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How to Build and Self-Host AI Notes Using Docker from Scratch

Follow these steps to set up AI Notes on your local machine or server using Docker.

Prerequisites​

  1. Install MongoDB and ensure it is running locally.
  2. Install Docker.
  3. Install Docker Compose.
  4. Set up an S3-compatible storage like Cloudflare R2, DigitalOcean Spaces, or Fly.io.
  5. Obtain API keys for OpenRouter if for AI features.
  6. Obtain API keys for Groq if for AI features.

Steps to Self-Host Using Docker​

Step 1: Build a docker image​

Step 1.1 Create a file docker image​

Filename: Dockerfile

# Stage 1: Clone
FROM alpine:latest as gitclone
RUN apk add --no-cache git
WORKDIR /app
RUN git clone https://github.com/thenbthoughts/ai-notes-xyz-client.git
RUN git clone https://github.com/thenbthoughts/ai-notes-xyz-api.git

# Stage 2: Build frontend
FROM node:22-trixie-slim AS buildfrontend
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=gitclone /app/ai-notes-xyz-client/package*.json ./
RUN npm install
COPY --from=gitclone /app/ai-notes-xyz-client ./
RUN npm run build

# Stage 3: Build api (dev deps → build → prune)
FROM node:22-trixie-slim AS buildapi
WORKDIR /app
ENV NODE_ENV=development
COPY --from=gitclone /app/ai-notes-xyz-api/package*.json ./
RUN npm install
COPY --from=gitclone /app/ai-notes-xyz-api/src ./src
COPY --from=gitclone /app/ai-notes-xyz-api/tsconfig.json ./tsconfig.json
RUN npm run build
ENV NODE_ENV=production
RUN npm prune --omit=dev

# Stage 4: Production
FROM node:22-trixie-slim AS production
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends bash && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
WORKDIR /app
ENV NODE_ENV=production
COPY --from=buildapi /app/build ./build
COPY --from=buildapi /app/package*.json ./
COPY --from=buildapi /app/node_modules ./node_modules
COPY --from=buildfrontend /app/dist ./dist
RUN node -e "require('fs').writeFileSync('./dist/DEPLOY_DATE.txt', new Date().toISOString())"
EXPOSE 2000
CMD ["npm", "start"]

Step 1.2 Build the docker image​

docker build -t ai-notes-xyz .

Step 2: Run the docker compose​

Step 2.1 Create a docker compose file​

Filename: docker-compose.yml

version: '3.8'

services:
  app:
    image: ai-notes-xyz:latest
    ports:
      - "53535:2000"
    environment:
      - MONGODB_URI=mongodb://host.docker.internal:27017/ai-notes-advance-temp
    container_name: ai-notes-app-username-aio
    extra_hosts:
      - "host.docker.internal:host-gateway"

Step 2.2 Run the docker compose​

docker-compose up -d

Step 3: Access the Application​

Open your browser and go to:

http://localhost:53535

Step 4: Stop application​

To stop and remove the containers, run:

docker-compose down