ChaosGone
ende
GitHub
  • Free
  • Open source (MIT)
  • Runs on a Raspberry Pi

Stop searching your basement.

ChaosGone is a free, open-source inventory app. Photograph your things, let AI describe them, and find anything again in seconds.

View on GitHub How it works
Search results for “schraube” in the ChaosGone app
Home screen of the ChaosGone app with colourful box tiles
A collection of dowels and screws with a contents list

The problem

You own it. You just can't find it.

The 8 mm drill bit, the bike tube, the spare bulbs: they are somewhere in the basement. After an hour of digging through boxes you buy a new one. Again.

  • Bought twiceThings you already own, bought again because you couldn't find them.
  • An hour lostDigging through boxes for something that takes a minute to use.
  • No overviewNobody knows what is in which box. Not even you.

How it works

Three steps. No spreadsheet.

  1. Photograph

    Snap each thing with your phone, or a whole tin of dowels as one collection. Got hundreds? Import them in one batch.

  2. Let AI describe

    Claude writes the name, a description and a contents list. You review and correct it whenever you like.

  3. Find in seconds

    One search box. Typos, plurals and half words just work, in German and English.

Features

Built for a real basement

  • Box tiles

    A handful of big, thumb-friendly tiles: bicycle, tools, sports.

  • Smart search

    Fuzzy and German-aware. Free and local; ask Claude only when you want to.

  • Collections

    Assortments become lists: dowels, screws and washers, sorted by kind.

  • Batch import

    Hundreds of photos in one go. Review the results at your own pace.

  • Barcode scan

    Scan EAN codes with your phone camera.

  • Yours by design

    A SQLite file and a photo folder at home. No account, no lock-in.

Free & open source

Runs on a Raspberry Pi. Costs nothing.

  • MIT licensed: use it, change it, share it.
  • No account, no subscription, no tracking.
  • Hosts on a Raspberry Pi, any Linux box or in Docker.
  • Your data is one SQLite file plus a photo folder: back it up with a simple copy.
  • The optional AI features use your own Claude API key. You pay only for what you use.

Install on your Pi

$ git clone https://github.com/jzakotnik/chaosgone.git
$ cd chaosgone && npm install
$ cp .env.example .env.local  # add your API key
$ npm run build && pm2 start ecosystem.config.cjs
# then open http://raspihome:3500

FAQ

Good to know

Is it really free?

Yes. ChaosGone is MIT-licensed open source: no account, no subscription, no ads. The only cost is optional: photo recognition uses the Claude API with your own key, and you pay Anthropic for what you use.

What do I need to run it?

A Raspberry Pi with a 64-bit OS, any Linux machine, or Docker. Setup is a handful of commands with pm2 or Docker; the README walks you through it.

Do my photos leave my network?

Photos are stored on your own machine. Only when you use a Claude feature (identify, batch import, regenerate) is the downscaled photo sent to Anthropic's API. The normal search never calls the API; the optional AI search sends the inventory as text, without photos.

Does it work without AI?

Yes. You can add items by hand and search them. Only photo recognition and the AI search need an API key.

Which languages does it speak?

The interface is in German and English, and Claude writes descriptions in the language you selected.

Tame your basement chaos.

Grab the code, put it on a Raspberry Pi and finally know where everything is.

View on GitHub Read the docs

Like it? Buy me a coffee on ko-fi.com/jzakotnik