Tessera

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Self-hosting ​

The Tessera server syncs workspaces between devices and people, and serves the web app. It is one container with one volume: SQLite for documents and accounts, and a folder for attachments.

What you need ​

  • A machine with Docker: a small VPS, a home server or a NAS. 1 CPU and 512 MB of RAM are plenty for a team.
  • A domain name and HTTPS if people will connect over the internet. Caddy does HTTPS for you.
  • Images for linux/amd64 and linux/arm64 (Raspberry Pi 4 and newer, Apple silicon, ARM VPSs).

Quick start ​

bash
docker run -d --name tessera -p 8787:8787 -v tessera-data:/data ghcr.io/femboypuppy/tessera:latest

The server prints a one-time setup code in its log (docker logs tessera). Open http://localhost:8787, choose Join a workspace on a server, and create the owner account with that code. Prefer the command line? Run:

bash
docker exec -it tessera tessera-server create-owner

Compose keeps your settings in a file, restarts the server after a reboot and makes upgrades one command.

bash
mkdir tessera && cd tessera
curl -fsSLO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/femboypuppy/Tessera-Notes/main/docker-compose.yml
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/femboypuppy/Tessera-Notes/main/.env.example -o .env

Edit .env: at least set PUBLIC_URL to the address people will use. Then:

bash
docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f tessera

The compose file also contains an optional Caddy service that gets a Let's Encrypt certificate for your domain automatically. The comments in docker-compose.yml show how to turn it on; HTTPS and reverse proxies explains the options.

Every setting is listed in the configuration reference.

Invite people ​

Sign in as the owner, open Settings → Sync & account, and create an invite link with a role (editor or viewer). Whether people can also sign up on their own is up to you: see SIGNUP_MODE in the configuration reference.

Check that it works ​

  • https://<your-domain>/api/health returns {"ok":true,"version":"…"}.
  • The container reports healthy in docker ps.
  • In the app, the sync indicator shows Synced.

Hosting platforms ​

Step-by-step guides for a VPS with Docker and Caddy, Fly.io, Railway and Render are in the deploy/ folder of the repository.

Keep it safe ​

  • Put the server behind HTTPS before anyone signs in over the internet.
  • Set SIGNUP_MODE to invite (or closed) unless you really want open sign-ups.
  • Back up the data volume, and test a restore once.
  • Upgrade when a release fixes a security issue; watch the repository's releases to hear about them.

Next ​

Released under the MIT License.

Copyright © 2026 the Tessera contributors