Should I Self-Host?

What are the benefits of self-hosting? Should you use the GitHub Pages version or setup a local instance of NoteBuddy?

Decision Matrix

Situation	GitHub Pages	Self-Host
Fast Start & Zero Maintenance	Yes	No
You want to serve your own custom templates (e.g. in a company)	Maybe	Yes
Use behind strict firewalls or even offline segments	No	Yes
You need custom reverse proxy/domain policies	No	Yes
You want to bundle app with internal tooling	No	Yes

My Advice

• Use official GitHub Pages if you just want to use the app and forget about it.
• Self-host if you have policy, networking, or compliance requirements or just want to have fun inside your homelab.

Operational Tradeoff

Self-hosting gives control, but adds responsibilities:

• patching host OS and web server
• service availability
• security is fully in your own hands

Update Scripts

I bundled some update scripts with the self-hosted version that allow you to easily:

• fetch & build the latest templates from the community-scripts database
• update the selfh.st image search sidepanel with the latest icons
• update the app itself via the release channel on GitHub