Special thanks to the Logseq developers, the Discord community and especially @yshalsager for creating the Docker for Logseq Sync and @zetashift for problem solving with me.

This guide is intended for users who want to run a Logseq sync server from home–for instance on a laptop–and then access it remotely when they are away from their home network.

Set up Tailscale

• Install Tailscale on all devices (server + clients).
• Note the Tailscale IP of the device that will host the sync server.

Install Docker and Git

• Install Docker Engine and the Compose plugin on the device that will host the Logseq sync server. On Linux, follow the official Docker installation guide; on macOS/Windows, Docker Desktop includes everything you need.
• Install Git.

Clone the repo and configure

• Create a directory on your server device where you will store Dockers. From that directory:

git clone https://github.com/yshalsager/logseq-selfhost.git
cd logseq-selfhost/images/sync
cp .env.example .env

Edit the .env file

• Change the line

DB_SYNC_BASE_URL=https://sync.example.com

• to

DB_SYNC_BASE_URL=http://<your.tailscale.ip>:8787

Start the server

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

Verify the server is running

curl http://localhost:8787/health   # should return {"ok":true}

Connect Logseq clients to Your Local Sync Server

• Desktop:

• Click on the hamburger icon → Settings → General → Custom Sync Server URL
• Android:
• Sync on Android requires Logseq credentials. Go to test.logseq.com, click on the hamburger icon → Login → Sign Up
• On your Android client, go to the home menu, click on the hamburger icon → login → sync settings →http://YOUR_TAILSCALE_IP:8787

Create or Sync an Existing Graph

• On any device, go to “Graphs”→ create a new graph → check “Use Logseq Sync Beta” (optionally enable encryption).
• Alternatively, sync an existing graph by clicking on “…” → “Use Logeq Sync Beta”. If the graph is large, wait some time for the upload to finish.
• On the other devices, go to the “Graphs” page and select the graph you just uploaded.