OpenNotebook

To run:

docker run -d \
  --name open-notebook \
  -p 8502:8502 -p 5055:5055 \
  -v ./notebook_data:/app/data \
  -v ./surreal_data:/mydata \
  -e OPENAI_API_KEY=your_key \
  lfnovo/open_notebook:v1-latest-single

-d runs the container in detached mode
--name open-notebook names the container for easy reference
-p 8502:8502 -p 5055:5055 maps ports for the web interface and API access
-v ./notebook_data:/app/data and -v ./surreal_data:/mydata mount local folders to persist notes and database files. This ensures that your data is stored on your machine and remains intact even if the container is restarted
-e OPENAI_API_KEY=your_key allows integration with OpenAI models if desired
lfnovo/open_notebook:v1-latest-single specifies the container image

After running the container, navigate to:

Main Interface: http://localhost:8502
API Access: http://localhost:5055
API Documentation: http://localhost:5055/docs

After deployment, two folders appear in the local directory:

notebook_data: Stores all notes, summaries, and AI-processed content
surreal_data: Contains underlying database files for Open Notebook's internal storage

docker run -d \
  --name open-notebook \
  -p 8502:8502 -p 5055:5055 \
  -v ./notebook_data:/app/data \
  -v ./surreal_data:/mydata \
  lfnovo/open_notebook:v1-latest-single

Docker compose

services:
  surrealdb:
    image: surrealdb/surrealdb:v2
    command: start --user root --pass password --bind 0.0.0.0:8000 rocksdb:/mydata/mydatabase.db
    ports:
      - "8000:8000"
    volumes:
      - ./surreal_data:/mydata

  open_notebook:
    image: lfnovo/open_notebook:v1-latest-single
    pull_policy: always
    ports:
      - "8502:8502"  # Web UI (React frontend)
      - "5055:5055"  # API (required!)
    environment:
      # NO API KEYS NEEDED - Using Ollama (free, local)
      - OLLAMA_API_BASE=http://ollama:11434

      # Database (required)
      - SURREAL_URL=ws://surrealdb:8000/rpc
      - SURREAL_USER=root
      - SURREAL_PASSWORD=password
      - SURREAL_NAMESPACE=open_notebook
      - SURREAL_DATABASE=open_notebook
    volumes:
      - ./notebook_data:/app/data
      - ./surreal_data:/mydata
    depends_on:
      - surrealdb
    restart: always

  ollama:
    image: ollama/ollama:latest
    ports:
      - "11434:11434"
    volumes:
      - ./ollama_models:/root/.ollama
    environment:
      # Optional: set GPU support if available
      - OLLAMA_NUM_GPU=0
    restart: always

NOTE: If you want to run Ollama locally (to more easily use GPUs, I think), make sure OLLAMA_API_BASE=http://host.docker.internal:11434

Reading

Articles

https://dev.to/theairabbit/testing-open-notebook-a-complete-walkthrough-with-gemini-ai-4ggj

Tags: ai studio

Last modified 22 March 2026

OpenNotebook

An open-source collection of notebooks for LLMs.

Reading

Articles