HackMD Community Edition

HackMD lets you create realtime collaborative markdown notes on all platforms. Inspired by Hackpad, with more focus on speed and flexibility. Still in the early stage, feel free to fork or contribute to HackMD.

Thanks for using! 😄

Table of Contents

• Browsers Requirement
• Installation
  • Getting started (Native install)
    • Prerequisite
    • Instructions
  • Heroku Deployment
  • HackMD by docker container
• Upgrade
  • Native setup
• Configuration
  • Environment variables (will overwrite other server configs)
  • Application settings config.json
  • Third-party integration API key settings
  • Third-party integration OAuth callback URLs
• Developer Notes
  • Structure
  • Operational Transformation
• License

Browsers Requirement

• Chrome >= 47, Chrome for Android >= 47
• Safari >= 9, iOS Safari >= 8.4
• Firefox >= 44
• IE >= 9, Edge >= 12
• Opera >= 34, Opera Mini not supported
• Android Browser >= 4.4

Installation

Getting started (Native install)

Prerequisite

• Node.js 6.x or up (test up to 7.5.0)
• Database (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite, MSSQL) use charset utf8
• npm (and its dependencies, especially uWebSockets, node-gyp)
• For building HackMD we recommend to use a machine with at least 2GB RAM

Instructions

1. Download a release and unzip or clone into a directory
2. Enter the directory and type bin/setup, which will install npm dependencies and create configs. The setup script is written in Bash, you would need bash as a prerequisite.
3. Setup the configs, see more below
4. Setup environment variables which will overwrite the configs
5. Build front-end bundle by npm run build (use npm run dev if you are in development)
6. Run the server as you like (node, forever, pm2)

Heroku Deployment

You can quickly setup a sample Heroku HackMD application by clicking the button below.

If you deploy it without the button, keep in mind to use the right buildpacks. For details check app.json.

HackMD by docker container

Debian-based version:

Alpine-based version:

The easiest way to setup HackMD using docker are using the following three commands:

git clone https://github.com/hackmdio/docker-hackmd.git
cd docker-hackmd
docker-compose up

Read more about it in the docker repository…

Upgrade

Native setup

If you are upgrading HackMD from an older version, follow these steps:

1. Fully stop your old server first (important)
2. git pull or do whatever that updates the files
3. npm install to update dependencies
4. Build front-end bundle by npm run build (use npm run dev if you are in development)
5. Modify the file named .sequelizerc, change the value of the variable url with your db connection string For example: postgres://username:password@localhost:5432/hackmd
6. Run node_modules/.bin/sequelize db:migrate, this step will migrate your db to the latest schema
7. Start your whole new server!

• migrate-to-1.1.0

We deprecated the older lower case config style and moved on to camel case style. Please have a look at the current config.json.example and check the warnings on startup.

Notice: This is not a breaking change right now but in the future

• migration-to-0.5.0

We don't use LZString to compress socket.io data and DB data after version 0.5.0. Please run the migration tool if you're upgrading from the old version.

• migration-to-0.4.0

We've dropped MongoDB after version 0.4.0. So here is the migration tool for you to transfer the old DB data to the new DB. This tool is also used for official service.

Configuration

There are some config settings you need to change in the files below.

./config.json      ----application settings

Environment variables (will overwrite other server configs)

variables	example values	description
NODE_ENV	production or development	set current environment (will apply corresponding settings in the config.json)
DEBUG	true or false	set debug mode; show more logs
HMD_DOMAIN	hackmd.io	domain name
HMD_URL_PATH	hackmd	sub URL path, like www.example.com/<URL_PATH>
HMD_PORT	80	web app port
HMD_ALLOW_ORIGIN	localhost, hackmd.io	domain name whitelist (use comma to separate)
HMD_PROTOCOL_USESSL	true or false	set to use SSL protocol for resources path (only applied when domain is set)
HMD_URL_ADDPORT	true or false	set to add port on callback URL (ports 80 or 443 won't be applied) (only applied when domain is set)
HMD_USECDN	true or false	set to use CDN resources or not (default is true)
HMD_ALLOW_ANONYMOUS	true or false	set to allow anonymous usage (default is true)
HMD_ALLOW_ANONYMOUS_EDITS	true or false	if allowAnonymous is true, allow users to select freely permission, allowing guests to edit existing notes (default is false)
HMD_ALLOW_FREEURL	true or false	set to allow new note creation by accessing a nonexistent note URL
HMD_DEFAULT_PERMISSION	freely, editable, limited, locked or private	set notes default permission (only applied on signed users)
HMD_DB_URL	mysql://localhost:3306/database	set the database URL
HMD_SESSION_SECRET	no example	Secret used to sign the session cookie. If non is set, one will randomly generated on startup
HMD_SESSION_LIFE	1209600000	Session life time. (milliseconds)
HMD_FACEBOOK_CLIENTID	no example	Facebook API client id
HMD_FACEBOOK_CLIENTSECRET	no example	Facebook API client secret
HMD_TWITTER_CONSUMERKEY	no example	Twitter API consumer key
HMD_TWITTER_CONSUMERSECRET	no example	Twitter API consumer secret
HMD_GITHUB_CLIENTID	no example	GitHub API client id
HMD_GITHUB_CLIENTSECRET	no example	GitHub API client secret
HMD_GITLAB_SCOPE	read_user or api	GitLab API requested scope (default is api) (GitLab snippet import/export need api scope)
HMD_GITLAB_BASEURL	no example	GitLab authentication endpoint, set to use other endpoint than GitLab.com (optional)
HMD_GITLAB_CLIENTID	no example	GitLab API client id
HMD_GITLAB_CLIENTSECRET	no example	GitLab API client secret
HMD_MATTERMOST_BASEURL	no example	Mattermost authentication endpoint
HMD_MATTERMOST_CLIENTID	no example	Mattermost API client id
HMD_MATTERMOST_CLIENTSECRET	no example	Mattermost API client secret
HMD_DROPBOX_CLIENTID	no example	Dropbox API client id
HMD_DROPBOX_CLIENTSECRET	no example	Dropbox API client secret
HMD_GOOGLE_CLIENTID	no example	Google API client id
HMD_GOOGLE_CLIENTSECRET	no example	Google API client secret
HMD_LDAP_URL	ldap://example.com	URL of LDAP server
HMD_LDAP_BINDDN	no example	bindDn for LDAP access
HMD_LDAP_BINDCREDENTIALS	no example	bindCredentials for LDAP access
HMD_LDAP_SEARCHBASE	o=users,dc=example,dc=com	LDAP directory to begin search from
HMD_LDAP_SEARCHFILTER	(uid={{username}})	LDAP filter to search with
HMD_LDAP_SEARCHATTRIBUTES	displayName, mail	LDAP attributes to search with (use comma to separate)
HMD_LDAP_USERIDFIELD	uidNumber or uid or sAMAccountName	The LDAP field which is used uniquely identify a user on HackMD
HMD_LDAP_USERNAMEFIELD	Fallback to userid	The LDAP field which is used as the username on HackMD
HMD_LDAP_TLS_CA	server-cert.pem, root.pem	Root CA for LDAP TLS in PEM format (use comma to separate)
HMD_LDAP_PROVIDERNAME	My institution	Optional name to be displayed at login form indicating the LDAP provider
HMD_SAML_IDPSSOURL	https://idp.example.com/sso	authentication endpoint of IdP. for details, see guide.
HMD_SAML_IDPCERT	/path/to/cert.pem	certificate file path of IdP in PEM format
HMD_SAML_ISSUER	no example	identity of the service provider (optional, default: serverurl)"
HMD_SAML_IDENTIFIERFORMAT	no example	name identifier format (optional, default: urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:emailAddress)
HMD_SAML_GROUPATTRIBUTE	memberOf	attribute name for group list (optional)
HMD_SAML_REQUIREDGROUPS	Hackmd-users	group names that allowed (use vertical bar to separate) (optional)
HMD_SAML_EXTERNALGROUPS	Temporary-staff	group names that not allowed (use vertical bar to separate) (optional)
HMD_SAML_ATTRIBUTE_ID	sAMAccountName	attribute map for id (optional, default: NameID of SAML response)
HMD_SAML_ATTRIBUTE_USERNAME	mailNickname	attribute map for username (optional, default: NameID of SAML response)
HMD_SAML_ATTRIBUTE_EMAIL	mail	attribute map for email (optional, default: NameID of SAML response if HMD_SAML_IDENTIFIERFORMAT is default)
HMD_IMGUR_CLIENTID	no example	Imgur API client id
HMD_EMAIL	true or false	set to allow email signin
HMD_ALLOW_PDF_EXPORT	true or false	Enable or disable PDF exports
HMD_ALLOW_EMAIL_REGISTER	true or false	set to allow email register (only applied when email is set, default is true. Note bin/manage_users might help you if registration is false.)
HMD_IMAGE_UPLOAD_TYPE	imgur, s3, minio or filesystem	Where to upload image. For S3, see our Image Upload Guides for S3 or Minio
HMD_S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID	no example	AWS access key id
HMD_S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY	no example	AWS secret key
HMD_S3_REGION	ap-northeast-1	AWS S3 region
HMD_S3_BUCKET	no example	AWS S3 bucket name
HMD_MINIO_ACCESS_KEY	no example	Minio access key
HMD_MINIO_SECRET_KEY	no example	Minio secret key
HMD_MINIO_ENDPOINT	minio.example.org	Address of your Minio endpoint/instance
HMD_MINIO_PORT	9000	Port that is used for your Minio instance
HMD_MINIO_SECURE	true	If set to true HTTPS is used for Minio
HMD_HSTS_ENABLE	true	set to enable HSTS if HTTPS is also enabled (default is true)
HMD_HSTS_INCLUDE_SUBDOMAINS	true	set to include subdomains in HSTS (default is true)
HMD_HSTS_MAX_AGE	31536000	max duration in seconds to tell clients to keep HSTS status (default is a year)
HMD_HSTS_PRELOAD	true	whether to allow preloading of the site's HSTS status (e.g. into browsers)
HMD_CSP_ENABLE	true	whether to enable Content Security Policy (directives cannot be configured with environment variables)
HMD_CSP_REPORTURI	https://<someid>.report-uri.com/r/d/csp/enforce	Allows to add a URL for CSP reports in case of violations

Application settings config.json

variables	example values	description
debug	true or false	set debug mode, show more logs
domain	localhost	domain name
urlPath	hackmd	sub URL path, like www.example.com/<urlpath>
port	80	web app port
allowOrigin	['localhost']	domain name whitelist
useSSL	true or false	set to use SSL server (if true, will auto turn on protocolUseSSL)
hsts	{"enable": true, "maxAgeSeconds": 31536000, "includeSubdomains": true, "preload": true}	HSTS options to use with HTTPS (default is the example value, max age is a year)
csp	{"enable": true, "directives": {"scriptSrc": "trustworthy-scripts.example.com"}, "upgradeInsecureRequests": "auto", "addDefaults": true}	Configures Content Security Policy. Directives are passed to Helmet - see their documentation for more information on the format. Some defaults are added to the configured values so that the application doesn't break. To disable this behaviour, set addDefaults to false. Further, if usecdn is on, some CDN locations are allowed too. By default (auto), insecure (HTTP) requests are upgraded to HTTPS via CSP if useSSL is on. To change this behaviour, set upgradeInsecureRequests to either true or false.
protocolUseSSL	true or false	set to use SSL protocol for resources path (only applied when domain is set)
urlAddPort	true or false	set to add port on callback URL (ports 80 or 443 won't be applied) (only applied when domain is set)
useCDN	true or false	set to use CDN resources or not (default is true)
allowAnonymous	true or false	set to allow anonymous usage (default is true)
allowAnonymousEdits	true or false	if allowAnonymous is true: allow users to select freely permission, allowing guests to edit existing notes (default is false)
allowFreeURL	true or false	set to allow new note creation by accessing a nonexistent note URL
defaultPermission	freely, editable, limited, locked, protected or private	set notes default permission (only applied on signed users)
dbURL	mysql://localhost:3306/database	set the db URL; if set, then db config (below) won't be applied
db	{ "dialect": "sqlite", "storage": "./db.hackmd.sqlite" }	set the db configs, see more here
sslKeyPath	./cert/client.key	SSL key path (only need when you set useSSL)
sslCertPath	./cert/hackmd_io.crt	SSL cert path (only need when you set useSSL)
sslCAPath	['./cert/COMODORSAAddTrustCA.crt']	SSL ca chain (only need when you set useSSL)
dhParamPath	./cert/dhparam.pem	SSL dhparam path (only need when you set useSSL)
tmpPath	./tmp/	temp directory path
defaultNotePath	./public/default.md	default note file path
docsPath	./public/docs	docs directory path
indexPath	./public/views/index.ejs	index template file path
hackmdPath	./public/views/hackmd.ejs	hackmd template file path
errorPath	./public/views/error.ejs	error template file path
prettyPath	./public/views/pretty.ejs	pretty template file path
slidePath	./public/views/slide.hbs	slide template file path
sessionName	connect.sid	cookie session name
sessionSecret	secret	cookie session secret
sessionLife	14 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000	cookie session life
staticCacheTime	1 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000	static file cache time
heartbeatInterval	5000	socket.io heartbeat interval
heartbeatTimeout	10000	socket.io heartbeat timeout
documentMaxLength	100000	note max length
email	true or false	set to allow email signin
allowEmailRegister	true or false	set to allow email register (only applied when email is set, default is true. Note bin/manage_users might help you if registration is false.)
imageUploadType	imgur(default), s3, minio or filesystem	Where to upload image
minio	{ "accessKey": "YOUR_MINIO_ACCESS_KEY", "secretKey": "YOUR_MINIO_SECRET_KEY", "endpoint": "YOUR_MINIO_HOST", port: 9000, secure: true }	When imageUploadType is set to minio, you need to set this key. Also checkout our Minio Image Upload Guide
s3	{ "accessKeyId": "YOUR_S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID", "secretAccessKey": "YOUR_S3_ACCESS_KEY", "region": "YOUR_S3_REGION" }	When imageuploadtype be set to s3, you would also need to setup this key, check our S3 Image Upload Guide
s3bucket	YOUR_S3_BUCKET_NAME	bucket name when imageUploadType is set to s3 or minio

Third-party integration API key settings

service	settings location	description
facebook, twitter, github, gitlab, mattermost, dropbox, google, ldap, saml	environment variables or config.json	for signin
imgur, s3, minio	environment variables or config.json	for image upload
dropbox(dropbox/appKey)	config.json	for export and import

Third-party integration OAuth callback URLs

service	callback URL (after the server URL)
facebook	/auth/facebook/callback
twitter	/auth/twitter/callback
github	/auth/github/callback
gitlab	/auth/gitlab/callback
mattermost	/auth/mattermost/callback
dropbox	/auth/dropbox/callback
google	/auth/google/callback
saml	/auth/saml/callback

Developer Notes

Structure

hackmd/
├── tmp/            --- temporary files
├── docs/           --- document files
├── lib/            --- server libraries
└── public/         --- client files
    ├── css/        --- css styles
    ├── js/         --- js scripts
    ├── vendor/     --- vendor includes
    └── views/      --- view templates

Operational Transformation

From 0.3.2, we started supporting operational transformation. It makes concurrent editing safe and will not break up other users' operations. Additionally, now can show other clients' selections. See more at http://operational-transformation.github.io/

License

License under AGPL.