Perplexica is now Vane.
Keep your data.

What changed

Perplexica, the open-source AI answering engine, was renamed to Vane and continues in the same GitHub repository under the new name. It is the same project, not a fork or a competing product. Older tutorials, videos, and forum answers may still use the Perplexica name.

The current official documentation uses these names:

Image

itzcrazykns1337/vane:latest, or slim-latest for your own SearXNG

Container

vane

Data

The named volume vane-data, mounted at /home/vane/data

When an older guide and the current repository disagree, follow the current Vane documentation.

Check where your data lives first

Before you stop or remove anything, look at your existing container. Your container, image, and volume names may differ from the current documentation, especially if you installed under the Perplexica name or wrote your own command.

docker ps -a
docker volume ls

Then inspect the mounts of your existing container. Replace YOUR_CONTAINER with the name shown by the first command:

docker container inspect --format '{{json .Mounts}}' YOUR_CONTAINER

The output shows each volume name and the path where it is mounted inside the container. Write these down before you continue.

Vane’s documentation does not describe how to move data from a differently named volume or an older Perplexica data layout. If your names differ, keep the old volume, back it up using Docker’s volume documentation, and ask in the upstream GitHub issues before deleting anything. A volume is persistent storage, not a backup by itself.

Update the Docker image

For the standard pre-built image, the official updating guide pulls the latest image, stops and removes the old container, and starts a new one with the same volume:

docker pull itzcrazykns1337/vane:latest
docker stop vane
docker rm vane
docker run -d -p 3000:3000 -v vane-data:/home/vane/data --name vane itzcrazykns1337/vane:latest

Removing the container does not remove the vane-data volume. Upstream states that your settings are preserved automatically with this method. If you use the loopback binding from our installation guide, keep -p 127.0.0.1:3000:3000 instead of -p 3000:3000. Apply any other port, mount, or environment changes you made too.

Slim image with your own SearXNG

The standard image bundles SearXNG. If you already run SearXNG, the slim image connects to it through SEARXNG_API_URL. The official update sequence is:

docker pull itzcrazykns1337/vane:slim-latest
docker stop vane
docker rm vane
docker run -d -p 3000:3000 -e SEARXNG_API_URL=http://your-searxng-url:8080 -v vane-data:/home/vane/data --name vane itzcrazykns1337/vane:slim-latest

Replace http://your-searxng-url:8080 with your SearXNG address. The Vane README requires the JSON format to be enabled in your SearXNG settings and the Wolfram Alpha search engine to be enabled.

Built from source with Docker

If you built your own image, pull the latest code, rebuild, and recreate the container:

cd Vane
git pull origin master
docker build -t vane .
docker stop vane
docker rm vane
docker run -d -p 3000:3000 -v vane-data:/home/vane/data --name vane vane

This command uses the volume mount from the README’s build-from-source instructions. The example in the updating guide omits -v. Data stored only in a container’s writable layer is removed together with that container. Keep the same volume mount you used when you first created it.

Without Docker

For a non-Docker installation, update the code, install new dependencies, rebuild, and restart:

cd Vane
git pull origin master
npm i
npm run build
npm run start

Non-Docker installs need your own SearXNG instance, with JSON format and the Wolfram Alpha engine enabled. Upstream states that settings are preserved automatically.

After updating

1. Open http://localhost:3000 or your usual address.
2. Check that your model providers and settings are still there.
3. If the page does not load, check the container status and logs:

docker ps -a --filter name=vane
docker logs --tail 100 vane

If Vane starts but cannot reach Ollama or a local model server, follow our Ollama connection troubleshooting guide. Inside a container, localhost refers to the container, not your computer.

Sources and editorial notes

• Vane — Perplexica-to-Vane rename
• Vane — README installation instructions
• Vane — updating guide
• Docker — volumes, backup, and restore
• Docker — container inspect

This independent guide is not affiliated with the Vane project. We have not tested a migration from a Perplexica installation ourselves. Upstream software can change after the documentation check date.