Docmost is an open-source collaborative wiki and documentation platform designed as a self-hostable alternative to proprietary tools like Confluence and Notion. Built with TypeScript, it enables teams to create, share, and manage knowledge base content with real-time editing, rich media embedding, and granular permissions. Its AGPL 3.0 licensed core makes it suitable for organizations seeking full control over their documentation infrastructure without vendor lock-in. Docmost is ideal for engineering teams, product managers, and knowledge-intensive departments that need a flexible, scalable documentation system they can deploy on-premises or in private clouds.
What You Get
- Real-time collaboration - Multiple users can edit the same document simultaneously with live cursor tracking and updates, similar to Google Docs.
- Diagrams (Draw.io, Excalidraw, Mermaid) - Native support for embedding and editing visual diagrams directly within pages using industry-standard tools.
- Spaces - Organize content into isolated workspaces for teams, projects, or departments with separate permissions and navigation.
- Permissions management - Granular control over who can view, edit, or comment on pages and spaces via user-level and group-based access rules.
- Groups - Manage collections of users to streamline permission assignment across multiple spaces and pages.
- Comments - Threaded commenting on any page element to facilitate feedback and discussion without cluttering content.
- Page history - View, compare, and restore previous versions of documents with a full revision timeline.
- Search - Full-text search powered by Algolia to quickly locate content across all spaces and pages.
- File attachments - Upload and embed documents, images, PDFs, and other files directly into pages.
- Embeds (Airtable, Loom, Miro) - Integrate external tools and media into documentation via oEmbed-compatible iframes without leaving the editor.
- Translations (10+ languages) - Community-powered localization via Crowdin to support multilingual teams and global audiences.
Common Use Cases
- Building a centralized engineering knowledge base - Engineering teams use Docmost to document APIs, onboarding guides, and incident runbooks with real-time updates and version history.
- Creating a customer-facing knowledge portal - Support teams publish help articles with embedded Loom videos and Airtable data, accessible to both internal staff and external users via permissioned spaces.
- Problem: Fragmented documentation across Notion and Google Docs → Solution: Docmost - Organizations consolidating siloed docs into a single, searchable, self-hosted platform with audit trails and access controls.
- Team: DevOps managing infrastructure docs across cloud providers - Teams use Docmost to maintain Terraform modules, deployment checklists, and environment configurations with role-based access and page versioning.
Under The Hood
Docmost is a collaborative documentation platform built with a modern TypeScript stack, emphasizing real-time editing and modular architecture. It combines a React frontend with NestJS backend to support scalable, extensible document collaboration features.
Architecture
Docmost adopts a layered architecture that clearly separates concerns between UI, business logic, and collaboration layers.
- The system uses a monorepo structure with distinct client and server modules, enabling unified development and deployment.
- Client-side components are organized using React and Mantine, with a clear hierarchy supporting global layouts and reusable elements.
- Server-side modules integrate Hocuspocus for real-time collaboration, leveraging dependency injection and modular design patterns.
- Communication between components is handled through state management (Jotai), routing (React Router), and WebSocket-based event systems.
Tech Stack
The project leverages a contemporary tech stack focused on developer experience and real-time capabilities.
- Built with TypeScript, React, and NestJS, complemented by Vite for fast frontend builds and Nx for monorepo management.
- Integrates Mantine UI components, Tiptap for rich text editing, and Yjs/Hocuspocus for collaborative document editing.
- Uses PNPM as the package manager and includes custom build configurations for optimized delivery.
- Supports testing with React Testing Library and Jest, alongside ESLint and Prettier for code consistency.
Code Quality
The codebase reflects a balanced approach to structure and type safety, though some areas show room for improvement.
- Strong emphasis on TypeScript usage enhances code reliability and maintainability across modules.
- Error handling is implemented with standard try/catch patterns, though more granular approaches could improve resilience.
- Code organization is consistent in naming and structure, but test coverage remains limited in scope.
- Linting and formatting tools are configured to support clean, readable code standards.
What Makes It Unique
Docmost stands out through its modular design and real-time collaboration integration, offering a developer-friendly platform.
- The combination of NestJS backend with React frontend provides a seamless and extensible architecture for documentation tools.
- Real-time editing capabilities are powered by Hocuspocus and Yjs, setting it apart from conventional document platforms.
- Modular component design allows for easy customization and integration with third-party tools or extensions.