BookStack is a simple and free Wiki software offering a self-hosted, easy-to-use platform for organizing and storing information. Built on Laravel (v9 at the time of writing) and MySQL, this application is easy to get started with for Laravel developers looking for a polished application with a host of features for managing documentation and other content.
Bookstack offers a robust set of features:
Free & Open Source
BookStack is fully free and open, MIT licensed. The source is available on GitHub. There is no cost to downloading and installing your own instance of bookstack.
Easy, Simple Interface
Simplicity has been the top priority when building BookStack. The page editor has a simple WYSIWYG interface and all content is broken into three simple real world groups: Book, Chapter, Pages
Searchable and Connected
The content in BookStack is fully searchable. You are able to search at book level or across all books, chapters & pages. The ability to link directly to any paragraph allows you to keep your documentation connected.
Configurable
Configuration options allow you to set-up BookStack to suit your use case. You can change the name, logo and registration options. You can also change whether the whole system is publicly viewable or not.
Simple Requirements
BookStack is built using PHP, on top of the Laravel framework and it uses MySQL to store data. Performance has been kept in mind and BookStack can run happily on a $5 Digital Ocean VPS.
Built-In diagrams.net
The page editor within BookStack has diagrams.net drawing capability built-in, allowing the quick and easy creation of diagrams within your documentation.
Multi-Lingual
BookStack users can set their preferred language. Thanks to great community contributors, current languages built into BookStack include EN, FR, DE, ES, IT, JA, NL, PL, RU and many more.
Optional Markdown Editor
If you prefer to write in Markdown then BookStack supports you. A markdown editor is provided and includes a live-preview as you write your documentation.
Integrated Authentication
As well as the default email/password login social providers such as GitHub, Google, Slack, AzureAD and more can be used. Okta, SAML2 and LDAP options are available for enterprise environments.
Powerful Features
On top of the powerful search and linking there is also cross-book sorting, page revisions and image management. A full role and permission system allow you to lock down content and actions as required.
Multi-Factor Authentication
MFA is built in & can be enforced at a per-role level where desired. MFA options include TOTP (Google/Microsoft Authenticator, Authy, etc...) and static backup codes.
Dark & Light Modes
BookStack provides its user interface in both a light theme and a dark theme, saving the eyes of those that prefer to work in the shadows. This is configurable at a user level.
To get started, check out the main BookStack website.
The source code is hosted on GitHub, which is an excellent learning opportunity to review a production-ready Laravel application. Alongside the web application, the source code includes a Bookstack API. Finally, check out the live demo of the user and admin-facing application.
Full stack web developer. Author of Lumen Programming Guide and Docker for PHP Developers.
