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Open Notebook

An open source, privacy-focused alternative to Google's Notebook LM!
Join our Discord server for help, to share workflow ideas, and suggest features!
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📚 Get Started · 📖 User Guide · ✨ Features · 🚀 Deploy

Deutsch | Español | français | 日本語 | 한국어 | Português | Русский | 中文

A private, multi-model, 100% local, full-featured alternative to Notebook LM

In a world dominated by Artificial Intelligence, having the ability to think 🧠 and acquire new knowledge 💡, is a skill that should not be a privilege for a few, nor restricted to a single provider.

Open Notebook empowers you to:

• 🔒 Control your data - Keep your research private and secure
• 🤖 Choose your AI models - Support for 18+ providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama, LM Studio, and more
• 📚 Organize multi-modal content - PDFs, videos, audio, web pages, and more
• 🎙️ Generate professional podcasts - Advanced multi-speaker podcast generation
• 🔍 Search intelligently - Full-text and vector search across all your content
• 💬 Chat with context - AI conversations powered by your research
• 🌐 Multi-language UI - English, Portuguese, Chinese (Simplified & Traditional), Japanese, Russian, and Bengali support

Learn more about our project at https://www.open-notebook.ai

🆚 Open Notebook vs Google Notebook LM

Why Choose Open Notebook?

• 🔒 Privacy First: Your sensitive research stays completely private
• 💰 Cost Control: Choose cheaper AI providers or run locally with Ollama
• 🎙️ Better Podcasts: Full script control and multi-speaker flexibility vs limited 2-speaker deep-dive format
• 🔧 Unlimited Customization: Modify, extend, and integrate as needed
• 🌐 No Vendor Lock-in: Switch providers, deploy anywhere, own your data

Built With

[![Python][Python]][Python-url] [![Next.js][Next.js]][Next-url] [![React][React]][React-url] [![SurrealDB][SurrealDB]][SurrealDB-url] [![LangChain][LangChain]][LangChain-url]

🚀 Quick Start (2 Minutes)

Prerequisites

• Docker Desktop installed
• That's it! (API keys configured later in the UI)

Step 1: Get docker-compose.yml

Option A: Download directly

curl -o docker-compose.yml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lfnovo/open-notebook/main/docker-compose.yml

Option B: Create the file manually Copy this into a new file called docker-compose.yml:

services:
  surrealdb:
    image: surrealdb/surrealdb:v2
    # Credentials default to root:root for a zero-config local setup. Before
    # exposing this instance to a network, set SURREAL_USER / SURREAL_PASSWORD
    # in a .env file (see .env.example) — they are applied here and to the
    # open_notebook service below, so the two always stay in sync.
    # List (exec) form so each interpolated value stays a single argument —
    # a password containing spaces would otherwise be split into several.
    command: ["start", "--log", "info", "--user", "${SURREAL_USER:-root}", "--pass", "${SURREAL_PASSWORD:-root}", "rocksdb:/mydata/mydatabase.db"]
    user: root  # Required for bind mounts on Linux
    ports:
      # Bound to localhost only: the open_notebook service reaches this over
      # the internal compose network regardless, so the host port is purely
      # for local debugging (e.g. Surrealist, `surreal sql`). Exposing this
      # on 0.0.0.0 would let anyone who can reach the host connect with the
      # default root:root credentials.
      - "127.0.0.1:8000:8000"
    volumes:
      - ./surreal_data:/mydata
    environment:
      - SURREAL_EXPERIMENTAL_GRAPHQL=true
    restart: always
    pull_policy: always

  open_notebook:
    image: lfnovo/open_notebook:v1-latest
    ports:
      - "8502:8502"  # Web UI
      - "5055:5055"  # REST API
    environment:
      # REQUIRED: Change this to your own secret string
      # This encrypts your API keys in the database
      - OPEN_NOTEBOOK_ENCRYPTION_KEY=change-me-to-a-secret-string

      # Database connection. SURREAL_USER / SURREAL_PASSWORD default to root:root
      # for local use; override them in a .env file before exposing the instance
      # (the same values configure the surrealdb service above).
      - SURREAL_URL=ws://surrealdb:8000/rpc
      - SURREAL_USER=${SURREAL_USER:-root}
      - SURREAL_PASSWORD=${SURREAL_PASSWORD:-root}
      - SURREAL_NAMESPACE=open_notebook
      - SURREAL_DATABASE=open_notebook
    volumes:
      - ./notebook_data:/app/data
    depends_on:
      - surrealdb
    restart: always
    pull_policy: always

Step 2: Set Your Encryption Key

Edit docker-compose.yml and change this line:

- OPEN_NOTEBOOK_ENCRYPTION_KEY=change-me-to-a-secret-string

to any secret value (e.g., my-super-secret-key-123)

Step 3: Start Services

docker compose up -d

Wait 15-20 seconds, then open: http://localhost:8502

Step 4: Configure AI Provider

1. Go to Models and choose your provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, etc.)
2. Click + Add Configuration
3. Paste your API key and other info as needed and click Add Configuration
4. Click Test to test connection
5. Click Sync Models and check models to include
6. Under Default Model Assignments, click Auto-Assign Defaults or manually specify which models to use for what

Done! You're ready to create your first notebook.

Need an API key? Get one from: OpenAI · Anthropic · Google · Groq (free tier)

Want free local AI? See examples/docker-compose-ollama.yml for Ollama setup

📚 More Installation Options

• With Ollama (Free Local AI) - Run models locally without API costs
• From Source (Developers) - For development and contributions
• Complete Installation Guide - All depl