{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "generated_at": "2026-10-22T00:00:00.000Z",
  "canonical_url": "https://openlogs.fyi/tools/open-notebook",
  "slug": "open-notebook",
  "name": "Open Notebook",
  "tagline": "AI research notebook, an open implementation of the NotebookLM idea.",
  "replaces": {
    "summary": "Paid AI research notebook services, such as Google NotebookLM.",
    "products": [
      {
        "slug": "google-notebooklm",
        "name": "Google NotebookLM",
        "vendor": "Google",
        "url": "https://openlogs.fyi/alternatives/google-notebooklm"
      }
    ]
  },
  "stack": [
    {
      "kind": "language",
      "name": "TypeScript"
    }
  ],
  "deployment_methods": [
    "docker_compose"
  ],
  "requirements": {
    "min_ram_mb": null,
    "min_cpu_cores": null,
    "source_url": null
  },
  "license": {
    "spdx": "MIT",
    "class": "osi",
    "source_url": "https://github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/a0f6f3081ae06328f0a451b3a3ef2959ca25721d/LICENSE"
  },
  "business_model": {
    "value": "unknown",
    "notes": "The README at the pinned commit does not state a business model, so it stays unknown.",
    "source_url": "https://github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/a0f6f3081ae06328f0a451b3a3ef2959ca25721d/README.md",
    "checked_at": "2026-10-22"
  },
  "difficulty": {
    "value": "easy",
    "reason": "2 services, 2 volume mounts, no env values to set, no elevated host access. Heuristic score 2 of 11: easy."
  },
  "repository": {
    "owner": "lfnovo",
    "name": "open-notebook",
    "url": "https://github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook"
  },
  "compose_check": {
    "status": "config_ok",
    "validated_at": "2026-10-22",
    "summary": "config_ok on 2026-10-22"
  },
  "recipe": {
    "version": 1,
    "source_path": "docker-compose.yml",
    "source_repo": "lfnovo/open-notebook",
    "source_commit_sha": "a0f6f3081ae06328f0a451b3a3ef2959ca25721d",
    "source_kind": "app_repo",
    "source_url": "https://github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/a0f6f3081ae06328f0a451b3a3ef2959ca25721d/docker-compose.yml"
  },
  "install_steps": [
    {
      "order": 1,
      "kind": "prerequisite",
      "language": "text",
      "label": "Docker with the Compose plugin",
      "body": "A host with Docker and the Docker Compose plugin. This entry runs from a compose file.",
      "source_url": "https://github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/a0f6f3081ae06328f0a451b3a3ef2959ca25721d/docker-compose.yml",
      "validation_status": "unvalidated"
    },
    {
      "order": 2,
      "kind": "compose",
      "language": "yaml",
      "label": "Save the compose file as docker-compose.yml",
      "body": "services:\n  surrealdb:\n    image: surrealdb/surrealdb:v2\n    # Credentials default to root:root for a zero-config local setup. Before\n    # exposing this instance to a network, set SURREAL_USER / SURREAL_PASSWORD\n    # in a .env file (see .env.example) — they are applied here and to the\n    # open_notebook service below, so the two always stay in sync.\n    # List (exec) form so each interpolated value stays a single argument —\n    # a password containing spaces would otherwise be split into several.\n    command: [\"start\", \"--log\", \"info\", \"--user\", \"${SURREAL_USER:-root}\", \"--pass\", \"${SURREAL_PASSWORD:-root}\", \"rocksdb:/mydata/mydatabase.db\"]\n    user: root  # Required for bind mounts on Linux\n    ports:\n      # Bound to localhost only: the open_notebook service reaches this over\n      # the internal compose network regardless, so the host port is purely\n      # for local debugging (e.g. Surrealist, `surreal sql`). Exposing this\n      # on 0.0.0.0 would let anyone who can reach the host connect with the\n      # default root:root credentials.\n      - \"127.0.0.1:8000:8000\"\n    volumes:\n      - ./surreal_data:/mydata\n    environment:\n      - SURREAL_EXPERIMENTAL_GRAPHQL=true\n    restart: always\n    pull_policy: always\n\n  open_notebook:\n    image: lfnovo/open_notebook:v1-latest\n    ports:\n      - \"8502:8502\"  # Web UI\n      - \"5055:5055\"  # REST API\n    environment:\n      # REQUIRED: Change this to your own secret string\n      # This encrypts your API keys in the database\n      - OPEN_NOTEBOOK_ENCRYPTION_KEY=change-me-to-a-secret-string\n\n      # Database connection. SURREAL_USER / SURREAL_PASSWORD default to root:root\n      # for local use; override them in a .env file before exposing the instance\n      # (the same values configure the surrealdb service above).\n      - SURREAL_URL=ws://surrealdb:8000/rpc\n      - SURREAL_USER=${SURREAL_USER:-root}\n      - SURREAL_PASSWORD=${SURREAL_PASSWORD:-root}\n      - SURREAL_NAMESPACE=open_notebook\n      - SURREAL_DATABASE=open_notebook\n\n      # OPTIONAL: heavy extraction runtimes, installed on first startup when\n      # enabled (downloads are cached on the ./notebook_data volume, so only the\n      # first boot is slow). See docs/5-CONFIGURATION/environment-reference.md.\n      # - OPEN_NOTEBOOK_ENABLE_DOCLING=true    # Docling engine + OCR + image sources (large ML stack)\n      # - OPEN_NOTEBOOK_ENABLE_CRAWL4AI=true   # local Crawl4AI (bundles a Chromium browser)\n      # - CRAWL4AI_API_URL=http://crawl4ai:11235  # use a remote Crawl4AI server instead (no local install)\n      # - CRAWL4AI_API_TOKEN=${CRAWL4AI_API_TOKEN}  # bearer token for that server (required by Crawl4AI >= 0.9.0)\n\n      # OPTIONAL: max concurrent background tasks the worker processes at once\n      # (default 5). Set to 1 for sequential processing on single-GPU / local\n      # LLM setups to avoid overloading the model with parallel requests.\n      # - OPEN_NOTEBOOK_WORKER_MAX_TASKS=1\n    volumes:\n      - ./notebook_data:/app/data\n    depends_on:\n      - surrealdb\n    restart: always\n    pull_policy: always\n",
      "source_url": "https://github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/a0f6f3081ae06328f0a451b3a3ef2959ca25721d/docker-compose.yml",
      "validation_status": "config_ok"
    },
    {
      "order": 3,
      "kind": "env",
      "language": "text",
      "label": "Set the values the compose file needs",
      "body": "Replace the placeholder values listed under Gotchas.",
      "source_url": "https://github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/a0f6f3081ae06328f0a451b3a3ef2959ca25721d/docker-compose.yml",
      "validation_status": "unvalidated"
    },
    {
      "order": 4,
      "kind": "shell",
      "language": "bash",
      "label": "Start it",
      "body": "docker compose up -d",
      "source_url": "https://github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/a0f6f3081ae06328f0a451b3a3ef2959ca25721d/docker-compose.yml",
      "validation_status": "unvalidated"
    },
    {
      "order": 5,
      "kind": "verify",
      "language": "text",
      "label": "Open the app",
      "body": "Open http://localhost:8502. The compose file publishes host port 8502 for the open_notebook service.",
      "source_url": "https://github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/a0f6f3081ae06328f0a451b3a3ef2959ca25721d/docker-compose.yml",
      "validation_status": "unvalidated"
    }
  ],
  "notes": [
    {
      "kind": "gotcha",
      "title": "The compose file has placeholder values",
      "body": "Placeholder values: OPEN_NOTEBOOK_ENCRYPTION_KEY is \"change-me-to-a-secret-string\" (open_notebook).",
      "source_url": "https://github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/a0f6f3081ae06328f0a451b3a3ef2959ca25721d/docker-compose.yml",
      "checked_at": "2026-10-22"
    },
    {
      "kind": "gotcha",
      "title": "The compose file publishes host ports",
      "body": "Host ports: 127.0.0.1:8000 (surrealdb), 8502 (open_notebook), 5055 (open_notebook). A port without a host address listens on all host network interfaces.",
      "source_url": "https://github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/a0f6f3081ae06328f0a451b3a3ef2959ca25721d/docker-compose.yml",
      "checked_at": "2026-10-22"
    },
    {
      "kind": "gotcha",
      "title": "The compose file mounts host folders",
      "body": "Host paths mounted into containers: ./surreal_data at /mydata (surrealdb), ./notebook_data at /app/data (open_notebook).",
      "source_url": "https://github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/a0f6f3081ae06328f0a451b3a3ef2959ca25721d/docker-compose.yml",
      "checked_at": "2026-10-22"
    }
  ],
  "signals": {
    "captured_at": "2026-10-22",
    "stars": 40457,
    "forks": 4653,
    "open_issues": 180,
    "last_push": "2026-10-20",
    "days_since_push": 1,
    "latest_release": "v1.15.0",
    "latest_release_date": "2026-10-04",
    "days_since_release": 17
  },
  "links": {
    "html": "https://openlogs.fyi/tools/open-notebook",
    "markdown": "https://openlogs.fyi/tools/open-notebook.md",
    "json": "https://openlogs.fyi/tools/open-notebook.json"
  },
  "updated_at": "2026-10-22"
}