Colanode is an open-source, local-first collaboration workspace designed as a privacy-focused alternative to Slack and Notion. It empowers individuals and teams to communicate, document, and manage projects without relying on third-party cloud services. Built with a local-first architecture, all changes are saved to a local SQLite database before syncing to a self-hosted server via CRDTs, ensuring continuous productivity even offline. This approach gives users full ownership and control over their data while maintaining the real-time collaboration experience expected in modern tools. Colanode is ideal for privacy-conscious teams, compliance-sensitive organizations, and developers who want to avoid vendor lock-in.
The platform combines real-time chat, rich-text editing, customizable databases, and file management in a unified interface. It supports both web and desktop clients that connect to self-hosted servers, with deployment options including Docker Compose and Kubernetes. By leveraging Yjs for CRDT-based collaboration and Postgres with pgvector for structured data, Colanode provides enterprise-grade functionality without sacrificing user autonomy.
What You Get
- Real-Time Chat - Instant messaging with support for teams and individuals, synchronized across devices using CRDTs to ensure consistency without a central server dependency.
- Rich Text Pages - A Notion-like editor for creating documents, wikis, and notes with formatting, embedding, and structured content blocks—all synced locally before being pushed to the server.
- Customizable Databases - Create tables with custom fields and dynamic views (table, kanban, calendar) to manage projects, tickets, or knowledge bases with real-time collaboration on entries.
- File Management - Securely upload, store, and share files within workspaces using local filesystem storage by default or S3-compatible, Google Cloud Storage, or Azure Blob Storage backends via configuration.
- Local-First Sync - All edits are saved to a local SQLite database first, enabling offline work; changes sync automatically when connectivity is restored using conflict-free replicated data types (CRDTs) powered by Yjs.
- Self-Hosting Support - Deploy your own server using Docker Compose or Kubernetes with full control over data storage, authentication, and network access; no vendor lock-in.
- Multi-Workspace Support - Connect a single client to multiple servers and switch between workspaces for different teams or projects without re-authenticating.
Common Use Cases
- Building a privacy-first internal knowledge base - A legal or healthcare team uses Colanode to create and maintain confidential documentation with full audit control, avoiding cloud-based tools that violate compliance regulations.
- Developing a remote team collaboration hub - A distributed startup replaces Slack and Notion with Colanode to eliminate third-party data collection, using local-first sync to ensure productivity during intermittent connectivity.
- Problem → Solution flow: Losing data due to SaaS outages → Colanode’s local-first architecture ensures continuous access - When a cloud-based wiki goes down, teams using Colanode continue editing locally and sync changes once the server is back online without data loss.
- Team workflow: DevOps teams managing internal tools across hybrid clouds - Engineers deploy Colanode on-premises or in private cloud environments using Docker Compose, integrating it with existing S3 buckets and Redis services for scalable, secure collaboration.
Under The Hood
Colanode is a cross-platform application framework designed to deliver consistent functionality across desktop, mobile, and server environments. It leverages a modular monolithic architecture with shared core packages to enable code reuse while maintaining platform-specific implementations. The framework emphasizes layered design, component-based UIs, and unified data handling across platforms.
Architecture
The project adopts a layered architecture that separates data access, business logic, and presentation layers, enabling independent development and testing.
- The codebase is organized into distinct applications for desktop, mobile, and server, all sharing common core modules to promote reusability.
- Service classes and dependency injection are used to abstract data operations and file system interactions across platforms.
- Component communication is managed through well-defined interfaces and shared packages, supporting modularity and decoupling.
Tech Stack
The framework is built using TypeScript with a strong emphasis on modern web and mobile development practices.
- Built primarily with TypeScript, React, and cross-platform tools like Electron for desktop and Expo for mobile.
- Integrates libraries such as Kysely, Tiptap, TanStack, and Radix UI to enhance functionality and user experience.
- Uses Vite for fast builds and development, Electron Forge for desktop packaging, and Vitest for testing within a monorepo setup.
Code Quality
The codebase demonstrates a structured approach to testing and error handling, though some repetition exists in test helpers.
- A comprehensive suite of API tests covers core features like authentication and workspace management.
- Error handling is consistently implemented using try/catch blocks and custom error responses.
- Code maintains reasonable consistency in naming and structure, with clear separation of concerns across modules.
What Makes It Unique
Colanode stands out by offering a unified development experience across multiple platforms with shared data services and UI components.
- It provides cross-platform consistency through shared data services and component libraries that work seamlessly across desktop, mobile, and server.
- The use of Kysely enables a unified database abstraction that supports both SQLite for mobile and SQL-based backends for server environments.
- Strong service boundaries and TypeScript generics allow for flexible data storage layer swaps and type-safe API interactions.