Deploy AppFlowy

Bring projects, wikis, and teams together with AI. AppFlowy is the AI collaborative workspace where you achieve more without losing control of your data. The leading open source Notion alternative.

⭐ 68.0k stars📜 GNU Affero General Public License v3.0🔴 Advanced⏱ ~20 minutes

What You’ll Get

A fully working AppFlowy 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 AppFlowy and add this docker-compose.yml:


# -------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 🚀 Created and distributed by The AltStack
# 🌍 https://thealtstack.com
# -------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
# Docker Compose for AppFlowy Cloud
version: '3.8'
 
services:
  appflowy:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
    container_name: appflowy-cloud
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    environment:
      - DATABASE_URL=postgres://postgres:${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:-password}@db:5432/appflowy
      - REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
      redis:
        condition: service_healthy
    networks:
      - appflowy_net
    healthcheck:
      test: [ "CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:8080/health" ]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
 
  db:
    image: postgres:15-alpine
    container_name: appflowy-db
    environment:
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:-password}
      POSTGRES_DB: appflowy
    volumes:
      - appflowy_db_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    networks:
      - appflowy_net
    healthcheck:
      test: [ "CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U postgres" ]
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
 
  redis:
    image: redis:7-alpine
    container_name: appflowy-redis
    networks:
      - appflowy_net
    healthcheck:
      test: [ "CMD", "redis-cli", "ping" ]
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
 
networks:
  appflowy_net:
    driver: bridge
 
volumes:
  appflowy_db_data:
    name: appflowy_db_data

Let’s Ship It


# Create a directory
mkdir -p /opt/appflowy && cd /opt/appflowy
 
# 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://postgres:${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:-password}@db:5432/appflowy`	No
`REDIS_URL`	`redis://redis:6379`	No
`POSTGRES_PASSWORD`	`password`	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 appflowy | 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