# Project pack: Trilium Notes @ a7cae93

Facts about **Trilium Notes** for an AI following the [BespokeAI handover guide](https://handoff.bespokeai.software/guide/v4.md). Pinned to one version; never changes after publication.

> Trilium is a note-taking app for building a large personal knowledge base. Notes sit in a tree you can arrange however you like, and one note can live in several places. It has a rich text editor, a daily journal, to-do lists, mind maps, drawings and maps. You can lock private notes with a password. Use it as a desktop app, or run it on your own server and open it from any browser or phone.

## Setup path (checked 2026-11-03)
- **Start here, no Docker:** Install the project's own desktop app or installer. No Docker.
- Offer Docker only if the person asks or this path fails. The commands further down may use Docker; they are not the starting point.
- Verdict source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TriliumNext/Trilium/HEAD/README.md
- You may be unable to download source archives or run commands in this session. The person downloads and runs things; if you cannot fetch something, give any changed file in full in chat with its path.

## Version and source
- Repository: https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium
- Pinned commit: `a7cae93a63adcf2beb2c76657b7624e0a40f1a80`. Use exactly this version.
- Zip the person can download in a browser: https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium/archive/a7cae93a63adcf2beb2c76657b7624e0a40f1a80.zip
- Fresh checkout (only if you have a shell and git): use the commands below in an empty folder. If this exact source is already checked out, keep your branch and use the development command; do not clone again or reset local changes.
- Official docs: https://docs.triliumnotes.org
- Licence: **AGPL-3.0-only**. Free to use and change. If you run a changed version that other people use over the internet (not just you or your household), you must offer them your source code under the same licence. Private use has no extra obligations.

## Commands from the pinned source
- Developer commands (they may use Docker):

  ```sh
  git clone https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium bespoke-trilium
  cd bespoke-trilium
  git checkout --detach a7cae93a63adcf2beb2c76657b7624e0a40f1a80
  # Prepare development requirements and local configuration first.
  # Setup notes: dev server on :8080; pnpm desktop:start for the Electron app
  pnpm install && pnpm server:start
  ```

- Separate trial of the current upstream release (not your changes; sample data and a separate data directory only):

  ```sh
  docker run -d --name trilium -p 8080:8080 -v ~/trilium-data:/home/node/trilium-data triliumnext/trilium:latest
  # then open http://localhost:8080 and set a password
  # (or download the desktop app from https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium/releases/latest)
  ```
- Tools these commands use: Docker, or the desktop app for Windows, macOS or Linux, For development, Node.js and pnpm
- Develop: `pnpm install && pnpm server:start   # dev server on :8080; pnpm desktop:start for the Electron app`
- Test: `pnpm --filter server test && pnpm --filter client test   # pass a spec path pattern to run fewer tests`
- Check/lint: `pnpm typecheck && pnpm dev:format-check`
- Stack: typescript, css (Node.js, Express, Preact, jQuery, CKEditor 5, Electron). Difficulty for a non-developer with an AI: **moderate**. Themes, custom CSS, attributes, scripts and widgets are written as notes inside Trilium, so a lot can change without touching the source. Source changes mean a large TypeScript monorepo (pnpm) with a Preact/jQuery client and a shared core used by server and desktop.
- The project's own AI instructions, in the repository: `CLAUDE.md`.
Personal data: **yes**. Stored in: A single SQLite file (document.db) in the trilium-data folder, plus automatic backups in its backup/ folder. Secrets are entered by the person, never in chat.

---
Later, only when a step needs it: [reference.md](https://handoff.bespokeai.software/p/trilium/a7cae93/r3/reference.md) (customisation points, must-keep-working, data and costs, coding conventions) · [hosting.md](https://handoff.bespokeai.software/p/trilium/a7cae93/r3/hosting.md) (long-term hosting; hosts are paid third parties) · [bespoke.yaml](https://handoff.bespokeai.software/p/trilium/a7cae93/r3/bespoke.yaml) · [SKILL.md](https://handoff.bespokeai.software/p/trilium/a7cae93/r3/SKILL.md)