Run the engine

Add a service to the compose file that runs your Trilium Notes:

services:
  trilium:
    # ... your existing Trilium Notes service ...

  trilium-recall:
    image: ghcr.io/marceltov/trilium-recall:latest   # or pin a version
    restart: unless-stopped
    mem_limit: 600m
    environment:
      RECALL_LOGIN_PASSWORD: ${RECALL_LOGIN_PASSWORD}   # a long random string, see below
      RECALL_BASE_URL: https://recall.example           # public URL; turns on the OAuth login
      RECALL_INSTANCES: main
      TRILIUM_MAIN_URL: http://trilium:8080
      TRILIUM_MAIN_TOKEN: ${RECALL_ETAPI_TOKEN}
    volumes:
      - recall-index:/data
    ports:
      - "8082:8082"

volumes:
  recall-index:

Create an ETAPI token for the engine in Trilium Notes under Options → ETAPI (name it recall-engine). Trilium Notes (0.106) has no read-only tokens, so this token could write. The engine only ever sends GET requests; keep the token in its environment and nowhere else.

docker compose up -d trilium-recall, then curl http://<host>:8082/health. The first index build takes about half a minute for a few hundred notes; status turns from starting to ok.

For claude.ai or remote clients, put the engine behind your TLS reverse proxy, like Trilium itself.

The password

RECALL_LOGIN_PASSWORD is the engine's one secret, used two ways:

• As a header: Claude Code's hook, claude mcp add -H and a claude.ai connector's request headers send it as Authorization: Bearer ….
• In the OAuth login: with RECALL_BASE_URL set, a client can instead start from just the URL and open a login page that asks for it once. Nothing goes into the client's config; it holds only its own OAuth tokens, which refresh on their own.

Generate it with openssl rand -hex 32 and keep it in your password manager. Changing it logs out every OAuth client.

The login comes from the shared mcp-login-oauth library, which trilium-mcp-proxy and the InvoiceNinja and Paperless MCP servers use too.

Settings

Variable	Default	Meaning
RECALL_LOGIN_PASSWORD	required	Static Bearer token for /recall and /mcp, and the OAuth login password (0.3.0 renamed it from RECALL_TOKEN)
RECALL_BASE_URL	unset	Public https:// URL. Set, /mcp also takes OAuth logins; unset, only the header works
RECALL_INSTANCES	required	Comma-separated names, one per Trilium Notes instance
TRILIUM_<NAME>_URL, TRILIUM_<NAME>_TOKEN	required	Per instance; <NAME> upper-cased, - → _
RECALL_POLL_SECONDS	60	How often changed notes are picked up
RECALL_RECONCILE_SECONDS	1800	Full comparison: deletions, moves, label changes
RECALL_PORT	8082
RECALL_INSTRUCTIONS	when to call recall	Sent to MCP clients when they connect; most put it into the model's system prompt. Say what your notes cover and when to look them up
RECALL_TOOL_DESCRIPTION	a neutral text	What MCP clients read about the recall tool itself

With several instances, one query searches all of them and each hit names its instance. Everyone holding RECALL_LOGIN_PASSWORD, or logged in with it, can search every configured instance.