Open-source enterprise AI application platform providing Agentic RAG, custom Agents, Deep Research, code execution, and multi-client access as an all-in-one generative AI gateway.
Onyx (formerly Danswer) is an open-source AI application platform for teams, positioned as the "application layer for LLMs." Its core capability centers on Agentic RAG — achieving high-quality enterprise knowledge retrieval and Q&A through a hybrid index (vector + keyword) combined with AI Agents. On this foundation, the platform extends to Deep Research (multi-step research workflows generating in-depth reports), Custom Agents (AI Agents with configurable instructions, knowledge, and Actions), Code Execution (sandboxed code execution and data analysis), Artifacts (downloadable artifact generation), Voice Mode (voice chat), Image Generation, and other rich interaction modalities.
For data ingestion, Onyx provides 50+ out-of-the-box Connectors covering mainstream SaaS and internal systems, with real-time sync and fine-grained access control. Agents can interact with external applications via MCP (Model Context Protocol) or custom Actions. The LLM layer uses a plugin-based architecture, supporting both self-hosted solutions (Ollama, LiteLLM, vLLM, etc.) and commercial APIs (Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, etc.).
Deployment offers two modes: Lite (<1GB RAM, Chat + Agent only) and Standard (full features including vector indexing, Redis, MinIO, etc.), with one-click Docker Compose installation and cloud deployment support for AWS/GCP/Azure/Digital Ocean. Client coverage spans Web UI, Desktop App (cross-platform), Chrome Extension, Website Widget, Slack/Discord Bots, MCP Server, and CLI — forming the "Onyx Anywhere" cross-client unified experience. The Enterprise Edition additionally provides SSO (Google OAuth/OIDC/SAML), SCIM user sync, RBAC, usage analytics, query auditing, and white-label customization, with SOC 2 Type II and GDPR compliance. The community edition uses the MIT Expat license, while enterprise code in the ee/ directory uses a separate license.
Unverified claims: Deep Research leaderboard specific source not provided; RAG benchmark win rates on the official site (vs ChatGPT 64%, vs Claude 68.1%, vs Notion AI 76%) have unverified full result pages; Enterprise Edition feature differences require separate documentation review; Mobile App not yet released; Danswer → Onyx rename timeline unconfirmed.