How to Deploy an Open-Source Version of NotebookLM on Your Own Server

NotebookLM, Google’s AI-powered note-taking and research tool, is gaining traction — but it’s proprietary and cloud-based. Fortunately, there are open-source alternatives like Open Notebook that you can self-host within your own network for improved privacy and control.

Why Self-Host an Alternative?

Privacy & Security: Running Open Notebook locally means your data never leaves your infrastructure.
Flexibility: Supports multiple LLM providers, such as OpenAI, Google Gemini, and others.
Source Control: You control which AI models are used, their configuration, and how they interact with your documents.

What You’ll Need to Deploy

A machine (e.g., server or workstation) with Docker installed.
An API key for an LLM provider if you plan to use proprietary services.
Sufficient storage and memory depending on the size of your document corpus.

Steps to Deploy Open Notebook

Clone the Open Notebook GitHub repository to your server.
Copy and configure the docker.env file based on which LLM(s) you intend to use.
Edit settings such as API keys, host IPs, and default models.
Run docker compose up -d to start services in detached mode.
Open http://<server-ip>:8502 in your browser to access the web UI.

Configuring Models and LLM Providers

Once you’re in the Open Notebook UI, head to the “Models” section. Here you can:

Select default LLM providers.
Configure behavior per model (e.g., summarization vs. Q&A).
Add or remove sources and document collections.

Who Should Consider This Setup?

This deployment model works best for:

Researchers and students who want a personal AI workspace.
Organizations needing a secure, on-premises research and note-taking tool.
AI enthusiasts who want to experiment with different LLMs locally.

Limitations & Considerations

While powerful, running Open Notebook comes with trade-offs:

It requires technical setup (Docker, environment configuration).
Costs depend on the LLMs you use — local free models may be slower or less capable.
Maintaining and updating the service is now your responsibility.

Source: PromakAI. Compiled by PromakAI News.