Silo is a privacy-first, local-first, end-to-end encrypted journaling platform. Designed to give users total data sovereignty, Silo ensures your memories stay on your devices and your hardware—never on a corporate server.
-green.svg){kind=icon}
In an era of cloud-dependency and data-mining, Silo stands for Data Sovereignty. Our philosophy is simple: Your data, your devices, your control.
- 🔒 Privacy by Default: Your journal entries are your own. No telemetry, no tracking, no corporate access.
- 🏠 Self-Hosted Persistence: You own the sync server. We provide the mediator; you provide the hardware.
- 📶 Seamlessly Offline: Journal from a mountain peak or a subway train. Silo works perfectly without an internet connection.
- 🔐 End-to-End Encrypted: Industry-standard AES-256-GCM encryption ensures that even the sync server only sees encrypted blobs (Phase 2).
- 📱 Multi-Platform: Native-feeling experiences across Web (Next.js), Mobile (Expo), and Desktop (Electron).
- 🔄 Intelligent Sync: A custom-built push/pull engine that handles conflict resolution and dirty-queue tracking smoothly.
- 📝 Markdown-Rich Editor: Built on TipTap, offering a distraction-free, rich-text experience that feels premium.
- 🎨 Universal UI: A beautiful, responsive interface powered by Tamagui that works consistently across touch and pointer devices.
Silo is engineered as a highly modular Nx Monorepo. This allows us to share code-heavy logic (encryption, synchronization, storage schemas) across all platforms while maintaining native performance.
| Component | Responsibility | Primary Tech Stack |
|---|---|---|
apps/web |
PWA & Client Shell | Next.js 15, Tailwind, TipTap |
apps/mobile |
Native Mobile App | Expo, React Native, Tamagui |
apps/desktop |
Desktop Application | Electron, Next.js |
apps/api |
Sync Mediator | NestJS, Drizzle ORM, PostgreSQL |
libs/core |
Shared Business Logic | Zod Schemas, Domain Types |
libs/sync |
Consistency Engine | Push/Pull Dirty-Queue Management |
libs/storage |
Local Persistence | Dexie.js (Web), SQLite (Native) |
libs/crypto |
Security Layer | AES-256-GCM, Argon2id |
For deep dives into our technical decisions, see the Documentation Index.
- Node.js: >= 20.x
- pnpm: >= 10.x
- Docker: Required for local PostgreSQL and MinIO infrastructure.
- Clone the repository
- Install dependencies:
pnpm install
- Spin up infrastructure:
docker stack deploy -c docker-stack.yml silo-infra
- Launch the development environment:
npx nx run-many -t dev --projects=web,api
Tip
For detailed instructions on database migrations, media storage configuration, and platform-specific setup, refer to the Running Silo Guide.
Standardized tasks managed via Nx:
| Task | Command |
|---|---|
| Static Analysis | npx nx run-many -t lint |
| Unit Testing | npx nx run-many -t test |
| Production Build | npx nx run-many -t build |
| DB Schema Sync | npx nx run api:migrate:push |
- Phase 1: Local Storage & Basic Sync Engine (Current)
- Phase 2: E2EE Integration & Key Derivation (Argon2id)
- Phase 3: Rich Media Attachments (MinIO Integration)
- Phase 4: Desktop & Mobile Beta Launch
- Phase 5: CRDTs for robust multi-device conflict resolution
Check the complete Roadmap for more details.
We welcome contributions from the community! Whether it's fixing bugs, improving documentation, or proposing new features.
- Read the Architecture Principles.
- Ensure you follow the Coding Standards.
- If using AI assistance, follow our AI Agent Guidelines.
- Open a PR with a descriptive title using Conventional Commits.
Silo is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details. (c) 2026 Silo Team.