CodiMD - Realtime collaborative markdown notes on all platforms.
10.1k
Stars
1.1k
Forks
351
Open issues
30
Contributors
AI Analysis
CodiMD is a self-hosted, real-time collaborative markdown note-taking platform forked from HackMD's open-source codebase. It is best suited for teams and communities that want to host their own instance and maintain full control over collaborative note data without commercial licensing. It benefits developers, open communities, and organizations seeking Etherpad-like functionality with markdown support and modern web collaboration features.
Inferred from signals mentioned in the README (tests, CI, type safety) — not a review of the actual code.
AI's overall editorial judgment — not an average of the bars above, can weigh other factors too.
CodiMD: self-hosted real-time collaborative markdown editor built on HackMD's open source core
CodiMD is a self-hostable, real-time collaborative markdown note-taking platform derived from HackMD's source code. It targets teams, open-source communities, and privacy-conscious organizations that want collaborative markdown editing without relying on a third-party SaaS. The AGPL license and Docker-friendly deployment make it accessible for technical self-hosters. It covers real-time co-editing, slide mode, and extensive auth/storage configuration. Its primary audience is developers and sysadmins who need lightweight collaborative writing infrastructure under their own control.
Forked from HackMD in 2015, CodiMD became the official open-source release of HackMD's codebase. A community fork later emerged as HedgeDoc when governance tensions arose around 2020, creating a split in the ecosystem.
Early growth was driven by demand for self-hosted Etherpad alternatives with markdown support. The project peaked around 2019-2021 amid rising interest in privacy-first tooling. Growth has since plateaued — only 5 stars gained in the last 7 days — likely because HedgeDoc absorbed much of the new contributor energy, and SaaS alternatives (HackMD, Notion) handle most new users. The project is maintained but no longer growing meaningfully.
CodiMD has been deployed by universities, open-source communities, and developer teams as a lightweight internal wiki tool. Several Linux distributions and community groups have historically run public instances. However, concrete verifiable production scale metrics are not publicly documented in the repository. Adoption appears real but its current scope is difficult to quantify.
Likely a Node.js monolith serving a web frontend with real-time collaboration via WebSockets (based on HackMD lineage). Appears to use a relational database (PostgreSQL/MySQL/SQLite supported per docs), with optional S3-compatible image storage. Frontend is likely webpack-bundled. Authentication appears modular, supporting multiple OAuth/LDAP providers based on configuration docs.
not documented in README
Last push was 2025-10-02, roughly 9 months before the current date of 2026-06-26. This indicates low but non-zero maintenance activity — not actively developed, but not fully abandoned. No recent release cadence is visible from metadata. The Gitter community channel and issue tracker remain listed, but overall signal suggests the project is in quiet maintenance mode rather than active development.
ADOPT IF: you need a proven, Docker-deployable self-hosted markdown collaboration tool and are comfortable with a project in maintenance mode — existing installs work reliably and the codebase is mature. AVOID IF: you need active feature development, security patch velocity, or long-term ecosystem momentum — HedgeDoc is a better bet for new deployments. MONITOR IF: HackMD team signals renewed investment in CodiMD, or if HedgeDoc's development stalls and CodiMD absorbs that community again.
Independent dimensions
Mainstream potential
2/10
Technical importance
6/10
Adoption evidence
4/10
- Project appears to be in quiet maintenance mode with no evidence of active feature development as of mid-2026, raising questions about future security patch coverage.
- HedgeDoc has effectively absorbed the active contributor community, leaving CodiMD with limited organic growth or new maintainer onboarding.
- Documentation is hosted externally on hackmd.io rather than in the repository, creating a dependency risk if those docs become unavailable.
- AGPL license may be a barrier for organizations wanting to integrate or modify the tool for internal proprietary toolchains.
- The ecosystem split between CodiMD and HedgeDoc creates fragmentation, meaning plugins, integrations, and community answers may be scattered across both projects.
CodiMD will likely remain available as a stable legacy deployment option but is unlikely to regain development momentum. HedgeDoc will continue to be the more active community successor for new users.
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Languages
Information
- Language
- JavaScript
- License
- AGPL-3.0
- Last updated
- 9mo ago
- Created
- 136mo ago
- Analyzed with
- anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5
Stars over time
Contributors over time
Top 100 contributors only — repos with more will plateau at 100.
Open issues
Security: Upgrade axios to 1.15.0+ (CVE-2025-62718, CVE-2026-40175)
Add folders to store notes
Update `@aws-sdk/client-s3-node` (deprecated preview) to `@aws-sdk/client-s3` (v3 stable)
[Feature Request] - Add a notification system that informs users when a document they collaborate on or follow is modified.
S3: error with non AWS S3 provider
Top contributors
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HedgeDoc is a community fork of CodiMD rewritten in TypeScript with more active development and a larger recent contributor base. For new deployments, HedgeDoc is generally the more forward-looking choice within this exact niche.
The commercial upstream. HackMD SaaS includes features CodiMD lacks (book mode, access controls, teams). CodiMD is the right choice only when self-hosting and data ownership are non-negotiable.
Memos focuses on personal short-form notes rather than real-time collaborative editing. Serves a different use case — less structured, more personal journaling-style. Not a direct replacement.
Docmost is a more modern, actively developed team wiki and documentation platform. Likely a better fit for teams needing structured knowledge bases rather than ephemeral collaborative markdown pads.
Etherpad is a plain-text real-time editor without markdown rendering. CodiMD targets users who specifically want markdown-first collaboration. The README explicitly covers Etherpad migration paths.
Chrome >= 47, Chrome for Android >= 47
Safari >= 9, iOS Safari >= 8.4
Firefox >= 44
Edge >= 12
Opera >= 34, Opera Mini not supported
