Memos

beginner

Privacy-first lightweight note-taking service.

Overview

Memos is an open-source, privacy-first note-taking service designed for quick capture and organization of thoughts, ideas, and information. Created as a lightweight alternative to traditional note-taking platforms, Memos emphasizes speed and simplicity with a Twitter-like interface that encourages brief, focused entries. The application stores all data locally, ensuring complete privacy and control over your notes without relying on external cloud services. This Docker deployment provides a self-hosted Memos instance using the official neosmemo/memos image, creating a personal knowledge base that runs entirely under your control. The containerized setup ensures consistent performance across different environments while maintaining data persistence through Docker volumes. This configuration is perfect for individuals and teams who want a fast, private note-taking solution that can be accessed from any device on their network. Memos excels at capturing fleeting thoughts, daily observations, and quick reminders while providing powerful search and organization features to help you rediscover your notes later.

Key Features

Twitter-like quick capture interface for rapid note entry without friction
Full Markdown support with real-time syntax highlighting and preview
Built-in daily review system to help rediscover and archive old notes
RESTful API for automation, integrations, and custom workflow development
Tag-based organization system for flexible note categorization and filtering
Full-text search across all notes with instant results
Mobile-responsive web interface accessible from any device
Export functionality to backup notes in various formats

Common Use Cases

1Personal knowledge management for developers tracking code snippets and technical notes
2Daily journaling and thought capture for productivity enthusiasts and writers
3Team knowledge sharing in small development teams or startups
4Research note organization for students and academics working on projects
5Quick idea capture for entrepreneurs and creative professionals
6Technical documentation and troubleshooting notes for system administrators
7Meeting notes and action item tracking for remote teams

Prerequisites

Docker and Docker Compose installed on your system
Minimum 512MB RAM available for the Memos container
Port 5230 available and not in use by other services
Basic understanding of web-based applications for initial setup
Storage space for persistent note data (starts minimal, grows with usage)
Network access to the Docker host for web interface access

For development & testing. Review security settings, change default credentials, and test thoroughly before production use. See Terms

docker-compose.yml

1services: 
2  memos: 
3    image: neosmemo/memos:stable
4    container_name: memos
5    restart: unless-stopped
6    ports: 
7      - "5230:5230"
8    volumes: 
9      - memos_data:/var/opt/memos
10
11volumes: 
12  memos_data:

.env Template

.env

1# No environment variables required

Usage Notes

1Docs: https://usememos.com/docs
2Access at http://localhost:5230 - register first user as admin
3Twitter-like quick capture with
4Markdown support with syntax highlighting
5Daily review and archive features
6API available for integrations and automation

Quick Start

terminal

1# 1. Create the compose file
2cat > docker-compose.yml << 'EOF'
3services:
4  memos:
5    image: neosmemo/memos:stable
6    container_name: memos
7    restart: unless-stopped
8    ports:
9      - "5230:5230"
10    volumes:
11      - memos_data:/var/opt/memos
12
13volumes:
14  memos_data:
15EOF
16
17# 2. Create the .env file
18cat > .env << 'EOF'
19# No environment variables required
20EOF
21
22# 3. Start the services
23docker compose up -d
24
25# 4. View logs
26docker compose logs -f

One-Liner

Run this command to download and set up the recipe in one step:

terminal

1curl -fsSL https://docker.recipes/api/recipes/memos/run | bash

Troubleshooting

Container fails to start with permission errors: Ensure the memos_data volume has proper read/write permissions and check Docker daemon permissions
Web interface shows 'Connection refused' after startup: Wait 30-60 seconds for Memos to fully initialize before accessing http://localhost:5230
Cannot register first admin user: Clear browser cache and ensure no existing data in the memos_data volume from previous installations
API requests return authentication errors: Verify you're logged in as admin and check API token generation in user settings
Notes not persisting after container restart: Confirm the memos_data volume is properly mounted and not being cleared by Docker cleanup commands
Markdown rendering appears broken: Check for conflicting browser extensions that modify page content or try accessing from an incognito window

Community Notes

Loading notes...

Download Recipe Kit

Get all files in a ready-to-deploy package

Includes docker-compose.yml, .env template, README, and license

Components

memos

Related Recipes

Ad Space

Shortcuts: C CopyF FavoriteD Download