How to use Memos: install with Docker and start writing

What is Memos and who is it for?

Memos is a note-taking app you run yourself. You write short or long entries, and each one stays with the day you wrote it, so your notes form a timeline you can look back through. Tags link related thoughts across different days.

It suits people who want a private journal or quick-notes timeline, people who want their notes on their own server rather than a hosted service, and small groups who want shared spaces where each person keeps their own memos. It is not a good fit if you want zero setup, because you must run and maintain the server yourself.

Install Memos with Docker

The only prerequisite named in the project's quick start is Docker. With Docker installed, run the command below in a terminal. It starts a container named memos, maps port 5230 and stores its data in the ~/.memos folder on your machine.

• --name memos gives the container a name you can use in later Docker commands.
• -p 5230:5230 makes the app reachable on port 5230.
• -v ~/.memos:/var/opt/memos keeps your data in ~/.memos outside the container.
• neosmemo/memos:stable is the image tag that follows stable releases.

Open Memos and create your account

After the container starts, open http://localhost:5230 in your browser. On first use, create the first account. The project's quick start describes this as the first step once Memos is running.

Other ways to run Memos, including Docker Compose, Kubernetes and a plain binary, are covered in the official deployment guide at https://usememos.com/docs/deploy.

Write memos and use tags and Markdown

Each entry is a memo. A single sentence can be a whole memo, or you can write a longer entry. Markdown lets you add structure to your words for formatting.

Tags connect related thoughts across days. Use them to pick a topic back up or to find something you remember writing.

• Write a one-line thought for quick capture.
• Write a longer entry when you want more detail.
• Add tags to link related memos across the timeline.
• Use Markdown when you want headings or lists.

Choose who can see each memo

You decide what stays private, what to share with family and friends, and what to publish on the web. In shared spaces, several people can write alongside each other while each keeps their own memos.

Back up and upgrade your Memos data

Everything Memos keeps is in ~/.memos, so back up that one folder. The README only says this; it does not promise automatic or guaranteed backups, so plan your own backup routine.

Releases use the tag format YY.MM.N. The stable tag follows stable releases, and canary follows development builds. If you are coming from a release before v0.31.0, run v0.31.0 once first, as described in the upgrade requirements.