Wednesday, October 16, 2024

How to Install and Use Bookmarking Tool 'Hoarder' on Linux

Hoarder is a revolutionary application for keeping all your notes, images, and bookmarks in one centralized location. It's a free, open-source, and self-hostable bookmarking tool that's powered by the advanced capabilities of ChatGPT, providing AI-based automatic tagging and comprehensive full-text search functionality.

From the moment I began using Hoarder, it quickly became my go-to application. Previously, I relied on Pocket, but found it frustrating due to its limited functionality, particularly its lack of support for adding notes or images. It was solely a bookmarking tool, which wasn't sufficient for my needs.

Furthermore, Pocket's practice of adding the "?utm_source=pocket_saves" slug to every bookmarked page was perplexing. It seemed oblivious to the potential security risks associated with Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) on websites with strict security measures. Fortunately, I have since abandoned Pocket.

Hoarder offers a much more enjoyable experience for effortlessly creating notes, saving links, and storing images. The ability to add tags to bookmarks and organize them into categorized lists, such as separate lists for notes, links, and images, provides a level of organization that was sorely lacking in Pocket.

The app's intuitive design extends beyond its core functionality, seamlessly integrating with Chrome and Firefox extensions. These extensions enable users to quickly bookmark pages, add tags, and categorize them into lists directly from their browser. This eliminates the need to switch between applications and streamlines the bookmarking process.

One of the standout features of Hoarder is its ability to remove bookmarks directly from the extension itself. In contrast, Pocket forces users to delete bookmarks through its dashboard, a cumbersome process that detracts from the overall user experience.

Diving Deeper into Hoarder's Features

Hoarder boasts a robust set of features, making it an ideal solution for managing digital content. Here's a comprehensive list of the functionalities it offers:

  • Bookmarking: Hoarder allows users to easily bookmark links, take quick notes, and store images.

  • Automatic Retrieval: It automatically retrieves link titles, descriptions, and images (excluding those protected by CAPTCHA).

  • Customization: Users have the flexibility to modify bookmark titles, archive, favorite, or delete them.

  • Tagging: Hoarder supports both manual and AI-generated tagging of bookmarks.

  • List Organization: Users can organize bookmarks into custom lists for enhanced organization and retrieval.

  • Comprehensive Search: The full-text search functionality allows users to search across all stored content, ensuring easy access to information.

  • Browser Extensions: Hoarder offers dedicated Chrome and Firefox extensions for convenient bookmarking directly from the browser.

  • Mobile Applications: It provides dedicated iOS and Android applications, ensuring accessibility across various devices.

  • Dark Mode Support: For users who prefer a darker interface, Hoarder offers dark mode support (currently available only for the web version).

Installing Hoarder Using Docker

Setting up Hoarder is a straightforward process, particularly with the use of Docker and Docker Compose. For those unfamiliar with these technologies, comprehensive installation guides are available.

  1. Directory Creation: Begin by creating a new directory to store the compose file and environment variables. This directory can be named according to your preference.

          mkdir ~/hoarder/ && cd ~/hoarder/
        

  2. Compose File Download: Download the docker compose file into the newly created directory.

          wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hoarder-app/hoarder/main/docker/docker-compose.yml
        

  3. Configuration (Optional): To customize the volume location, you can edit the docker compose file using a text editor. Additionally, if you intend to utilize OpenAI's automatic tagging feature, you'll need to obtain an OpenAI API key and configure it within the docker compose file's environment section.

  4. .env File Creation: Create a ".env" file in the same directory and populate it with the following content:

    HOARDER_VERSION=latest
    NEXTAUTH_SECRET=2fjLEIJKKl016/nJmlZnp2UpvaFCccwMkVan1ufigxqsuOtD
    MEILI_MASTER_KEY=tZcjeGqwy8DEu7GqxbBupvLexsSSEit7FchT4WnAmi0ewxPb
    NEXTAUTH_URL=http://localhost:3000
        

    If you require unique secret keys, use openssl rand -base64 36 to generate random strings for "NEXTAUTH_SECRET" and "MEILI_MASTER_KEY".

    It's crucial to update the "NEXTAUTH_URL" variable to reflect your server's address when deploying Hoarder on a cloud server.

  5. Server Startup: Finally, start the Hoarder server using this command:

          docker compose up -d
        

Accessing the Hoarder Dashboard

Once Hoarder is successfully set up and running, open your preferred browser (Chrome or Firefox) and navigate to the URL http://localhost:3000 to access the dashboard.

To start using Hoarder, you'll need to create a new account by providing your name, email address, password, and confirming the password. The first account created will automatically become the administrator of Hoarder.

Upon successful account creation, you'll be redirected to the Hoarder dashboard. Here, you can begin adding bookmark links, taking notes, or saving images. You can also attach tags to your content or organize them into custom lists.

Hoarder offers a default masonry layout for bookmarks, which can be switched to grid or list view based on your preference.

For administrative tasks, navigate to the "Admin" page to view user counts, bookmark statistics, server version, and background job information (crawling, indexing, and inference).

The "Settings" page provides options for changing your current password or generating a new API key.

Hoarder's user-friendly interface encourages exploration, allowing users to discover its capabilities and customize it to meet their specific needs.

Stopping Hoarder Using Docker

To gracefully shut down the Hoarder service, navigate to the directory containing the docker compose file and execute the following command:

cd ~/hoarder/
docker compose down
    
This command will stop the Hoarder service and remove all associated containers.

Hoarder represents a significant step forward in the realm of bookmarking, offering a comprehensive and user-friendly solution for managing digital content. Its integration with advanced technologies like ChatGPT and Docker makes it a powerful tool for both personal and professional use.

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