Quickstart

Overview

This guide will help you:

Deploy Memos using Docker
Create your admin account
Write your first memo
Explore key features

Prerequisites: Docker installed on your system. Get Docker →

Step 1: Deploy with Docker

Run the Docker container

Execute this single command to start Memos:

docker run -d \
  --name memos \
  -p 5230:5230 \
  -v ~/.memos:/var/opt/memos \
  neosmemo/memos:stable

What this does:

-d: Run in detached mode (background)
--name memos: Name the container for easy management
-p 5230:5230: Expose Memos on port 5230
-v ~/.memos:/var/opt/memos: Persist data to ~/.memos on your host
neosmemo/memos:stable: Use the stable release

Data location: All your memos, attachments, and database are stored in ~/.memos. Back up this directory to preserve your data.

Verify it's running

Check the container status:

docker logs memos

You should see output like:

Memos 0.28.0 started successfully!
Data directory: /var/opt/memos
Database driver: sqlite
Server running on port 5230
Access your memos at: http://localhost:5230

Happy note-taking!

Open Memos in your browser

Navigate to http://localhost:5230You’ll see the setup screen for creating your first user.

Using Docker Compose instead?

Create a docker-compose.yml file:

docker-compose.yml

version: '3'

services:
  memos:
    image: neosmemo/memos:stable
    container_name: memos
    ports:
      - "5230:5230"
    volumes:
      - ~/.memos:/var/opt/memos
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      # Optional: Set timezone
      - TZ=America/New_York

Then run:

docker-compose up -d

Step 2: Create Your Account

The first user created automatically becomes an admin with full system permissions.Fill in the registration form:

Username: Your login username (alphanumeric, 4-32 characters)
Password: Strong password (min 8 characters recommended)
Display Name: How your name appears in memos (optional)

Important: After the first user is created, public registration is disabled by default. You can enable it later in Settings → General → Allow user registration.

After registration, you’ll be automatically signed in and redirected to the home screen. Memos home screen

Step 3: Create Your First Memo

Open the memo editor

At the top of the home screen, you’ll see a text area with the placeholder: “Any thoughts…”Click to focus the editor. This is where you’ll write your memos in Markdown.

Write your memo

Try this example to see Memos’ features in action:

# Welcome to Memos! 👋

This is my first memo. Let me test some features:

## Task List
- [x] Install Memos
- [ ] Write my first memo
- [ ] Explore tags and attachments

## Tags
I can use #tags to organize my thoughts. Tags like #productivity and #learning are automatically extracted.

## Code Blocks
```javascript
// Syntax highlighting works great!
console.log('Hello from Memos!');
```

## Links and Resources
Check out the [documentation](https://usememos.com/docs) for more features.

> **Note**: This memo is set to PRIVATE by default, so only I can see it.

Markdown support: Memos supports full GitHub-flavored Markdown including tables, footnotes, and even Mermaid diagrams!

Set visibility

Before posting, choose who can see your memo:

PRIVATE
PROTECTED
PUBLIC

Default setting

Only visible to you
Perfect for personal notes, drafts, and sensitive information
Most commonly used visibility setting

Post your memo

Click the “POST” button or press Ctrl+Enter (or Cmd+Enter on Mac).Your memo appears in the timeline below! 🎉

Step 4: Explore Key Features

Add Attachments

Click the 📎 attachment icon in the editor toolbar to upload:

Images (auto-embedded in memo)
Videos, PDFs, documents
Any file type up to your configured limit

Files are stored in your data directory by default.

Use Tags

Type #tagname anywhere in your content:

Working on the #backend refactor today.
Adding #typescript support.

Tags are automatically extracted and appear in the left sidebar for quick filtering.

Pin Important Memos

Click the 📌 pin icon on any memo to keep it at the top of your timeline.Perfect for:

Daily task lists
Important references
Active projects

Search & Filter

Use the search bar to find memos by:

Content (full-text search)
Tags (click any tag)
Date ranges
Visibility level

Advanced filters available via the filter icon.

Code Snippets

Store code with syntax highlighting:

```python
def fibonacci(n):
    return n if n <= 1 else fibonacci(n-1) + fibonacci(n-2)
```

Supports 150+ languages!

Dark Mode

Click your profile avatar → Settings → AppearanceChoose from:

Light theme
Dark theme
System preference (auto-switches)

Advanced Features

Memo Relations

Create connections between memos:

Related to memo: memos/42

Or use the relations editor when editing a memo. Great for building knowledge graphs!

Task Management

Track tasks across all your memos:

Use - [ ] for tasks in your memos
Click tasks to toggle completion
View all tasks in sidebar → Tasks view
Filter by incomplete/complete

## Today's Tasks
- [x] Review PRs
- [ ] Write documentation
- [ ] Deploy to production

Mermaid Diagrams

Create flowcharts, sequence diagrams, and more:

```mermaid
graph TD
    A[Start] --> B{Is it working?}
    B -->|Yes| C[Great!]
    B -->|No| D[Debug it]
    D --> B
```

Renders as an interactive diagram in your memo!

RSS Feeds

Subscribe to your memos via RSS:

Personal feed: http://localhost:5230/u/your-username/rss.xml
Public memos only: http://localhost:5230/explore/rss.xml

Perfect for reading memos in your favorite RSS reader!

API Access

Integrate with other tools using the API:

# Get your access token from Settings → Access Tokens
export MEMOS_TOKEN="your-token-here"

# Create a memo via API
curl -X POST http://localhost:5230/api/v1/memos \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $MEMOS_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "memo": {
      "content": "Created via API!",
      "visibility": "PRIVATE"
    }
  }'

See our API Reference for full documentation.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Power user tip: Master these shortcuts to write memos faster!

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+Enter` (or `Cmd+Enter`)	Post current memo
`Escape`	Clear editor
`Ctrl+K`	Focus search
`/`	Focus memo editor
`Ctrl+B`	Bold text
`Ctrl+I`	Italic text
`Ctrl+L`	Insert link

Common Configuration

Change default visibility

Navigate to: Settings → Preferences → Default memo visibilityChoose PRIVATE, PROTECTED, or PUBLIC as your default when creating memos.

Enable user registration

As an admin: Settings → General → Allow user registrationEnable this to let others create accounts on your instance.

Configure storage

Settings → Storage → Choose between:

Local storage (default): Files stored in data directory
S3-compatible: Use AWS S3, MinIO, Cloudflare R2, etc.

# Configure S3 via environment variables
docker run -d \
  --name memos \
  -p 5230:5230 \
  -v ~/.memos:/var/opt/memos \
  -e MEMOS_DRIVER=postgres \
  -e MEMOS_DSN="postgres://user:pass@localhost/memos" \
  neosmemo/memos:stable

Backup Your Data

Important: Always backup your data directory before upgrades!

# Stop the container
docker stop memos

# Backup data directory
tar -czf memos-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz ~/.memos/

# Restart container
docker start memos

Troubleshooting

Can't access http://localhost:5230

Check if container is running:

docker ps | grep memos

Check logs for errors:

docker logs memos

Port already in use? Change the host port:

docker run -d --name memos -p 8080:5230 -v ~/.memos:/var/opt/memos neosmemo/memos:stable

Then access at http://localhost:8080

Lost admin password

Reset password via command line:

docker exec -it memos /usr/local/memos/memos \
  --data /var/opt/memos \
  --admin-password-reset

Permission errors

Ensure the data directory is writable:

mkdir -p ~/.memos
chmod 755 ~/.memos

Database migration failed

If upgrading from old version:

Backup your data first!
Check minimum version requirement in release notes
Memos requires version 0.22+ for migrations

See Upgrade Guide for details.

Next Steps

Production Deployment

Deploy with PostgreSQL, HTTPS, and backups

Configure SSO

Set up OAuth2/OIDC authentication

API Integration

Build automations and integrations

Mobile Apps

Access Memos on iOS and Android

Need help? Join our Discord community or check out GitHub Discussions.

Get Started

Installation

Core Features

Configuration

Advanced

Developer Guide

Overview

Step 1: Deploy with Docker

Step 2: Create Your Account

Step 3: Create Your First Memo

Step 4: Explore Key Features

Add Attachments

Use Tags

Pin Important Memos

Search & Filter

Code Snippets

Dark Mode

Advanced Features

Keyboard Shortcuts

Common Configuration

Backup Your Data

Troubleshooting

Next Steps

Production Deployment

Configure SSO

API Integration

Mobile Apps

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Installation

Core Features

Configuration

Advanced

Developer Guide

​Overview

​Step 1: Deploy with Docker

​Step 2: Create Your Account

​Step 3: Create Your First Memo

​Step 4: Explore Key Features

Add Attachments

Use Tags

Pin Important Memos

Search & Filter

Code Snippets

Dark Mode

​Advanced Features

​Keyboard Shortcuts

​Common Configuration

​Backup Your Data

​Troubleshooting

​Next Steps

Production Deployment

Configure SSO

API Integration

Mobile Apps

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Step 1: Deploy with Docker

Step 2: Create Your Account

Step 3: Create Your First Memo

Step 4: Explore Key Features

Advanced Features

Keyboard Shortcuts

Common Configuration

Backup Your Data

Troubleshooting

Next Steps