> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://elephas.app/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What Is Elephas? A Private AI Workspace for Your Documents

> Elephas is a knowledge workspace for Mac and Windows that answers from your own documents and cites the exact page. Learn what it does and who it is for.

Elephas is a knowledge workspace for Mac and Windows. You add your own PDFs, Word files, spreadsheets, notes and web pages, ask questions in plain language, and every answer points to the exact page or passage it came from.

It is not another chatbot. Elephas answers from your documents, not the internet, and when your documents do not support an answer, it says so.

## What Elephas does

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Keeps your documents in one place" icon="folder-open">
    Group your files into Brains: one for a client, a case, a research project or a course. Add files, whole folders or web pages.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Answers from your sources" icon="message">
    Ask a question and Elephas finds the passages that matter in your documents, then writes an answer grounded in them.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Cites every claim" icon="quote-right">
    Numbered citations show the exact passage from your file, so you can check the answer yourself in seconds.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Lets you choose where AI runs" icon="sliders">
    Use Elephas AI, your own API key, or Local AI that runs on your computer.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Who it is for

Elephas is built for people whose work lives in documents, often confidential ones: lawyers, accountants, consultants, researchers, financial advisors and small business owners. If you spend your day searching contracts, reports, filings, meeting notes or research papers, Elephas is the tool that reads alongside you and shows its work.

## How it works

<Steps>
  <Step title="Add your documents">
    Drop in your PDFs, Word and PowerPoint files, Excel sheets, Markdown notes, e-books, images and scanned pages. Elephas reads them on your computer, including text in scanned pages.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Elephas indexes them locally">
    Indexing happens on your computer. Always. Your documents stay stored on your computer. The search index and your chats are kept in an encrypted database.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Ask a question">
    Choose which Brains to ask, type your question, and get an answer with numbered citations. Click a number to see where it came from.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Three ways to get answers

You control where the AI that writes your answers runs. Change it any time in **Settings › AI**.

| Option | Where the answer is written | Good for |
| - | - | - |
| **Elephas AI** | In the cloud, through the Elephas gateway. Included with your plan. | Most people. Nothing to set up. |
| **Own API key** | In the cloud, sent directly to the provider you choose. | People who already pay for an AI provider. |
| **Local AI** | On your computer. Your question and passages are not sent anywhere. | Highly sensitive work. Needs a one-time download. |

With a cloud option, your question and the few passages needed to answer it are sent to the AI. By default, Elephas detects and hides many common personal details, such as names, contact details and ID numbers, before anything leaves your computer, then puts the real values back in the answer. See [what data is sent to AI](/docs/privacy-and-security/what-data-is-sent-to-ai) for the full picture.

## Privacy at a glance

* **Your files stay stored on your computer.** Your library is only copied off your computer if you turn on Personal Sync, which is end-to-end encrypted.
* **Indexing and search are local.** Reading your documents, scanned-page recognition and search all run on your computer.
* **You choose where AI runs.** Pick Local AI and the answer is written on your computer.
* **Sync is off until you turn it on.** Personal Sync is available on the Professional plan.
* **Reports never include your content.** Anonymous usage and error reports help us fix problems. They never include your documents, questions, answers or file names, and you can turn them off. See [usage reports](/docs/privacy-and-security/usage-reports).

Read more in the [privacy overview](/docs/privacy-and-security/privacy-overview).

## Plans

Elephas starts with a 7-day free trial. No card is needed. After that, choose Personal, Professional or Team, or talk to us about Enterprise. See [plans and pricing](/docs/plans-and-billing/plans-and-pricing).

<Note>
  Elephas runs on Apple Silicon Macs and Windows PCs. There is no iPhone or iPad app. Check the [system requirements](/docs/getting-started/system-requirements) before you install.
</Note>

## Related articles

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Quick start" href="/docs/getting-started/quick-start">
    Add your documents and ask your first question.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Key concepts" href="/docs/getting-started/key-concepts">
    Brains, documents, Ask, chats and citations explained.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Choose how Elephas answers" href="/docs/ai-options/choose-how-elephas-answers">
    Compare Elephas AI, own API key and Local AI.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Moving from classic Elephas" href="/docs/getting-started/moving-from-classic-elephas">
    How this app differs from the original Elephas for Mac.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>


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