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How to self-host a private NotebookLM alternative with Docker with Open Notebook

Download the official compose file, set an encryption key and start Open Notebook on your machine.

Short answer: Run mkdir open-notebook && cd open-notebook and download docker-compose.yml with the README's curl command; then Change OPEN_NOTEBOOK_ENCRYPTION_KEY to a long random secret, for example from openssl rand -hex 32; start it with docker compose up -d. All steps.

  • Top pick
  • Research
  • Beginner
  • 20 minutes
  • From the README
  • Any agent

network-exposure. The README notes the UI (8502) and API (5055) are published on all interfaces with no password by default; do not run it on a shared network as is.

Who it is forA researcher whose documents are too sensitive to upload to Google's cloud.

The problemNotebookLM only runs on Google's servers with Google's models.

The outcomeOpen Notebook running at localhost:8502 with your own encryption key.

What you need first

  • Docker Desktop (macOS, Windows) or Docker Engine with the Compose plugin (Linux)
  • An API key from an AI provider, or a local model server such as Ollama
  • At least one language model and one embedding model configured in the UI

Steps

  1. Run mkdir open-notebook && cd open-notebook and download docker-compose.yml with the README's curl command
  2. Change OPEN_NOTEBOOK_ENCRYPTION_KEY to a long random secret, for example from openssl rand -hex 32
  3. Start it with docker compose up -d
  4. Wait about 30 seconds and open http://localhost:8502

Prompt for your agent

Set up lfnovo/open-notebook on this machine with the official docker-compose.yml, generate an encryption key, start it and confirm the UI loads on port 8502. Warn me if the ports are exposed beyond localhost.

Caveat. This card is written from the lfnovo/open-notebook README, not from a test run by Deduped. Before you start, make sure you have Docker Desktop or Docker Engine with the Compose plugin. Check the repo for newer instructions before you rely on these steps.

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