Hi selfhosters 👋

After the feedback I received from self-hosters here and elsewhere, I focused this update on things that matter specifically when you run everything on your own infrastructure.

This update adds:

• 🔗 Generate public shareable links for your projects
• 🗂 Organize everything using folders
• 🖼 Export a full project as a single image

But more importantly for this community:

• 🔌 Connect to GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, and Forgejo
• 🏠 Use it with self-hosted Git servers
• 🔐 Provide a personal access token to work with private repositories

Several people mentioned the need to work with private repos and internal Git instances without relying on external services. You can now point Ideon to your own server and use your own token. No third-party dependency required.

Installation is still designed to stay simple. One curl command:

• Downloads the docker-compose.yml
• Downloads the env.example
• Generates all required secrets securely
• Prompts you for SMTP, app URL, port, etc.
• Starts the containers

No repo cloning. No manual secret generation. No external SaaS. Everything runs in two containers: app and database.

GitHub: https://github.com/3xpyth0n/ideon

Docs: https://www.theideon.com/docs

As always, I’m open to feedback. If you self-host it and hit friction anywhere, I want to know.

Hi everyone,

I want to share something that ended up turning into a tool I use every day, and now it’s open source.

I’ve been dealing with the same issue for months. I start a project, get pulled away for a while, and when I come back, I’m completely lost. I don’t remember why I made certain choices, where things are documented, or what my original plan was. The code is in one place, notes are scattered elsewhere, and I’ve usually left a ridiculous number of tabs bookmarked "just in case." Every time I returned, it felt like I was starting the project all over again.

So I started building something for myself. I called it Ideon.

Ideon is a self‑hosted web app (built with Next.js) that gives you an infinite canvas. On that canvas, you place and organize "blocks", pieces of your project context like code, links, notes, docs, references, anything that matters. It isn’t just a file list. It’s a visual space where your ideas coexist in relation to one another.

Here’s how I use it:

• a GitHub block for my repo and issue tracking

• a markdown block for my roadmap and quick thoughts

• link blocks for docs, specs, references

• a checklist block for my TO-DOs

Different from miro.com which only allows "post it" notes, with Ideon there are several types of blocks.

I built this because I kept losing the why behind my projects, not just the what. This solves that for me. And along the way, I realized other solo developers and builders might find it useful too.

Right now, it’s an early version 0.1.0. It works for me, but it’s not polished. There are probably bugs that I haven't noticed, and I’m hoping to grow it with feedback from people who try it. I'm also working on a demo site for you guys, to try it without cloning my whole repo ;)

If you check it out, I’d love to hear:

• what you would actually use it for

• what block types you wish existed

• what feels confusing or missing

I’m very open to feedback, and I’ll reply to every kind of comment.

If I can help, explain, or share what I’ve learned along the way, I’ll gladly do it.

Positive or critical, all feedback is welcome, don’t hesitate ^^

Thanks for reading. I really want to know what y'all think :)

And I almost forgot ! here's the repo : https://github.com/3xpyth0n/ideon

So, this whole thing kicked off because I hit a wall with local storage - it just doesn't grow with you forever, you know? Plus, putting all my eggs in the basket of other companies felt a bit risky with all the changing rules and government access stuff these days.

What I ended up with is pretty cool: a personal file vault where I'm in charge. It treats any outside storage like it can't be trusted, and all the encryption happens right on my computer. I can even use cloud storage like S3 if I need to, but I never lose control of my own data.

Honestly, it just kinda grew on its own; I never set out to build a product. I'm mainly sharing it here to see how other folks deal with these kinds of choices.

You can check it out at https://www.leyzen.com/