measurements, and labels Improve collection data quality
See what changed and when Review collection activity in Logs
Preserve a copy of a source page Capture source pages
Save or restore a full-vault archive Back up and restore your vault

Choose a setup

Option Best for Start here
Desktop app A native macOS or Windows experience Desktop app
Docker or Podman A self-hosted local instance Docker and Podman
Kubernetes k3s or another Kubernetes cluster Kubernetes with Helm
Source Development and customization Run from source

Requirements

  • Node.js 24 LTS only if you run from source; the repository pins 24.21.0 in .nvmrc.
  • A container runtime (Docker or Podman), or a Kubernetes cluster with a LoadBalancer implementation such as MetalLB for the Helm path.
  • Chromium if you want URL import and webpage capture from a source checkout (npx playwright install chromium).