--- title: I stopped uploading sensitive documents to Claude after... description: An open-source desktop app called Cherry Studio is presented as a self-hosted alternative to uploading sensitive documents to cloud AI tools like Claude.... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-uploading-sensitive-documents-to-claude-after-finding-a-self-hosted-tool-that-handles-them-pqm806tbm twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: I stopped uploading sensitive documents to Claude after finding a self-hosted tool that handles them just as well | daily.dev og:description: An open-source desktop app called Cherry Studio is presented as a self-hosted alternative to uploading sensitive documents to cloud AI tools like Claude.... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-uploading-sensitive-documents-to-claude-after-finding-a-self-hosted-tool-that-handles-them-pqm806tbm og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/pqm806tBm.png og:image:alt: I stopped uploading sensitive documents to Claude after finding a self-hosted tool that handles them just as well og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # I stopped uploading sensitive documents to Claude after finding a self-hosted tool that handles them just as well **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 4 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary An open-source desktop app called Cherry Studio is presented as a self-hosted alternative to uploading sensitive documents to cloud AI tools like Claude. Cherry Studio acts as a front-end for both cloud providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, DeepSeek, Qwen) and local models via Ollama or LM Studio, and supports importing documents (PDF, Word, Excel, Markdown, URLs) into a local knowledge base for RAG-style querying. The author notes that full privacy requires a local embedding model, since cloud embedders still send document content off-device during indexing. A filesystem MCP feature lets the model read files directly from a folder on demand, though the author cautions about limiting folder permissions for security. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How can I keep my documents fully private when using Cherry Studio for RAG? Full privacy requires using a local embedding model rather than a cloud embedder. If a cloud embedder like OpenAI's is used for better recall, documents still get sent to that provider during indexing, so sensitive files should only be processed with a locally hosted embedding model, such as one set up through LM Studio or Ollama. _Anyone weighing local versus cloud AI setups for private data can track these tradeoffs on daily.dev._ ### What file types can Cherry Studio import into its knowledge base? Cherry Studio's knowledge base accepts PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, plain text, Markdown files, and URLs. Chats can also be exported back out in most of these same formats, and a filesystem MCP feature lets a model read files directly from a local folder on demand instead of requiring manual import into the knowledge base. _Developers comparing self-hosted AI workspace tools can follow feature breakdowns like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [I run Claude, ChatGPT, and my local LLM through one interface, and I'm not going back](https://daily.dev/posts/i-run-claude-chatgpt-and-my-local-llm-through-one-interface-and-i-m-not-going-back-4btre1plt) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [My phone runs an AI assistant entirely offline, and I stopped uploading my documents to cloud chatbots](https://daily.dev/posts/my-phone-runs-an-ai-assistant-entirely-offline-and-i-stopped-uploading-my-documents-to-cloud-chatbo-jxd4me3ze) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Medium](https://daily.dev/posts/medium-kz1oa1nub) · Medium · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Give Claude AI Full Access to Your Local Filesystem With MCP](https://daily.dev/posts/give-claude-ai-full-access-to-your-local-filesystem-with-mcp-s4qnn8j4o) · The New Stack · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#privacy](https://daily.dev/tags/privacy), [#rag](https://daily.dev/tags/rag), [#self-hosting](https://daily.dev/tags/self-hosting), [#local-ai](https://daily.dev/tags/local-ai) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-uploading-sensitive-documents-to-claude-after-finding-a-self-hosted-tool-that-handles-them-pqm806tbm) ```json 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