Deploy AFFiNE

There can be more than Notion and Miro. AFFiNE(pronounced [ə‘fain]) is a next-gen knowledge base that brings planning, sorting and creating all together. Privacy first, open-source, customizable and ready to use.

⭐ 62.7k stars📜 Other🔴 Advanced⏱ ~20 minutes

What You’ll Get

A fully working AFFiNE instance running on your server. Your data stays on your hardware — no third-party access, no usage limits, no surprise invoices.

Prerequisites

A server with Docker and Docker Compose installed (setup guide)
A domain name pointed to your server (optional but recommended)
Basic terminal access (SSH)

The Config

Create a directory for AFFiNE and add this docker-compose.yml:


# -------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 🚀 Created and distributed by The AltStack
# 🌍 https://thealtstack.com
# -------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
# Docker Compose for AFFiNE
version: '3.8'
 
services:
  affine:
    image: ghcr.io/toeverything/affine-graphql:latest # Using official as fallback but custom build setup exists in Dockerfile
    container_name: affine
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      - DATABASE_URL=postgres://affine:affine@db:5432/affine
      - REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379
      - NODE_ENV=production
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
      redis:
        condition: service_healthy
    networks:
      - affine_net
    healthcheck:
      test: [ "CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:3000/" ]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
 
  db:
    image: postgres:15-alpine
    container_name: affine-db
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: affine
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: affine
      POSTGRES_DB: affine
    volumes:
      - affine_db_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    networks:
      - affine_net
    healthcheck:
      test: [ "CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U affine" ]
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
 
  redis:
    image: redis:7-alpine
    container_name: affine-redis
    networks:
      - affine_net
    healthcheck:
      test: [ "CMD", "redis-cli", "ping" ]
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
 
networks:
  affine_net:
    driver: bridge
 
volumes:
  affine_db_data:
    name: affine_db_data

Let’s Ship It


# Create a directory
mkdir -p /opt/affine && cd /opt/affine
 
# Create the docker-compose.yml (paste the config above)
nano docker-compose.yml
 
# Pull images and start
docker compose up -d
 
# Watch the logs
docker compose logs -f

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Required
`DATABASE_URL`	`postgres://affine:affine@db:5432/affine`	No
`REDIS_URL`	`redis://redis:6379`	No
`NODE_ENV`	`production`	No

Post-Deployment Checklist

Service is accessible on the configured port
Admin account created (if applicable)
Reverse proxy configured (Caddy guide)
SSL/HTTPS working
Backup script set up (backup guide)
Uptime monitor added (Uptime Kuma)

The “I Broke It” Section

Container won’t start?


docker compose logs affine | tail -50

Port already in use?


# Find what's using the port
lsof -i :PORT_NUMBER

Need to start fresh?


docker compose down -v  # ⚠️ This deletes volumes/data!
docker compose up -d