Fireplexity - Open-Source AI Smart Search Engine

Project Overview

Fireplexity is an open-source AI search engine developed based on Firecrawl technology, offering real-time citations, streaming responses, and live data capabilities. As an open-source alternative to Perplexity AI, Fireplexity empowers developers to build their own customized AI search experiences without relying on third-party services.

Core Features

🔥 Real-time Web Intelligence Search

• Utilizes the Firecrawl API for JavaScript rendering and reliable web content crawling
• Intelligent algorithms score content for relevance, identifying the most important information on a page
• Supports crawling complex website structures, including JavaScript-heavy sites

🧠 Streaming AI Synthesis with Citations

• Generates answers in real-time using GPT-4o-mini, supporting any OpenAI-compatible endpoint
• Streaming technology displays the answer generation process in real-time
• Every statement is backed by verifiable citations

🔗 Interactive Citation System

• Every part of every answer is supported by a source, allowing users to hover for citation content previews
• Instant citation preview feature enhances transparency and trustworthiness
• Built-in real-time stock chart detection, supporting over 180 companies

🚀 Production-Ready Quick Deployment

• Deploy a complete answer engine within 5 minutes
• No vendor lock-in, completely open source
• Modular architecture for easy extension and customization

Tech Stack

Frontend Technologies

• Next.js 15: As the core framework, handling client-side interactions and server-side operations, supporting App Router and Server-Side Rendering
• React: For building interactive user interfaces
• Tailwind CSS: A utility-first CSS framework
• shadcn/ui + Radix UI: Accessible UI component libraries

Backend Technologies

• Firecrawl API: Core web crawler and search service
• Vercel AI SDK: AI integration and streaming response handling
• OpenAI API: Defaults to GPT-4o-mini, supports switching to other compatible models

Development Tools

• TypeScript: Type-safe JavaScript superset
• ESLint: Code quality checking
• Prettier: Code formatting

Installation and Usage

Quick Start

# Clone the project
git clone https://github.com/mendableai/fireplexity.git
cd fireplexity

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Copy environment configuration file
cp .env.example .env.local

Environment Variable Configuration

Add your API keys to the .env.local file:

FIRECRAWL_API_KEY=fc-your-api-key
GROQ_API_KEY=gsk_your-groq-api-key

Start Development Server

npm run dev

Visit http://localhost:3000 to view the application.

Project Architecture

Application Structure

The project adopts Next.js's App Router structure, where routes directly correspond to folder structure:

• /chat - Chat interface route
• /auth - User authentication route
• Automatic code splitting, on-demand loading

Core Components

1. Search Component: Handles user query input
2. Response Stream Component: Displays AI-generated answers in real-time
3. Citation Component: Manages and displays content sources
4. Stock Chart Component: Displays real-time financial data

Data Flow

1. User inputs query → Firecrawl Search API
2. Content crawling and processing → AI model analysis
3. Streaming answer generation → Real-time display to user
4. Citation link integration → Interactive preview

Use Cases

Enterprise Internal Knowledge Base

• Connects to company internal documents or private network content
• Provides direct, cited answers to teams
• Significantly improves information access speed

Professional Research Tool

• Builds specialized search engines for specific domains (finance, law, scientific research)
• Focuses on credible sources, providing unparalleled accuracy
• Supports domain-specific query optimization

Customized Search Experience

• Full control over search logic and user interface
• No third-party dependencies, protecting data privacy
• Extensible functionality based on specific needs

Open Source Advantages

Full Control

• Open source code, complete control over your destiny
• Ability to inspect every line of code, ensuring data privacy
• Unlimited customization capabilities

No Vendor Lock-in

• Not reliant on third-party services that may change pricing, terms, or availability
• Long-term stability and sustainability
• Complete data ownership

Community Driven

• Active developer community
• Continuous feature improvements and bug fixes
• Rich documentation and examples

Cost Analysis

Primary Costs

• Firecrawl API: Starting from $20/month (2000 pages)
• OpenAI API: GPT-4o-mini approximately $0.15 per 1000 tokens
• Hosting Costs: From free (Vercel hobby plan) to production environment $20-50/month

Cost Advantages

• Pay only for actual API calls used
• No additional subscription fees or per-user charges
• Predictable operating costs

Extensibility and Customization

Model Flexibility

Supports any OpenAI-compatible API endpoint:

• Claude
• Llama
• Other models providing OpenAI-compatible interfaces

UI Customization

Built on Next.js, every aspect of the interface can be modified:

• Custom themes and styles
• Adding new functional components
• Integrating third-party services

Feature Extension

Modular design facilitates adding new features:

• Integrating additional data sources
• Customizing AI processing pipelines
• Adding support for new content types

Comparison with Competitors

vs Perplexity AI

• ✅ Fully open source, no black box
• ✅ Self-deployable, data privacy
• ✅ No usage restrictions
• ✅ Fully customizable

vs Traditional Search Engines

• ✅ Direct answers instead of link lists
• ✅ AI-driven content synthesis
• ✅ Real-time citation verification
• ✅ Contextual understanding capabilities

License

The project uses the MIT open-source license, allowing commercial use and free modification.

Community and Support

• GitHub Repository: https://github.com/firecrawl/fireplexity
• Firecrawl Discord Community: Get help and share customizations
• Documentation: Comprehensive API documentation and usage guides
• Example Projects: Rich application examples and templates

Conclusion

Fireplexity provides developers with a complete toolkit for building custom AI search experiences, without waiting for others to build the tools they need. By combining advanced web crawling technology, intelligent content selection, and streaming AI synthesis, Fireplexity makes building production-grade AI answer engines accessible. Whether for enterprise internal knowledge bases, professional research tools, or any domain-specific answer engine, Fireplexity offers a solid technical foundation.