NoteDiscovery is a lightweight, self-hosted knowledge base and note-taking app that gives you full control over your data. It lets you write, organize, and discover notes using plain Markdown files, with a beautiful modern interface, instant search, graph view, backlinks, favorites, drawing support, MathJax, themes, plugins, and optional authentication, all running locally on your server via Docker or directly in Python. Perfect for privacy-focused users building a personal wiki or second brain with AI integration via its built-in MCP server. In this step by step guide I will show you how to install NoteDiscovery on your Asustor NAS using Docker & Dockhand.

💡Note: This guide works perfectly with the latest NoteDiscovery v0.28.2 release.

💡Note: Check out my guide on how to Install NoteDiscovery on Your Synology NAS.

💡Note: Check out my guide on how to Install NoteDiscovery on Your UGREEN NAS.

• STEP 1

Please Support My work by Making a Donation.

• STEP 2

Install Dockhand using my step by step guide. If you already have Dockhand installed on your Asustor NAS, skip this STEP. ⚠️Attention: Make sure you have installed the latest Dockhand version.

• STEP 3

Go to File Explorer and open the Docker folder. Inside the Docker folder, create one new folder and name it notediscovery. Follow the instructions in the image below.
Note: Be careful to enter only lowercase, not uppercase letters.

• STEP 4

Open your browser and type in http://asustor-ip-address:3866 to connect to your Dockhand container. On the left sidebar, click Stacks then + Create. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 5

In the Stack name field, type in notediscovery. ⚠️Warning: Type in the name in lowercase letters. The installation process can take up to a few seconds/minutes. It will depend on your Internet speed connection. Follow the instructions in the image below.

Note: Copy Paste the code below in the Dockhand Compose Stack then click Create & Start.

services:
  notediscovery:
    image: ghcr.io/gamosoft/notediscovery:latest
    container_name: NoteDiscovery
    user: 0:0
    healthcheck:
      test: timeout 10s bash -c ':> /dev/tcp/127.0.0.1/8000' || exit 1
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 90s
    ports:
      - 8115:8000
    volumes:
      - /volume1/Docker/notediscovery:/app/data:rw
    environment:
       TZ: Europe/Bucharest
    restart: on-failure:5

Note: Before you paste the code above in the Web Stack area below, change the value for TZ. (Select your current Time Zone from this list.)

• STEP 6

If everything goes right, you will see the following message at the bottom right of your screen: “Created stack “notediscovery”“.

• STEP 7

On the left sidebar, click Containers. Identify your NoteDiscovery container then click on ports 8115:8000. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 8

🟢Please Support My work by Making a Donation. Almost 99,9% of the people that install something using my guides forget to support my work, or just ignore STEP 1. I’ve been very honest about this aspect of my work since the beginning: I don’t run any ADS, I don’t require subscriptions, paid or otherwise, I don’t collect IPs, emails, and I don’t have any referral links from Amazon or other merchants. I also don’t have any POP-UPs or COOKIES. I have repeatedly been told over the years how much I have contributed to the community. It’s something I love doing and have been honest about my passion since the beginning. But I also Need The Community to Support me Back to be able to continue doing this work.

• STEP 9

The installation process can take up to a few seconds/minutes. It will depend on your Internet speed connection. Now open your browser and type in http://asustor-ip-address:8115 Click the Settings icon. Change the theme. Click + New to create a New Note. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 11

Enter the note name. Click Create. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 12

Your note at a glance!

• STEP 13

You can also create a New Drawing!