Purpose-Built for African American Genealogical Research

The Records Exist.
Your Ancestors'
Stories Are Waiting.

Krio Griot is the only platform built to cross the 1870 Brick Wall — an AI research agent, a relational family database, and a digital archive system working together as a single connected workspace that replaces every paper worksheet you've ever had to fill out by hand.

See the Approach
100+
Specialized Databases
4
Linked Record Systems
1870
Wall — Crossed
Ancestors Directory
Elias Perrin · Gen. 4 · Paternal
c. 1848, Alabama · Status: Enslaved → Free
Linked to 3 events · 2 sources
Research Log · Auto-Generated
Freedmen's Bureau Search
Searched: Alabama, 1865–1868 · Status: Found
Labor contract record located
Archive Scanner · Auto-Extracted
Manumission Deed, 1863
Parties: 3 · Location: 1 · Date: 1 · Auto-saved
Awaiting link to ancestor
Family Tree · GEDCOM Import
Aisha Abdul Rahman · Gen. 0 · Self
Parents linked · 2,959 relatives · 5 generations
Tree built from GEDCOM + manual edits
Collection Management · Digitized
Dixon–Queen Family Archive
47 items · Photos, Deeds, Letters · Tagged
Linked to 12 ancestors · 3 events
What It Does

Three Powerful Tools. One Connected Workspace.

Krio Griot is built around three interlocking components that work together in a single interface — replacing every paper genealogy worksheet you've ever used with an automated, interconnected system that thinks the way a serious researcher does.

Component 1 · Research Assistant

Describe an ancestor and the research engine searches 100+ specialized genealogical databases simultaneously. Every search is automatically recorded in a structured research log — including databases checked, keywords used, and whether results were positive or negative. It works as a background processor: reading, extracting, formatting, and populating your database cells without manual data entry.

Component 2 · Digital Collection Management

Upload a scanned document, photograph, or PDF. The Archive Scanner runs text recognition on the file, then identifies historical facts, extracts names, dates, and locations, and auto-fills the proper archival metadata fields. Your digitized collection becomes a searchable, linked database instead of a folder of disconnected files.

Component 3 · Interactive Family Tree

Import your GEDCOM file from Ancestry, FamilySearch, or Geni and every person, family connection, and date loads instantly into an interactive pedigree chart. Pan, zoom, search by name, expand or collapse any branch, and click any card to edit that person's full research profile. Relationships that are missing can be connected directly on the tree — no separate spreadsheet required.

Four interconnected databases — structured like Airtable:
Ancestors Directory Historical Events Timeline Research Log Digital Archive
The Hardest Problem in American Genealogy

Built to Cross the 1870 Brick Wall

The 1870 Federal Census was the first to name formerly enslaved people as free individuals. For millions of African American families, that's where standard genealogy tools stop. Krio Griot is built to go further — organizing and cross-referencing the specialized record sets that document Black lives before, during, and immediately after emancipation.

Before 1870

Enslaved individuals were counted but not named in census records. Standard genealogy platforms have no path forward from here.

THE
WALL
Reconstruction Era Records

Five specialized record sets that name your ancestors — and Krio Griot is purpose-built to search, extract, and organize all of them.

Freedmen's Bureau Records
1865 – 1872

Labor contracts, marriage registers, apprenticeship records, ration rolls, and medical logs created by the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. Often the earliest documentary evidence of an ancestor's full name, family structure, and location.

Full namesFamily membersPlantation of originLabor terms
Antebellum Slave Schedules
1850 & 1860 Census

The schedules don't use names — but Krio Griot cross-references age, sex, and physical descriptions against known slaveholders, neighboring plantations, and post-war Freedmen's Bureau records to build a bridge across the anonymity gap.

Age matchingSlaveholder linksCounty cross-reference
Freedom Certificates & Manumission Records
1780s – 1865

Court registries, deeds of freedom, and physical description records documenting free people of color before emancipation. These records frequently include family relationships, ages, and the name of the person who granted freedom — a critical link to slaveholder records.

Physical descriptionsDeed referencesGrantor names
Freedman's Savings & Trust Bank Registers
1865 – 1874

The most genealogically rich Reconstruction-era record set. Each depositor entry lists immediate family members by name, military regiment, birthplace, former enslaver, and current address — a single bank record can unlock an entire family branch.

Immediate kinshipUSCT regimentBirthplaceFormer enslaver
"Information Wanted" Advertisements
1865 – 1900

Published in Black newspapers — primarily the Christian Recorder and the Southwestern Christian Advocate — by freedpeople searching for family members separated during slavery. These ads name individuals, former slaveholders, and last known locations, making them a powerful migration and separation tracker.

Migration routesSeparation eventsLast known location
Platform Architecture

Three Components. Four Databases. One Workspace.

Built like Airtable for genealogy — every record is editable in-cell, every table is linked to every other, and the research engine works silently in the background so you spend time on research, not data entry.

01
Component One

Research Assistant

Enter an ancestor's name and known details. The research engine searches over 100 specialized databases simultaneously — Freedmen's Bureau, census archives, USCT military rolls, slave schedules, church registers, DNA databases, newspaper archives, and state repositories — then streams results back in real time with source citations and follow-up research questions.

Unlike a chatbot, it doesn't wait for prompts. It reads the search results, identifies relevant records, extracts the historical facts, and writes the data directly into your research log and ancestor profiles. Every search is permanently recorded — what was searched, what was found, and what still needs to be answered.

Automated Research Available Free
02
Component Two

Digital Collection Management

Upload a scanned photograph, a handwritten letter, a census page, or a multi-page PDF. The Archive Scanner runs OCR on the file and the research engine identifies every historical fact, formats it against archival standards, and auto-populates the metadata fields. No manual typing.

Organize scanned items into named collections, build digital exhibits for your family, and publish them publicly or privately. Every archive item automatically links to the ancestors it mentions and the research questions it answers — creating a fully cross-referenced family history library.

Vision + OCR Basic & Upgrade
03
Component Three

Interactive Family Tree

Import your GEDCOM file exported from Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, or Geni and your entire family tree — every person, every relationship, every date — loads instantly into an interactive pedigree chart. Pan and zoom across hundreds of generations, search by name to center the view on any ancestor, and expand or collapse individual branches to focus your research.

Click any card to open that person's full research profile — editing names, dates, places, notes, and linked sources without leaving the tree. For relationships that are incomplete or missing, Edit Mode lets you connect a parent directly on the canvas: search for the father or mother by name, select them, save — and the branch redraws immediately.

GEDCOM Import Available Free
Four Interconnected Databases

Each table is editable directly inside cells — filter, sort, bulk-select, and edit without opening a separate form. Every record across every table is linked.

Ancestors Directory
One row per unique individual

The central directory for every person in your family tree. Each row tracks an individual's name, life status (Enslaved / Free Person of Color / Post-Emancipation), birth and death dates, family connections, DNA test matches with shared cMs, and links to parents, spouses, and children that generate a digital family tree.

Name & aliasesLife statusBirth / death / burial Family linksDNA cM valuesGeneration & line
Historical Events Timeline
One row per life event

Every significant moment in an ancestor's life gets its own row — a birth event, a land deed, an enlistment record, an emancipation filing, a marriage registration. Rows stack chronologically to build a clear, evidence-based life story map with source citations attached to each event.

Event typeEvent dateLocation Source citationLinked ancestorEvidence quality
Research Log
Continuous audit trail

A permanent record of every research action taken — auto-generated by the AI agent or manually entered. Tracks which databases were searched, what keywords were used, the search date, the result status (found / not found / inconclusive), and the open research questions still waiting to be answered.

Research questionDatabases searchedKeywords used Result statusLinked ancestorGPS checklist
Digital Archive
Scanned files + AI-generated metadata

Where your uploaded files live as permanent archival records. Each row stores the original scanned file, the raw transcribed text extracted from it, the standardized metadata tags generated automatically, and automatic links to every ancestor mentioned in the document — creating a fully searchable digital family library.

Uploaded fileOCR transcriptAI metadata Format & conditionLinked ancestorsCollection
Intelligent automation works as a background processor, not a chatbot
When a document is uploaded or a search is run, the research engine reads the raw output, extracts the relevant historical facts, formats them to the correct database fields, and saves the data automatically. No prompts required. No copy-pasting. No manual transcription.
Plans & Pricing

Start Free. Go Deeper When You're Ready.

Every account begins as a free digital workspace. Upgrade as your research grows — unlocking AI automation, expanded databases, and unlimited archival storage.

Monthly Annual
Starter

Free

$0 / forever

The digital replacement for paper genealogy worksheets. Build your tree, enter records manually, and get a firsthand look at what AI can do.

What's included
  • Interactive family tree with GEDCOM import
  • Edit & connect relationships directly on the tree
  • DNA match entry forms (manual)
  • 5–10 public-domain database searches
  • 3–5 Archive Scanner AI scans (lifetime preview)
  • View digital exhibits created by others
  • 250–500 MB cloud storage
What's not included
  • Automated research logging
  • Persistent research log & source database
  • Unlimited Archive Scanner scans
  • Create or publish digital exhibits
After your 5th scan, you'll see exactly how much time the research engine saves — and a direct path to unlock unlimited scanning.
Power Researcher & Archivist

Upgrade

$49 / month

Deep AI analysis, unlimited bulk processing, and public exhibit publishing — for professional genealogists and large family archive collections.

Everything in Basic, plus:
  • All 100+ databases including deep-web state & local archives
  • Advanced analytics — spelling variants, naming patterns, brick-wall strategies
  • Unlimited Archive Scanner — bulk PDF & ZIP uploads
  • Publish public and private digital exhibits
  • Multi-tree & client project management
  • 100 GB – 1 TB high-capacity cloud storage

No contracts · Cancel anytime

Full Comparison
Feature Free
$0
Basic
$25/mo
Upgrade
$49/mo
Research Tools
Pedigree Chart & DNA Tree Unlimited Unlimited
Relationship Calculator
Search Databases 5–10 Public 100+ Complete
Automated Research Log Manual Entry Analytics + Variants
Archive Scanner
AI Metadata Scans 3–5 Total (lifetime) Unlimited
Bulk PDF / ZIP Upload
Exhibits & Collections
Digital Exhibits View Only Public & Private
Storage
Cloud Storage 250–500 MB 100 GB – 1 TB
Done