Name: Deploy EdgeEver Notes with MCP
Availability: InStock
Author: onepush

Deploy and Host self hosted EdgeEver (Notes with MCP) on Railway

This template deploys EdgeEver, an open-source notes workspace, as one Railway service with SQLite and a persistent volume. It is independently maintained packaging based on EdgeEver, not affiliated with or endorsed by its maintainers or Evernote.

About Hosting EdgeEver open-source software on Railway (self hosted EdgeEver template)

Your notes stay in your own EdgeEver instance. Back up the volume, since it holds your data.

Why Deploy EdgeEver, the open-source notes workspace on Railway (Railway Free Trial)

Self-hosting EdgeEver on Railway keeps your notes on infrastructure you control. Costs depend on usage, so watch the resource numbers in the dashboard for a few days.

Railway is a singular platform to deploy your infrastructure stack. Railway will host your infrastructure so you don't have to deal with configuration, while allowing you to vertically and horizontally scale it.

By deploying EdgeEver on Railway, you are one step closer to supporting a complete full-stack application with minimal burden. Host your servers, databases, AI agents, and more on Railway.

Railway vs Other Hosting Providers and VPS for EdgeEver self hosting

Picking a host means choosing how much of the setup you run yourself.

Provider	What You Get with Railway	What You Get with the Other Provider
DigitalOcean	A template deploy with HTTPS, health checks, and a persistent /data volume already wired up.	A full Linux droplet you manage, including updates, TLS, and backups.
AWS	One service and one volume with no VPC or IAM setup before your first login.	Deep networking and storage control that pays off at scale but adds configuration for one notes instance.
Hetzner	Managed deployment, domain, and restarts without touching SSH or systemd.	Low-cost bare servers with generous resources, suited to people comfortable administering Linux.

Whichever you choose, keep one replica, since EdgeEver uses a single SQLite database.

Common Use Cases for hosted EdgeEver

Organizing notes in notebooks: Create notebooks for projects, reading lists, or household records, and move notes between them.
Clipping research from the browser: Install the web clipper and point it at your Railway URL. Clips arrive as clean Markdown.
Syncing desktop and mobile clients: Point the desktop, mobile, or web app at your Railway domain to keep notes in step.
API and MCP access for agents: Create a token under Profile, then API / MCP, and copy the Remote MCP configuration into a tool such as Claude Code or Cursor.
Optional AI assistance: AI is not required to run EdgeEver. If you want it, add your own model key in the app settings.

Dependencies for EdgeEver Docker hosted on Railway

This template runs one EdgeEver service on Railway from the image ghcr.io/onepush-dev/edgeever:v2.18.0, wrapping the unchanged upstream application. Railway generates the administrator password automatically, so you supply no deployment inputs.

Deployment Dependencies for Managed EdgeEver Service (one Bun service, SQLite, resources and credential encryption secret on /data)

The template creates one Bun service backed by SQLite. Keep one replica, since SQLite is a single-instance store.

Variable	Required	Notes
EDGE_EVER_AUTH_PASSWORD	Yes	Generated by Railway as a 32-character secret. Upstream will not start without it.
Admin username	Baked in	Fixed to admin in the image.
Port 8080	Baked in	Railway routes your public domain to it.

Optional S3 storage, session lifetime, and credential encryption key settings are not template variables. Add them later in Variables if needed.

Implementation Details for EdgeEver (Using onepush-dev v2.18.0 packaging around unchanged upstream app code, with Railway volume ownership fix)

The upstream base image is digest-pinned, and the deployed image is tagged v2.18.0. The packaging adds one startup step. The /api/health endpoint reports whether the service is up. Sign in as admin with the generated password from Variables, then change it.

How does EdgeEver compare against other tools

EdgeEver vs Evernote (Evernote Alternative)

Ownership: EdgeEver is open-source under AGPL-3.0 and you run the instance yourself. It is independent of and not endorsed by Evernote.
Agent access: EdgeEver ships a built-in MCP endpoint, so tools like Claude Code and Cursor can read and write your notes with a token you create under Profile, then API / MCP.
Where Evernote wins: Evernote has more mature multi-device sync and a polished hosted service with no setup.

EdgeEver vs Notion (Notion Alternative)

Hosting model: Notion is a hosted workspace. EdgeEver stores its SQLite database and attachments on a Railway volume at /data, which you control and can back up.
Structure: EdgeEver uses a classic three-pane layout (notebooks, note list, editor) rather than block-based pages.
Where Notion wins: Notion has a larger template ecosystem, database views, and collaboration features.

EdgeEver vs Joplin (Joplin Alternative)

Sync without a paid tier: EdgeEver includes sync across web, desktop and mobile clients pointed at your own instance, without a separate subscription.
Web workspace and agents: EdgeEver includes a full browser workspace and MCP access for agents out of the box.
Where Joplin wins: Joplin is a mature open-source notes app with wide platform support and a large plugin community.

EdgeEver with Docker vs EdgeEver on Railway (Railway Template)

Setup: The Railway template deploys one Bun service with the admin password generated in Variables, so you write no Dockerfile or compose file.
Persistence: On Railway the /data volume holds edgeever.sqlite, edgeever-secrets.json and resources, so keep the service at one replica because SQLite is single-instance.
Control: Docker on your own VPS gives more control over the host, networking, and backups, at the cost of doing that work yourself.

How to use EdgeEver on Railway?

Work through these steps after the deploy finishes.

Open the public domain Railway assigned to the EdgeEver service, or your own domain.
Log in as admin with the generated value of EDGE_EVER_AUTH_PASSWORD, then change it soon after.
Go to Profile, then User accounts, to add members. Each one gets an isolated workspace.
Create your first notebook from the sidebar to confirm that saving works.
Go to Profile, then API / MCP, and create a token. Copy the generated remote client config into your MCP-capable tool, such as Claude Code or Cursor.
Point the web clipper, desktop app or mobile app at your Railway domain.

To confirm the service is healthy, run this from any terminal:

curl https://your-domain/api/health

A healthy instance returns JSON with ok set to true.

How to self host EdgeEver on other VPS Services (EdgeEver self hosting guide)

Clone the Repository

Start on a server you control, with your-domain pointing at it. Clone the upstream project and follow the self-hosting guide for your release.

git clone https://github.com/tianma-if/edgeever.git
cd edgeever

Install Dependencies

Install Docker and a reverse proxy such as Caddy or nginx that terminates HTTPS for your-domain. Keep EdgeEver behind the proxy rather than exposing it directly.

Configure Environment Variables

Set the admin password before the service is reachable from outside.

EDGE_EVER_AUTH_PASSWORD=use-a-long-random-value

Use a long, random value. Check upstream release notes for other storage or session options.

Start the EdgeEver Application

Follow the upstream Docker instructions for your release. Serve it over HTTPS at your-domain, then sign in as admin and confirm the health endpoint responds.

Official Pricing of EdgeEver (EdgeEver pricing)

This template is independently maintained packaging based on EdgeEver, an open-source notes workspace released under the AGPL-3.0 license. Self-hosting it is free. You pay for your infrastructure and any model or mail provider you add.

EdgeEver hosted vs self hosted comparison (Pricing, features, costs, and more)

This template is self-hosted software, not a hosted subscription. The EdgeEver project publishes upstream demos, but this template gives you your own instance to run.

Monthly cost of self hosting EdgeEver on Railway

Railway bills by usage, so cost depends on RAM and CPU use, the /data volume size, and other project services.

System Requirements for Hosting EdgeEver on a VPS

A VPS needs enough memory for a Bun process and SQLite, plus disk for notes and attachments. See the upstream guide for details.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Where do I find the login password?

Sign in as admin using the value of EDGE_EVER_AUTH_PASSWORD, which Railway generates and shows in the EdgeEver service Variables. Change it after your first login.

Is a model API key required?

No. AI features are optional and configured inside the app, with your own key if you want them.

How do agents connect to my instance?

Go to Profile, then API / MCP, create a token, and copy the Remote MCP configuration into your client such as Claude Code or Cursor.

What should I back up?

Export a ZIP from Profile, then Import and export, and keep the full /data volume (SQLite database, attachments, and credential encryption secret).

Can I add replicas?

Keep one replica. EdgeEver uses a single local SQLite database, so multiple instances would not share data safely.

Is this endorsed by the EdgeEver maintainers?

No. This is independently maintained packaging based on EdgeEver, not affiliated with or endorsed by its maintainers or Evernote. Source: https://github.com/onepush-dev/edgeever.