DailyTxT — Self-Hosted, Open-Source

Encrypted diary Web application to save your personal memories of each day. Includes a search function and encrypted file upload.

License: MIT. Built with: Svelte, Go, JavaScript, Shell, Dockerfile, HTML, SCSS. Source: https://github.com/PhiTux/DailyTxT.

Features

Encryption: Everything you write is encrypted before it's written to the server's storage. Even the admin can't read your private stuff!
File-Upload: You can upload arbitrary files for each day (500 MB max each). They are stored encrypted on the server as well. Images are automatically recognized and added to the...
Image Viewer: View all images of a day in a gallery view and in full screen.
Markdown: You can write your entries in markdown and see a live preview.
Tags: You can add tags to your entries for better organization.
Search: You can search for any word, tag or filename in your entries.
Custom Templates: You can create and use custom templates for your entries.
Read Mode: A distraction-free mode for reading your entries of each month.
Export to HTML: You can export your entries (including uploaded files) to HTML format.
Mobile: Responsive design for easy use on mobile screen. Additionally: allows installation as a PWA (Progressive Web App) to your Homescreen.

Installation

### More details Daily is intended to be run with [Docker](https://www.docker.com/) and [Docker Compose](https://docs.docker.com/compose/). You can use the provided `docker-compose.yml` file in this repository. Adjust the environment variables to your needs. You see it here: ```yaml services: dailytxt: # choose the correct image tag image: phitux/dailytxt:2.x.x container_name: dailytxt restart: unless-stopped volumes: # Change the left path to your needs - ./data:/data environment: # Create a secret token by running: openssl rand -base64 32 - SECRET_TOKEN=... # If you want to have the json-files pretty-printed, set some indent. # (Otherwise just remove the line) - INDENT=4 # Allow new user registrations. # I strongly recommend to keep this disabled except for the first user. # You can later temporarily enable it again in the admin panel. - ALLOW_REGISTRATION=true # Set the Admin-Password (for the admin-panel). - ADMIN_PASSWORD=your_admin_password # After how many days shall the login-cookie expire? - LOGOUT_AFTER_DAYS=40 # Set the BASE_PATH if you are running DailyTxT under a subpath (e.g. /dailytxt). # - BASE_PATH=/dailytxt ports: # Change the left port to your needs. # You often would only see 8000:80. But this way, port 8000 is publicly accessible (without TLS!). - 127.0.0.1:8000:80

Why self-host DailyTxT

Self-hosting gives you three things SaaS can’t: data ownership (the files live on disks you control), cost predictability (a one-time setup vs. recurring per-seat fees that grow with your household or team), and longevity (open-source means the app keeps working even if the maintainers move on, since you can pin a working version). The trade-off is that you take on the operational work of running a server, applying updates, and handling backups.

What hardware do you need

Most self-hosted apps run comfortably on modest hardware — a Raspberry Pi 4, a mini PC, a NAS with Docker support, or a small VPS is usually enough for personal or family use. CPU and RAM requirements scale with how many simultaneous users or how much data you push through DailyTxT. Storage requirements depend on the kind of data you keep; check the README for guidance on data retention.

Where to go from here

Last verified: 2026-04-28