A Lodestar purchase is the integration layer, not a zip of other people's source.

What ships

• docker-compose.yml with the services wired and health-checked

• .env.example with pinned image tags

• verify.sh so you can prove each service is serving, not just running

• RUNBOOK.md for operations, backups, sizing, and the Jitsi bits that catch people out

• fetch-sources.sh pulling each project at an exact commit

• docs/ with one page per component

• ATTRIBUTION.md with every licence and pinned commit

What is inside the stack

Knowledge: BookStack, Grist

Work: Kanboard

Files: Syncthing, File Browser

Diagrams: Excalidraw, Draw.io

Communication: Zulip, Jitsi Meet

Personal: Actual Budget

Every component is MIT, Apache-2.0 or MPL-2.0, verified by SPDX id. Nextcloud, Immich, Mattermost, Rocket.Chat, Element, Plane, Cal.com, Outline, Trilium, Hedgedoc and Stirling-PDF are not included. Those are AGPL or source-available, so they cannot go in a paid bundle. That is a licensing constraint, not a judgement.

Requirements

Docker Engine 24+ with Compose v2. RAM depends on the tier, from 2 GB for Notes & Tasks up to 8 GB+ for the full stack. Jitsi needs a real domain and TLS.

Delivery is digital and immediate, through the course attached to your purchase. Access is permanent. Updates are included.

The value is the wiring, the docs, the runbooks, and on the top tier a live session. The upstream projects remain theirs, under their own licences.

One-time purchase. Instant delivery. Free updates. Each tier includes everything below it, plus its own course.

Notes & Tasks, $20

BookStack and Kanboard. Somewhere to write things down and somewhere to track work. 2 GB RAM. This is the right start.

Files & Diagrams, $50

Adds Syncthing, File Browser and Excalidraw. Peer-to-peer file sync, a web file manager, and a whiteboard. 4 GB RAM. Ports 22000 and 21027 need to be reachable for sync.

Full Workspace, $100

Adds Grist, Draw.io and Zulip. A spreadsheet that behaves like a database, technical diagrams, and chat organised by topic rather than channel. 8 GB RAM recommended.

Comms + Support, $200

Adds Jitsi Meet and Actual Budget, plus 30 days of priority support. Video meetings with no time limits, envelope budgeting you host yourself. Jitsi needs a domain and TLS. Support covers configuration and integration of the bundled components, not custom development.

Complete + Onboarding, $300

All ten components, a 1:1 session to get it running on your infrastructure, and lifetime updates.

You do not need all ten. Most teams should start with docs and tasks, then add file sync when they are ready to leave the last hosted folder. Video conferencing is the point people assume self-hosting is not viable. It is, if you have a real domain.

Refunds: if the bundle does not work as described and we cannot resolve it within 14 days, you get a full refund. Run verify.sh first if something looks down. Most issues are configuration or memory.

Questions belong in this forum or in support if your tier includes it.

Lodestar is a self-hosted workspace you run on your own hardware.

Docs, tasks, files, diagrams, spreadsheets and chat. Wired as a Docker Compose stack, with pinned versions and the documentation to keep it that way. No per-seat bill, and none of your knowledge sitting on someone else's servers.

It exists because the usual path is ten READMEs, a pile of default configs, and a hosted tool you outgrow the moment pricing changes. The useful part is not discovering BookStack or Zulip. Those are free. The useful part is a stack that actually comes up, a health check that proves it, and a runbook for the day something does not.

If you want your team's knowledge, files and conversations on infrastructure you control, you are in the right place.

The other posts here cover what ships in a purchase, and how the tiers are split.