Your Self-Hosted Knowledge Base: NoteDiscovery
Ever feel like your notes are scattered across too many apps? Or maybe you're wary of putting your personal documentation in yet another cloud service? There's something appealing about keeping your knowledge base close to home, under your control.
That's where NoteDiscovery comes in—a simple, self-hosted web application that turns a directory of markdown files into a clean, searchable knowledge base. No databases, no complex setup, just your files and a straightforward interface.
What It Does
NoteDiscovery is a PHP application that scans a specified folder for markdown files and presents them as a searchable web interface. It automatically indexes your notes and provides full-text search capabilities, making it easy to navigate through your documentation without ever leaving your browser.
Think of it as a personal wiki engine that works directly with your existing markdown files, requiring zero migration or conversion.
Why It's Cool
The beauty of NoteDiscovery lies in its simplicity and philosophy:
File-Based First: Your notes remain as regular markdown files on your server. You can edit them with any text editor, sync them with Git, or back them up using your existing tools. The web interface is just a view layer on top of your file system.
Zero Import/Export Hassle: Since it works with standard markdown files, you can point it at an existing notes directory and immediately have a searchable web interface. No locking your data into a proprietary format.
Self-Hosted Privacy: Everything stays on your server. No third-party services, no data mining, no terms of service changes to worry about. It's your data on your infrastructure.
Minimal Dependencies: It's just PHP—no database required, no complex stack to maintain. If you can run a basic PHP application, you can run NoteDiscovery.
How to Try It
Getting started is straightforward:
- Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/gamosoft/NoteDiscovery
-
Point the application to your markdown directory by setting the notes path in the configuration.
-
Serve it with your preferred web server that supports PHP.
The repository contains all the instructions you need to get up and running in minutes. Since it's file-based, you can start small with a test directory and gradually move your actual notes over as you get comfortable with the setup.
Final Thoughts
NoteDiscovery hits that sweet spot for developers who want the convenience of a web-based knowledge base without the complexity of most wiki systems or the privacy concerns of cloud services. It's particularly useful for technical documentation, project notes, or personal knowledge management where you want to maintain full control over your data.
The approach reminds me of the Unix philosophy—do one thing well. It doesn't try to be everything to everyone, but what it does, it does cleanly and effectively. For developers already comfortable with markdown and basic server administration, this could be the perfect lightweight knowledge base solution.
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