AFFiNE Self Host Guide: Complete Setup and Configuration

What is AFFiNE?
Features of AFFiNE
Why Self Host AFFiNE?
System Requirements
Installation Guide
Configuration
Backup and Maintenance
Troubleshooting
FAQ

What is AFFiNE?

AFFiNE is a privacy-focused, local-first, open-source, and ready-to-use alternative for Notion & Miro. One hyper-fused platform for wildly creative minds.

AFFiNE Platform Interface

Features of AFFiNE

A True Canvas for Blocks in Any Form: Merging Docs and Whiteboard

Many productivity apps boast about being a versatile canvas, but AFFiNE truly delivers. It allows you to place any type of building block on an edgeless canvas—whether it's rich text, sticky notes, embedded web pages, multi-view databases, linked pages, shapes, or even slides. Yes, you read that right; we've got it all covered.

Multimodal AI Partner Ready to Boost Your Work

Need to write a professional report? Transform an outline into a compelling slide deck? Summarize an article into a structured mind map? Organize your job plans and task backlog? Or perhaps you want to draw and code prototype apps and web pages with a single prompt? With AFFiNE AI, your creativity knows no bounds. It's like having a supercharged assistant ready to elevate your work to new heights.

Local-First & Real-Time Collaboration

We believe in the local-first approach, which means you always own your data on your disk, regardless of the cloud. Plus, AFFiNE supports real-time synchronization and collaboration across web and cross-platform clients. It's collaboration redefined.

Self-Host & Customize Your Own AFFiNE

You have the freedom to manage, self-host, fork, and build your own version of AFFiNE. A plugin community and third-party blocks are on the horizon. For more details on self-hosting AFFiNE, check out the traction on Blocksuite.

Why Self Host AFFiNE?

As a note taking and knowledge management app, privacy is very important.

Self-Hosting allows you to take full control of your knowledge and notes, you can also easily export and backup those files.

Benefits of Self-Hosting AFFiNE

Complete data ownership and privacy
Customizable deployment options
No usage limits or restrictions
Full control over updates and maintenance
Ability to integrate with your existing infrastructure

System Requirements

Minimum Requirements

CPU: 2 cores
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 20GB
OS: Linux/Windows/macOS
Docker (recommended)

Recommended Requirements

CPU: 4+ cores
RAM: 8GB+
Storage: 50GB+
SSD storage
Docker & Docker Compose

Installation Guide

Using Docker (Recommended)

docker run -d \
  --name affine \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  -v /path/to/data:/app/data \
  toeverything/affine

Manual Installation

Clone the repository
Install dependencies
Configure environment variables
Start the server

Configuration

Environment Variables

AFFINE_PORT=3000
AFFINE_HOST=localhost
AFFINE_DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/affine

Security Settings

Enable SSL/TLS
Configure authentication
Set up backup strategy

Backup and Maintenance

Regular Backup

Database backup
File system backup
Configuration backup

Update Process

Check for updates
Backup before update
Apply updates
Verify functionality

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Database connection errors
Port conflicts
Permission issues
Performance problems

Solutions

Check logs
Verify configurations
Restart services
Clear cache

FAQ

AFFiNE vs Notion

Notion is a closed-source software solution that stores your private data on its own cloud servers. With AFFiNE, you have the flexibility to host your data according to your preferences.

How to migrate from Notion to AFFiNE?

AFFiNE provides import tools to migrate your data from Notion. The process involves:

Export your Notion workspace
Use AFFiNE's import tool
Verify the imported data

Is AFFiNE free to self-host?

Yes, AFFiNE is completely free and open-source. You only need to cover the costs of your hosting infrastructure.

How to enable real-time collaboration?

Real-time collaboration requires proper network configuration and can be enabled through the AFFiNE settings panel.

What are the backup options?

AFFiNE supports multiple backup methods:

Automated database backups
File system snapshots
Manual export options

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