diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3dcc161..e8a3f98 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ What's your use case?
 
 ### Use GUI
 
-Currently memery has a rough browser-based GUI. To launch it, run the following in a command line: 
+Currently memery has a rough browser-based GUI. To launch it, run the following in a command line:
 
 ```memery serve```
 
@@ -117,6 +117,18 @@ Beneath these widgets is the output area for temporary messages displayed with e
 
 The right hand panel displays the images and associated options. Major errors will appear here as giant stack traces; sometimes, changing variables in the other widgets will fix these errors live. If you get a large error here it's helpful to take a screenshot and share it with us in Github Issues.
 
+### Use the native desktop app (MVP)
+
+For a quick "just run it" desktop experience without opening your browser, memery now ships a minimal Tkinter shell. Launch it from a terminal with:
+
+```
+memery-native
+```
+
+Pick a folder, type a text query (or pick an image to search by similarity), set how many results you want, and click **Search**. Double-click a result to open it with your operating system's default viewer.
+
+The first search in a folder will take longer while CLIP downloads and the index is built. After that, searches run from the cached index in the selected folder.
+
 ### Use CLI
 
 The memery command line matches the core functionality of memery.
diff --git a/memery/native_app.py b/memery/native_app.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..10b8ebd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/memery/native_app.py
@@ -0,0 +1,151 @@
+"""
+Simple Tkinter-based desktop shell for Memery.
+"""
+
+import os
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import threading
+import time
+import tkinter as tk
+from tkinter import filedialog, messagebox
+from typing import List, Optional
+
+from memery.core import Memery
+
+
+class NativeMemeryApp:
+    def __init__(self) -> None:
+        self.memery = Memery()
+        self.root = tk.Tk()
+        self.root.title("Memery – Desktop Search")
+        self.root.geometry("720x520")
+
+        self.folder_var = tk.StringVar(value=os.getcwd())
+        self.text_var = tk.StringVar()
+        self.image_var = tk.StringVar()
+        self.results: List[str] = []
+        self.status_var = tk.StringVar(value="Pick a folder and run a search.")
+        self.number_var = tk.IntVar(value=10)
+
+        self._build_layout()
+
+    def _build_layout(self) -> None:
+        top_frame = tk.Frame(self.root, padx=12, pady=8)
+        top_frame.pack(fill=tk.X)
+
+        tk.Label(top_frame, text="Image folder:").grid(row=0, column=0, sticky="w")
+        folder_entry = tk.Entry(top_frame, textvariable=self.folder_var, width=60)
+        folder_entry.grid(row=0, column=1, sticky="we", padx=(6, 6))
+        tk.Button(top_frame, text="Browse", command=self._choose_folder).grid(row=0, column=2)
+
+        tk.Label(top_frame, text="Text query:").grid(row=1, column=0, sticky="w", pady=(8, 0))
+        text_entry = tk.Entry(top_frame, textvariable=self.text_var, width=60)
+        text_entry.grid(row=1, column=1, sticky="we", padx=(6, 6), pady=(8, 0))
+
+        tk.Label(top_frame, text="Image query (optional):").grid(row=2, column=0, sticky="w", pady=(8, 0))
+        image_entry = tk.Entry(top_frame, textvariable=self.image_var, width=60)
+        image_entry.grid(row=2, column=1, sticky="we", padx=(6, 6), pady=(8, 0))
+        tk.Button(top_frame, text="Pick Image", command=self._choose_image).grid(row=2, column=2, pady=(8, 0))
+
+        tk.Label(top_frame, text="Results to show:").grid(row=3, column=0, sticky="w", pady=(8, 0))
+        tk.Spinbox(top_frame, from_=1, to=100, textvariable=self.number_var, width=6).grid(row=3, column=1, sticky="w", pady=(8, 0))
+
+        top_frame.columnconfigure(1, weight=1)
+
+        action_frame = tk.Frame(self.root, padx=12, pady=8)
+        action_frame.pack(fill=tk.X)
+        tk.Button(action_frame, text="Search", command=self._start_search, width=12).pack(side=tk.LEFT)
+        tk.Label(action_frame, textvariable=self.status_var, anchor="w").pack(side=tk.LEFT, padx=(12, 0))
+
+        results_frame = tk.Frame(self.root, padx=12, pady=8)
+        results_frame.pack(fill=tk.BOTH, expand=True)
+
+        tk.Label(results_frame, text="Results:").pack(anchor="w")
+        self.results_box = tk.Listbox(results_frame, selectmode=tk.SINGLE)
+        self.results_box.pack(fill=tk.BOTH, expand=True, pady=(6, 0))
+        self.results_box.bind("<Double-Button-1>", self._open_selected)
+
+    def _choose_folder(self) -> None:
+        folder = filedialog.askdirectory(initialdir=self.folder_var.get())
+        if folder:
+            self.folder_var.set(folder)
+
+    def _choose_image(self) -> None:
+        filepath = filedialog.askopenfilename(
+            title="Choose an image query",
+            filetypes=[("Images", "*.png *.jpg *.jpeg *.bmp *.gif"), ("All files", "*.*")],
+        )
+        if filepath:
+            self.image_var.set(filepath)
+
+    def _start_search(self) -> None:
+        folder = self.folder_var.get().strip()
+        text_query = self.text_var.get().strip() or None
+        image_query = self.image_var.get().strip() or None
+        limit = max(1, self.number_var.get())
+
+        if not text_query and not image_query:
+            messagebox.showinfo("Memery", "Please provide a text or image query to search.")
+            return
+
+        self.status_var.set("Searching… this can take a moment the first time.")
+        self.results_box.delete(0, tk.END)
+
+        threading.Thread(
+            target=self._run_search,
+            args=(folder, text_query, image_query, limit),
+            daemon=True,
+        ).start()
+
+    def _run_search(self, folder: str, text_query: Optional[str], image_query: Optional[str], limit: int) -> None:
+        start_time = time.time()
+        try:
+            ranked = self.memery.query_flow(folder, query=text_query, image_query=image_query)
+            results = ranked[:limit] if ranked else []
+            duration = time.time() - start_time
+            self.root.after(0, self._present_results, results, duration)
+        except Exception as exc:  # noqa: BLE001
+            self.root.after(0, self._handle_error, exc)
+
+    def _present_results(self, results: List[str], duration: float) -> None:
+        self.results = results
+        self.results_box.delete(0, tk.END)
+        for item in results:
+            self.results_box.insert(tk.END, item)
+        if results:
+            self.status_var.set(f"Found {len(results)} results in {duration:.1f}s.")
+        else:
+            self.status_var.set("No results returned.")
+
+    def _handle_error(self, exc: Exception) -> None:
+        self.status_var.set("Search failed.")
+        messagebox.showerror("Memery", str(exc))
+
+    def _open_selected(self, _event=None) -> None:
+        selection = self.results_box.curselection()
+        if not selection:
+            return
+        filepath = self.results_box.get(selection[0])
+        self._open_file(filepath)
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _open_file(filepath: str) -> None:
+        if sys.platform.startswith("darwin"):
+            subprocess.run(["open", filepath], check=False)
+        elif os.name == "nt":
+            os.startfile(filepath)  # type: ignore[attr-defined]
+        else:
+            subprocess.run(["xdg-open", filepath], check=False)
+
+    def run(self) -> None:
+        self.root.mainloop()
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+    app = NativeMemeryApp()
+    app.run()
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index ed57053..ac31cd7 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ protobuf = "^3.20.0"
 
 [tool.poetry.scripts]
 memery = "memery.cli:main"
+memery-native = "memery.native_app:main"
 
 [tool.poetry.dev-dependencies]
 ipywidgets = "^7.7.0"