Deploy and Host Notesnook Sync Server on Railway

Notesnook is an open-source, end-to-end encrypted note-taking app. This template deploys the self-hosted Notesnook sync server: the backend that the official Notesnook apps (web, desktop, mobile) connect to instead of Notesnook's own servers, so your encrypted notes sync through infrastructure you control.

About Hosting Notesnook Sync Server

The sync server is six cooperating services, and this template runs and wires all of them: the sync API, the identity (authentication) server, a realtime events server, the Monograph published-notes server, MinIO for attachment storage, and MongoDB as a single-node replica set. Each public service receives its own HTTPS domain; the services reach each other over Railway's private network; the shared secret and storage credentials are generated for you; and the two data volumes (database and attachments) persist across redeploys. The container images are pinned, and the MongoDB and MinIO images are thin wrappers that initiate the replica set and create the attachments bucket at startup. After deploying, you point an official Notesnook app at your four service URLs under Settings → Servers, create your account, and then disable further signups.

Common Use Cases

Keep your personal notes end-to-end encrypted and synced entirely on your own server.
Run a private Notesnook backend for a family or a small team.
Publish selected notes as web pages through the built-in Monograph server.

Dependencies for Notesnook Sync Server Hosting

Docker images published by Notesnook (streetwriters/*), plus MongoDB and MinIO.
An official Notesnook client (web, desktop, or mobile) to connect to the server.
Optional SMTP credentials for password reset and email-based two-factor authentication.

Deployment Dependencies

Notesnook sync server — the upstream backend (AGPL-3.0).
Notesnook — the client apps (GPL-3.0).
Self-hosting guide — upstream documentation for connecting a client.

Implementation Details

Six services build from this template's repository, each from its own directory:

identity, notesnook-server, sse — streetwriters/*:v1.0-beta.36; monograph — streetwriters/monograph:1.3.1. Thin wrappers bake the fixed self-hosted settings (mode, port, database names, S3 bucket and region), so they are not deployment inputs. Healthchecks on /health and /api/health.
mongo — mongo:7.0.12, wrapped to initiate a single-node replica set advertised on localhost; clients connect with directConnection=true. Volume at /data.
minio — minio/minio with mc, wrapped to create the attachments bucket and keep data in a subdirectory of the volume. Healthcheck on /minio/health/live. Volume at /data.

The only settings you may change are INSTANCE_NAME (shown on the app's login screen) and DISABLE_SIGNUPS (set to true after you create your account). Without SMTP configured, switch two-factor auth to an authenticator app right after signing up, or you can lock yourself out.

Why Deploy Notesnook Sync Server on Railway?

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 Notesnook Sync Server 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.