What it does
Feynman is an AI research agent you use from the terminal. You ask it a question and it searches sources such as arXiv, PubMed and Semantic Scholar, plus the web and your own PDFs.
It has ready-made jobs such as literature reviews, deep research with citation checks, paper critiques, comparing sources and summarising a paper. Results are saved as files, some with a list of the sources used.
You connect it to an AI model provider of your choice; the README also mentions local models. It sends anonymous usage data, which its makers say excludes your prompts and results, and this can be turned off.
Who it's for
Researchers, students and anyone who needs to review scientific literature.
Can I use it without coding?
With some setup. Installed with a one-line script and used by typing commands in a terminal. New to this? Start here.
Can I run it?
- Cost
- Free, but needs an AI accountThe software is free, but it uses an online AI service (like OpenAI or Anthropic), which usually charges for use.
- Runs on
- Mac, Windows, Linux
- Computer
- An ordinary computer is fine
- Privacy
- Your choice: run it on your device or use an online service
- API key
- Not needed
Try it
- Install Feynman using the one-line installer for your system from the README.
- Run its setup step to sign in to an AI model provider.
- Type a research question and Feynman saves its findings as files.
Using Claude Code, Cursor or another AI coding assistant? Paste the prompt and it will walk you through the setup.New to this?
Before you install
- Only download from the official GitHub page. Copies with similar names exist for many popular projects.
- License (MIT): Very permissive: free to use, change and share, including for business.
- More on staying safe