The hidden cost of “free” note‑taking apps

Ever opened a note‑taking tool, typed a few ideas, and suddenly realized you’re locked into a proprietary ecosystem? Your data lives on a third‑party server, you’re forced to pay for premium features, and you can’t extend the app beyond the UI the vendor provides. For developers, writers, and power users, that friction is a daily productivity killer.

Enter SilverBullet – an open‑source, self‑hosted personal productivity platform that treats your notes as first‑class code. Built on plain Markdown, powered by Lua, and delivered as a Local‑First Progressive Web App (PWA), SilverBullet gives you the freedom to write, script, query, and sync your knowledge without ever surrendering control of your data.

Why Choose SilverBullet?

• Data sovereignty – All notes are stored as ordinary Markdown files on your own server. No hidden telemetry, no cloud‑only lock‑in.
• Offline‑first experience – The PWA caches a full copy of your Space in the browser’s IndexedDB, letting you work flawlessly without an internet connection. Changes sync automatically when you’re back online.
• Programmable notes – Embed Lua expressions directly in a page with ${lua expression}. Turn a simple note into a dynamic dashboard, calculator, or mini‑app.
• Wiki‑style linking & backlinks – Use [[page name]] syntax to create bi‑directional links. Linked mentions surface automatically, giving you a living knowledge graph.
• Object‑oriented querying – Every page, tag, and front‑matter block becomes an “Object” you can query like a lightweight database, enabling powerful ad‑hoc reports from within your notes.
• Zero‑cost, zero‑vendor‑lock‑in – Deploy on any server that can run Node.js or Docker. The code is MIT‑licensed, so you can fork, extend, or embed it wherever you need.

Spotlight on Key Features

Getting Started

Below is a minimal path to get SilverBullet up and running on a fresh machine. The project provides both a Docker image and a classic Node.js setup; pick the one that fits your workflow.

Option 1 – Docker (quickest)

docker run -d \
  --name silverbullet \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  -v $(pwd)/silverbullet-data:/app/data \
  silverbulletmd/silverbullet:latest

• The -v flag mounts a host directory (silverbullet-data) where all Markdown files will be stored.
• Open your browser at http://localhost:3000 to start creating pages.

Option 2 – Node.js (full control)

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/silverbulletmd/silverbullet.git
cd silverbullet

# Install dependencies
npm ci

# Build the assets
npm run build

# Start the server (default port 3000)
npm start

Tip: For production you’ll likely want to run the app behind a reverse proxy (e.g., Nginx) and enable HTTPS. The README contains a full Docker‑Compose example and TLS instructions.

First steps in the UI

1. Create a Space – When you first load the app, you’ll be prompted to create a new workspace folder (your “Space”).
2. Add a page – Click the “+” button, give your page a title, and start typing in Markdown.
3. Try Lua – Inside the page, type ${Date.now()} and watch it render the current timestamp.
4. Link pages – Use [[Another Page]] to create a link; the target page will automatically list the backlink under “Linked Mentions”.
5. Explore the query console – Press Ctrl+Shift+F (or click the “Query” icon) to run an object query like SELECT title FROM pages WHERE tags CONTAINS 'project'.

For deeper guidance, consult the official docs: Getting Started Guide.

How SilverBullet Stacks Up Against Proprietary Alternatives

Bottom line: If you value privacy, want to run custom code inside your notes, and need a truly portable knowledge base, SilverBullet offers a feature set that matches or exceeds the most popular proprietary tools—without the subscription fees or data‑lock.

Community & Ecosystem

SilverBullet is maintained by a small but active core team and a growing community of contributors. The project follows an open governance model:

• Issues & feature requests – Open on GitHub; the maintainers respond quickly and tag issues with “good first issue” for newcomers.
• Plugins – Community‑contributed Lua modules live under the plugins/ directory; you can drop a .lua file into your Space to add new UI widgets.
• Documentation – A live docs site (https://silverbullet.md/docs) is generated from the repo’s docs/ folder, ensuring the docs stay in sync with code changes.
• Roadmap – The project’s roadmap is public in the PROJECTS.md file, inviting anyone to vote on upcoming features.

---

For weekly news in the tech-world check out The Infinity Dev Newsletter

---

Call to Action

Ready to take back control of your notes and start building interactive knowledge bases?

• Explore the live demo – https://silverbullet.md/
• Star the repository – https://github.com/silverbulletmd/silverbullet
• Join the community – Open an issue, submit a plugin, or hop into the discussion forum linked from the website.

SilverBullet proves there is indeed a “silver bullet” for personal productivity: an open, extensible, offline‑first platform that lets you write, compute, and connect—all on your own terms. Give it a spin today and turn your notes into the first line of code for your next big idea.