usememos/memos

🔥 Hot★ 59,754GoAudience · vibe coderComplexity · 2/5ActiveLicenseSetup · moderate

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((Memos))
    What it does
      Quick note capture
      Markdown formatting
      Timeline interface
    Data & Storage
      SQLite support
      MySQL/PostgreSQL
      Portable files
    Deployment
      Single Go binary
      Docker one-liner
      Self-hosted only
    APIs & Integration
      REST API
      gRPC API
      Custom clients
    Use Cases
      Personal knowledge base
      Daily logging
      Thought capture

mindmap root((Memos)) What it does Quick note capture Markdown formatting Timeline interface Data & Storage SQLite support MySQL/PostgreSQL Portable files Deployment Single Go binary Docker one-liner Self-hosted only APIs & Integration REST API gRPC API Custom clients Use Cases Personal knowledge base Daily logging Thought capture

Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Build a personal knowledge base or daily journal that you fully control on your own server.

USE CASE 2

Quickly capture fleeting thoughts and ideas in a Twitter-like feed without managing folders or categories.

USE CASE 3

Integrate note-taking into other tools via REST or gRPC APIs to create custom workflows.

USE CASE 4

Deploy a lightweight note app on a home server or small VPS with minimal resource overhead.

Tech stack

GoSQLiteMySQLPostgreSQLDockerREST APIgRPC

Getting it running

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires Docker or manual database setup (SQLite/MySQL/PostgreSQL) and Go runtime.

Open source with permissive licensing allowing free use, modification, and distribution for any purpose including commercial use.

In plain English

Memos is a self-hosted note-taking application designed around quick, low-friction capture of thoughts and ideas. The problem it solves is that traditional note-taking apps either live in someone else's cloud where you have no control over your data, or require complex setup and maintenance. Memos gives you a Twitter-like timeline interface where you can rapidly jot down notes in Markdown format, meaning notes support formatting like bold text, bullet lists, and code snippets, but the focus is on getting thoughts down fast without navigating folders or categories. The application is designed to be exceptionally lightweight and simple to run. The entire server is a single Go binary of roughly 20 megabytes, and the recommended Docker installation is a one-line command. Data can be stored in SQLite for simple setups, or in MySQL or PostgreSQL for more robust deployments. Notes are stored as Markdown files, making them portable and readable outside the application. The server exposes both a REST API and a gRPC API, so you can integrate it with other tools or build your own clients on top of it. Memos collects no telemetry and has no external dependencies that phone home. You would reach for Memos when you want a personal knowledge base or daily log that you fully control, deployed on your own server or home network. It fills a similar niche to tools like Notion or Bear, but with the key difference that all your data stays on infrastructure you own. The tech stack is Go for the backend with a web frontend, running on Linux, macOS, or Windows.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

How do I set up Memos on my home server using Docker? Walk me through the one-line installation and basic configuration.

Prompt 2

Show me how to use the Memos REST API to programmatically create and retrieve notes from my self-hosted instance.

Prompt 3

What Markdown formatting does Memos support in notes? Give me examples of bold, lists, code snippets, and links.

Prompt 4

How do I migrate my notes from Notion or Bear into Memos while keeping them in Markdown format?

Prompt 5

Can I build a custom mobile client for Memos using the gRPC API? What would that look like?

Open on GitHub → Explain another repo

Generated 2026-05-18 · Model: sonnet-4-6 · Verify against the repo before relying on details.