How to Deploy NoteDiscovery with Docker and Ollama AI

In this tutorial you'll deploy NoteDiscovery, the self-hosted knowledge base with AI-powered discovery, using Docker — then connect it to AI assistants via MCP and optionally add a fully local Ollama stack. The whole thing takes about five minutes.

Step 1 — Run it with Docker

Create a data directory and start the container. Your notes will be stored in ./data/:

mkdir -p notediscovery/data && cd notediscovery
docker run -d --name notediscovery -p 8000:8000 \
  -v $(pwd)/data:/app/data \
  ghcr.io/gamosoft/notediscovery:latest

Open http://localhost:8000 — you're done. Write your first note, star favorites, and watch the graph view build itself as you add links.

The editor and sidebar — clean, fast, and fully yours.

Step 2 — Use Docker Compose (recommended)

For production, grab the pre-built compose file:

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gamosoft/notediscovery/main/docker-compose.ghcr.yml
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ghcr.yml up -d

Step 3 — Connect AI via MCP

NoteDiscovery includes a built-in MCP server. Add this to your Cursor or Claude Desktop config to let AI search, create, and organize your notes:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "notediscovery": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "--rm", "-i",
        "-e", "NOTEDISCOVERY_URL=http://host.docker.internal:8000",
        "ghcr.io/gamosoft/notediscovery:latest",
        "python", "-m", "mcp_server"]
    }
  }
}

Now try: "Find all my notes about Docker deployment" or "Move all project notes to the archive folder". The assistant operates on your notes directly.

Step 4 — Add a fully local AI stack

Want semantic search without any cloud API? The docker-compose.ollama-stack.yml file spins up NoteDiscovery + Ollama + Open WebUI with a single command, giving you an entirely local AI knowledge base — perfect for privacy-critical or air-gapped environments.

That's it — a private, AI-ready knowledge base running on your own hardware. For system requirements, Docker configs, and more, check the tool page.