Ask HN: Why Try RAG on the Client Side? Is Local-First RAG Practical?

Came across MeMemo, which runs Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) directly on the client side using WebGPU. No server calls, full privacy, and faster responses—sounds great, but I’m wondering:

What’s the catch? How do you scale vector search or manage embeddings locally? Can this handle complex use cases, or is it mostly for lightweight tasks? How do we navigate browser limitations, UX challenges, or security concerns in a setup like this?

Curious if anyone here has tried client-side RAG or sees a compelling use case for it. Is this approach worth exploring for privacy-focused apps, or are we not there yet?