What is Docmost? How to configure it?

Finding the Perfect Wiki? Meet Docmost, an Open-Source Gem!

You know that moment when your team is looking for the perfect documentation tool, and you go down the rabbit hole of comparing Notion, Confluence, Wiki.js, and a dozen other options? Yeah, we’ve all been there. Some tools are great but come with a hefty price tag. Others are flexible but lack collaboration features.

That’s when you start wondering—is there an open-source, self-hosted alternative that just works?

Well, meet Docmost, a rising star in the world of collaborative wikis and documentation platforms. It’s open-source, self-hosted, and packed with features that make team knowledge management effortless.

Delivering cost-optimized solutions is essential for a DevOps or FinOps professional, and Docmost can be a great choice for a collaborative wiki and documentation platform. Let’s explore the options!

What is Docmost?

At its core, Docmost is an open-source, self-hosted alternative to tools like Confluence and Notion. It provides teams with a centralized space for documentation, collaboration, and knowledge sharing—without locking you into a proprietary system.

It’s perfect for teams looking for:

• Real-time collaboration – multiple users can edit documents simultaneously.
• Powerful organization – nested pages, spaces, and groups for structured documentation.
• Markdown support – because plain text just isn’t enough.
• Security & access control – fine-grained permissions to manage who sees what.
• Diagrams & embeds – built-in support for Draw.io, Excalidraw, and Mermaid.

Key Features That Make Docmost Stand Out

1. Real-Time Collaborative Editing – The rich-text editor enables users to collaborate in real-time, supporting diagrams, tables, LaTeX for mathematical expressions, embeds, and more.
2. Spaces & Nested Pages – Organize your content into workspaces, and nest pages in an easy-to-manage structure. Drag-and-drop reordering makes it intuitive.
3. Permissions & Groups – Control who gets access to what—whether it’s public documentation or internal-only notes.
4. Powerful Search – Powered by PostgreSQL’s full-text search, finding documentation is quick and seamless.
5. Version History – Accidentally delete something? No worries! Every change is tracked, so you can restore older versions when needed.

How to Get Started with Docmost?

Since Docmost is self-hosted, you must set it up on your server. The easiest way is to use Docker.

Prerequisites

• Before you begin, make sure you have Docker installed on your server
• Server Access: You’ll need a server (local or cloud-based) with sufficient resources (e.g., 2GB RAM minimum recommended).
• Domain (Optional): For public access, a domain name with DNS pointing to your server is useful.
• SMTP (Optional): For email invitations, you’ll need SMTP credentials (e.g., Gmail, Postmark, or your own mail server).

Installation and Configuration Steps

1. Set Up the Project Directory

Create a directory for Docmost on your server:

mkdir docmost && cd docmost

Download the default docker-compose.yml file from the official repository:

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/docmost/docmost/main/docker-compose.yml

2. Edit the Configuration

Open the docker-compose.yml file in a text editor. You’ll need to customize the environment variables under the docmost service. Here’s an example of the default structure:

version: '3'

services:
  docmost:
    image: docmost/docmost:latest
    depends_on:
      - db
      - redis
    environment:
      APP_URL: 'http://localhost:3000'
      APP_SECRET: 'LNQQu8iRNudQLz_m6XeCJEJ!^(6x2NE!'
      DATABASE_URL: 'postgresql://docmost:docmost@db:5432/docmost?schema=public'
      REDIS_URL: 'redis://redis:6379'
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - docmost:/app/data/storage

  db:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: docmost
      POSTGRES_USER: docmost
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: docmost
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - db_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

  redis:
    image: redis:7.2-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - redis_data:/data

volumes:
  docmost:
  db_data:
  redis_data:

Essential Configuration Components

Docmost Service

• Image: docmost/docmost:latest – The official Docker image for Docmost.
• Environment Variables:
  • APP_URL: Specify your domain or local IP/port (e.g., https://docmost.example.com).
  • APP_SECRET: A secure key is generated using openssl rand -hex 32; replace it with your key.
  • DATABASE_URL: PostgreSQL database connection string.
  • REDIS_URL: Redis connection string.
• Ports: 3000:3000 – Maps port 3000 on the host to port 3000 inside the container for accessing Docmost’s web interface.
• Volumes:
  • docmost:/app/data/storage – Stores Docmost’s data persistently.

PostgreSQL Service

• Environment Variables:
  • POSTGRES_DB: Name of the database for Docmost.
  • POSTGRES_USER: Database username.
  • POSTGRES_PASSWORD: A secure database password (replace STRONG_DB_PASSWORD with your own).
• Volumes:
  • db_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data – Ensures PostgreSQL data is stored persistently.

Redis Service

• Volumes:
  • redis_data:/data – Stores Redis data persistently.

3. Optional: Configure Email

Docmost requires an email driver to invite users. Add these variables under environment in the docmost service:

For SMTP (e.g., Gmail):

MAIL_DRIVER: smtp
SMTP_HOST: smtp.gmail.com
SMTP_PORT: 465
SMTP_USERNAME: your-email@gmail.com
SMTP_PASSWORD: your-app-specific-password
SMTP_SECURE: true
MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS: your-email@gmail.com
MAIL_FROM_NAME: YourName

For Postmark:

MAIL_DRIVER: postmark
POSTMARK_TOKEN: your-postmark-token
MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS: your-email@domain.com
MAIL_FROM_NAME: Docmost

4. Optional: Configure Storage

By default, Docmost uses local storage. To use S3-compatible storage (e.g., AWS S3, MinIO, Backblaze), add:

STORAGE_DRIVER: s3
AWS_S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID: your-access-key
AWS_S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: your-secret-key
AWS_S3_REGION: your-region
AWS_S3_BUCKET: your-bucket-name
AWS_S3_ENDPOINT: your-s3-endpoint (optional for non-AWS)
AWS_S3_FORCE_PATH_STYLE: true (set to false for AWS)

5. Save and Deploy

• Save the docker-compose.yml file.
• Start the services:

docker-compose up -d

6. Verify Installation

• Open a browser and navigate to your APP_URL (e.g., http://localhost:3000 or your domain).
• You should see the Docmost setup page. Follow the prompts to create your workspace and admin account.

7. Additional Considerations

• Reverse Proxy: For public access, set up a reverse proxy (e.g., Nginx or Traefik) with SSL (e.g., Let’s Encrypt). Ensure WebSockets are enabled for real-time editing.
• Permissions: If uploads fail, ensure the docmost volume has proper permissions (e.g., chmod 775 -R /path/to/docmost).
• Troubleshooting: Check logs with docker-compose logs docmost if issues arise.

That’s it! Docmost should now be configured and ready for collaborative use. For more details, refer to the official documentation at docmost.com/docs.