TiddlyWiki Self-Hosted Personal Wiki

This is a repackaged open source software product wherein additional charges apply for cloudimg support services.

## Why This AMI Instead of Self-Deploying?

TiddlyWiki is a mature open source personal wiki and non-linear notebook. Content is captured as small, individually addressable notes called tiddlers that link, tag and transclude each other freely, so a knowledge base grows organically instead of as rigid pages. Deploying the Node.js server edition yourself means installing Node.js, configuring npm globally, writing systemd units, hardening nginx as a reverse proxy, generating secure passwords and maintaining the stack over time. This AMI removes that effort entirely - your self-hosted wiki server is running within minutes of launch, not hours, in a pre-hardened, tested configuration backed by 24/7 expert support.

The current release available is TiddlyWiki 5.4.1.

## Application Stack

TiddlyWiki is installed globally with npm on Node.js 22 LTS and run by an unprivileged service account. Its built-in Node server listens on the loopback address and an nginx reverse proxy fronts it on port 80, with a raised upload limit for large tiddlers and attachments. A systemd service starts the server on boot and restarts it on failure. Each tiddler is stored as a file in a server wiki folder, so every change you make in the browser is written straight back to the instance.

Architecture: browser -> nginx reverse proxy on port 80 -> Node.js TiddlyWiki server on the loopback -> file-based tiddler storage on a dedicated EBS volume.

## Secure By Default

Many pre-built images ship with shared or default passwords - a common vulnerability that exposes instances immediately after launch. This image eliminates that risk entirely:

• A unique admin password is generated for every instance on its first boot
• TiddlyWiki's own built-in authentication requires that credential for every read and every write, so an unauthenticated request is rejected
• It is stored in a root-only file, inaccessible to unprivileged users
• No shared or default password ships in the image
• Build-time state is wiped before capture, so no wiki content and no password are baked in

Your wiki content lives on your own instance, on a dedicated data volume, never on a third party's cloud.

## Ready To Use

Browse to the instance on port 80, sign in with the generated admin credential, and start capturing notes - create, link, tag and transclude tiddlers, and every change is saved back to the server wiki folder. Your wiki data lives on a dedicated, independently resizable storage volume kept separate from the operating system disk, so you can grow it without touching the OS. A 7-day free trial lets you evaluate the full stack before you commit.

## What You Avoid By Using This AMI

• Manual Node.js and npm installation and version management
• Writing and debugging systemd service units
• Configuring nginx as a reverse proxy with correct upload limits
• Generating and securely storing instance passwords
• Ongoing maintenance and security patching without expert guidance

## cloudimg Support

24/7 technical support by email and live chat. Our engineers help with TiddlyWiki deployment, the built-in authentication model, backups of the server wiki folder, TLS termination and scaling.

## Use Cases

• DevOps and platform teams: link post-mortem and runbook tiddlers so on-call operational knowledge stays connected and searchable inside your own VPC
• Researchers and analysts: build an interlinked Zettelkasten of literature notes, permanent notes and project outlines with full data ownership and no vendor lock-in
• Documentation and compliance teams: keep internal SOPs, policies and audit notes inside your own AWS account where data residency requirements apply

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