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.
How are “public shareable links” handled? Are you just saying links generate nicely when your version is exposed on the www or is there some kind of centralized back door for public access?
Public shareable links function as interactive read-only snapshots.
When a link is generated, a unique cryptographic token is mapped to the project’s current state in the database. The route serves this data to a canvas where all mutation logic and API write-access are disabled.
Key facts:
- Read-Only: Access is strictly limited to viewing and navigation. No data can be modified.
- Static State: It is not a real-time sync. The link reflects the project at the time of generation.
- Revocable: You can disable the link or regenerate the token at any time to kill previous access.
This is similar to how tools like Lufi or PrivateBin handle public access to specific resources without requiring authentication. And NoSQL/centralized backdoors 😅
Hmm, am I missing something or does it not work on tablets?
Demo looks kinda cool but can’t seem to add anything to the existing projects. 😞
You’re not missing anything 🙂
Ideon isn’t fully tablet-compatible yet, and mobile portrait is even more limited at the moment.
Touch support is something I’ve been actively working on for a while. Some interactions, like right-click equivalents, need proper tactile handling, and that requires rethinking parts of the UX rather than just patching it.
A dedicated mobile mode for smaller screens is also planned. The challenge is making keyboard/mouse and touch experiences coexist cleanly without breaking workflows on either side, so it’s taking time to do it properly.
Sorry for the frustration on your side. I completely understand it. It’s definitely on my roadmap, even if it will require a bit more work before it feels right…
Thats cool, I don’t care much for portrait mode tbh, and was just curious if i was missing something.
Would it not be easier just to have an ‘add element’ button that has options for adding a component? Moving stuff around works fine. I’m not even fussed about linking stuff. Just looking for something to visualise the various docker services because i forget whats running on what PI, lol.
Yeah, that shouldn’t be hard to add.
If you don’t mind, open an issue just so I can track it properly. I’m already working on touch support anyway.
The plan is basically a long press on the background to open the menu and create blocks. That should feel natural on tablet without adding extra buttons everywhere.
Sounds good and put a whatsit in for an enhancement.
I don’t pay much attention to shithub so if you want someone to test anything out it’ll probably be easier to shout on here.
This is something I didn’t know I needed. Definitely going to spin this up and try it out.
Awesome! Enjoy testing it out :D
is this just obsidian, but in the web ?
It’s similar to the canvas in Obsidian, but otherwise they’re nothing alike.
Wow, this looks like it has the potential to become something very very special. I already love the various forge integration possibilities and with a couple more upcoming block types (already dreaming of Nextcloud integration or perhaps even custom blocks) this could be an amazing planning hub.
Well done, I’ll definitely keep an eye on this!
Thanks so much! Really happy to hear that, it means a lot ❤️. I’m obviously looking forward to adding more block types and integrations, and ideas like Nextcloud or custom blocks are definitely on the roadmap.
Looks like a cool idea! I could see the mappings getting out of hand real quick if you actually braindumped everything in there. I think it needs some more collapsing functionality so i can close sections when im not focused on them.
True, everything is everywhere and this aims to put everything in one place… but that can be equally detrimental to ALWAYS have everything in one place. I guess you have some “control” in how far you put things from each other, but probably needs more tooling besides that for organization and especially “archiving”.
Thanks for the detailed feedback! I see what you mean, once people start dumping a lot of content, managing everything can get tricky. I actually use Ideon myself to develop the app and track progress, and honestly I’m not quite at that “large-scale brain dump” stage yet 😅. Nvm this is just the beginning, and I’m continuously improving the organization features !
