compare

nectar and openwiki

How does nectar compare to openwiki? They are genuinely on the same side of the same problem, and they take opposite paths. openwiki documents your repo into a committed wiki. nectar recalls the right file by meaning, whether or not anyone documented it. Close, but a different job, not competition.

Download How nectar compares

What openwiki is

openwiki, from LangChain, is a small open-source command-line tool. It collects git evidence, runs a language-model agent to write markdown pages into an openwiki folder, commits them, and appends a reference into your AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md so your coding agent knows to read them. A scheduled job keeps the wiki fresh and opens a pull request with the changes. It is a documentation generator, not a recall engine.

Where we agree

Both help a coding agent understand a repository without you stuffing everything into an instructions file. Both use a language model to describe a codebase. Both keep themselves fresh over time, and both commit an artifact your teammates inherit. We are genuinely on the same side of the same problem.

Where nectar is different

nectar

what it produces: + a searchable index queried by meaning
finds an un-named file: + yes by meaning
stable file identity: + yes survives renames
freshness: + continuous
leaves your source untouched: + yes
fuses with your memory: + yes
free, zero infrastructure: ~ part of the suite

openwiki

what it produces: ~ a readable wiki the agent greps it
finds an un-named file: x only if documented
stable file identity: x no
freshness: ~ scheduled drifts between runs
leaves your source untouched: x no edits your instruction files
fuses with your memory: x no
free, zero infrastructure: + yes openwiki's real strength

	nectar	openwiki
what it produces	yes. a searchable index queried by meaning	partial. a readable wiki the agent greps it
finds an un-named file	yes. yes by meaning	no. only if documented
stable file identity	yes. yes survives renames	no. no
freshness	yes. continuous	partial. scheduled drifts between runs
leaves your source untouched	yes. yes	no. no edits your instruction files
fuses with your memory	honeycomb advantage. yes	no. no
free, zero infrastructure	partial. part of the suite	honeycomb advantage. yes openwiki's real strength

Capability comparison, not a benchmark. From openwiki's public materials and our survey, captured 2026-06 and 2026-07.

The concrete test.

Ask "where is the login logic" when the file is session-refresh.ts. openwiki helps only if its generated prose connected that file to login and the agent grepped the right page. nectar returns it because its description sits near "login" in meaning, regardless of the file's name. That is the whole difference: a doc you read versus a memory you query.

See how nectar works

recall "refresh token rotation"

auth/refresh-token.ts:42 ✓ verified

rotate the refresh token on every use; the old one is revoked server side.

auth/refresh-token.ts:42 personal 0.94

session:2f9c-deploy-staging

staging deploys run from the release branch, never from a feature branch.

session:2f9c-deploy-staging personal 0.89

db/migrations/notes.md:7 ✓ verified

add the column nullable first, backfill, then set not null in a later migration.

db/migrations/notes.md:7 personal 0.82

Common questions

What is openwiki?

A small open-source command-line tool from LangChain. It writes markdown pages into an openwiki folder, commits them, and references them from your AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md so your agent reads them. A scheduled job keeps it fresh.

How is nectar different from openwiki?

openwiki produces a wiki your agent greps. nectar produces a searchable index your agent queries by meaning, so it finds the right file even when its name never says so.

Could openwiki and nectar work together?

Yes. A committed openwiki wiki is markdown nectar could ingest and make semantically recallable, turning one tool's output into the other's input.

When should I pick openwiki?

Pick openwiki for a free, readable wiki committed to your repo. Pick nectar to find the right file by meaning even when nothing documented it, with recall fused with your memory.

Find the file no wiki mentioned.

nectar installs with the rest of the stack. Ask a plain question and get the right file back.

Windows (PowerShell): irm https://get.theapiary.sh/install.ps1 | iex

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