Self-hosting SilverBullet the easy way

Yulei Chen

4 min

SilverBullet is an open-source, Markdown-based personal knowledge management (PKM) tool. It runs in your browser, supports Lua scripting, and stores everything as plain Markdown files. Unlike Notion or Obsidian Sync, there are no subscriptions, no cloud lock-in, and no limits on how many devices you use.

Sliplane makes self-hosting SilverBullet painless. With one-click deployment, you get a running instance in under a minute - no server setup, no reverse proxy, no infrastructure headaches.

Prerequisites

Before deploying, ensure you have a Sliplane account (free trial available).

Quick start

Sliplane provides one-click deployment with presets.

Deploy SilverBullet >

Click the deploy button above
Select a project
Select a server. If you just signed up you get a 48-hour free trial server
Click Deploy!

About the preset

The one-click deploy above uses Sliplane's SilverBullet preset. Here's what it includes:

Official SilverBullet image (ghcr.io/silverbulletmd/silverbullet) pinned to version 2.6.1
Persistent storage mounted to /space so your notes survive restarts and redeployments
Basic auth via the SB_USER environment variable (auto-generated username and password)
Port 3000 exposed over HTTPS through Sliplane's built-in reverse proxy

The image version was current as of April 2026. Check the SilverBullet GitHub releases for newer versions.

Next steps

Once SilverBullet is running, open the domain Sliplane assigned (e.g. silverbullet-xxxx.sliplane.app). You'll be prompted for your credentials.

Default credentials

The preset generates a random username and password stored in the SB_USER environment variable. You can find them in your service's Environment tab on Sliplane. The format is username:password.

To change your credentials, update the SB_USER variable and redeploy.

Writing and organizing notes

SilverBullet stores everything as Markdown files in the /space volume. You can:

Create pages by typing a new page name in the top bar
Use Ctrl+K / Cmd+K to open the command palette
Link between pages with [[wiki-style links]]
Extend functionality with Lua scripting

Environment variables

You can customize your setup by adding or changing environment variables in the Sliplane dashboard:

Variable	Description
`SB_USER`	Basic auth credentials in `user:pass` format
`SB_SHELL_BACKEND`	Set to `local` to enable shell commands (advanced)
`SB_SYNC_ONLY`	Set to `true` for sync-only mode (no editing in the UI)

Logging

SilverBullet logs to STDOUT by default, which works with Sliplane's built-in log viewer. Check the Logs tab in your Sliplane dashboard for troubleshooting. For general Docker log tips, see our post on how to use Docker logs.

Updating SilverBullet

To update, change the image tag in your service settings on Sliplane and redeploy. Check the SilverBullet GitHub releases for the latest stable version. Since your notes live in a persistent volume, they won't be affected by the update.

Cost comparison

Of course you can also self-host SilverBullet with other cloud providers. Here is a pricing comparison for the most common ones:

Provider	vCPU Cores	RAM	Disk	Estimated Monthly Cost	Notes
Sliplane	2	2 GB	40 GB	€9	charge per server
Render	1	2 GB	40 GB	~$35–$45	VM Small
Fly.io	2	2 GB	40 GB	~$20–$25	VM + volume
Railway	2	2 GB	40 GB	~$15–$66	Usage-based

FAQ

What can I use SilverBullet for?

SilverBullet works great as a personal wiki, daily journal, project planner, or second brain. Since everything is Markdown, your notes are portable and easy to search. You can extend it with Lua scripts to build custom workflows, query your notes like a database, and automate repetitive tasks.

How do I configure SilverBullet?

Most configuration happens through environment variables and through SilverBullet's built-in settings page (accessible from the command palette). The SB_USER variable handles authentication. For advanced options, check the official configuration docs.