# Copyparty: a self-hosted file server to replace Obsidian? **URL:** \ **Category:** JDHQ\ **Created:** [April 22, 2026, 7:31am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/copyparty-a-self-hosted-file-server-to-replace-obsidian/2915 "2026-04-22T07:31:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![torbengb](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/torbengb/32/128_2.png) [@torbengb](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/torbengb)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2026, 7:31am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/copyparty-a-self-hosted-file-server-to-replace-obsidian/2915/1 "2026-04-22T07:31:22Z")
I posted about my tool use earlier ([Workflowy](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/workflowy-outliner-with-zoom-and-search/1826) and [Paperless](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/paperless-get-rid-of-paperwork-and-keep-a-digital-copy/1874)). Here’s another tool I have come to love, with a charmingly retro name. Copyparty is the one I use for browsing and editing my actual JDex file structure. This is my virtual filesystem, making me independent from any given machine I happen to be sitting in front of. > Copyparty is a portable file server with a slick web UI, supporting file uploads, in-browser media playback, full-text search, WebDAV, and more. It can be configured to expose any set of folders with fine-grained read/write permissions per user. (GitHub) What makes it JDex-friendly: the web UI preserves the numbered folder names exactly as-is, and the in-browser search finds files across the entire tree instantly. I have not found a simpler way to get read/write access to a JDex tree from a browser. Also, it has a built-in markdown editor and viewer, so working with markdown is incredibly easy. While it does not have the deep power of Obsidian, I prefer this because I can reach it from _wherever_ - the local-only aspect being Obsidian’s most painful drawback. I run it as a Docker container pointed at my NAS, and it has become my primary way of accessing JDex from any browser or device. Configuration is a single .env file and a docker-compose.yml file. The WebDAV support is a bonus that lets me mount folders directly in Windows Explorer or Finder. (Disclaimer: I am not involved with the developer in any way other than being an enthusiastic user, happy to help others.) ---
**Author:** ![johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/johnnydecimal/32/1759_2.png) [@johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/johnnydecimal)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2026, 3:07am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/copyparty-a-self-hosted-file-server-to-replace-obsidian/2915/2 "2026-04-23T03:07:23Z")
This looks neat! ## Demo server [https://a.ocv.me/pub/demo/](https://a.ocv.me/pub/demo/) ## Repository > **[GitHub - 9001/copyparty: Portable file server with accelerated resumable...](https://github.com/9001/copyparty)** > > Portable file server with accelerated resumable uploads, dedup, WebDAV, SFTP, FTP, TFTP, zeroconf, media indexer, thumbnails++ all in one file ---
**Author:** ![hans](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/hans/32/719_2.png) [@hans](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/hans)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2026, 11:18am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/copyparty-a-self-hosted-file-server-to-replace-obsidian/2915/3 "2026-04-23T11:18:29Z")
I happened to read about copyparty last week. Looks useful! ---
**Author:** ![brookscl](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/brookscl/32/918_2.png) [@brookscl](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/brookscl)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2026, 1:42pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/copyparty-a-self-hosted-file-server-to-replace-obsidian/2915/4 "2026-04-23T13:42:34Z")
> While it does not have the deep power of Obsidian, I prefer this because I can reach it from _wherever_ - the local-only aspect being Obsidian’s most painful drawback. This looks independent / orthogonal to Obsidian to me. I use Obsidian every day and use it from every device I have, plus via OpenClaw (I know, I know….).