GGlyphDocs

reference

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about Glyph.

General

Is Glyph free?

Yes. Glyph is open source under the GNU General Public License (GPL). Self-host it for free, study and modify the source - see the LICENSE file for the exact terms.

Can I host Glyph as a SaaS?

Yes - see the LICENSE file for the exact terms.

Does Glyph store my code?

Glyph clones repositories locally to display files in the UI. Clones live under volumes/data/<project_id>/.git/ on your host. The code is read-only - Glyph never pushes back to your remote.

For Local Upload projects, files you drop into Glyph are committed to a local Git repo created by Glyph (still on your host).

Does Glyph send my code anywhere?

No. There is no telemetry, analytics, or external API call beyond what you explicitly configure (OAuth providers, email providers, GitHub/GitLab for repository imports). Your code never leaves your server.

Documentation model

What happens to my docs if a file is deleted?

The documentation is attached to the file as it was at a specific commit. When the file is deleted in a later commit, the doc remains visible when you scrub back to a commit where the file existed.

You won't see the doc when viewing the latest commit (since the file is gone), but it's not lost.

What happens if I rename a file?

Glyph treats the renamed file as a different file. The original docs remain attached to the original path at the commits where it existed.

If you want to carry docs over to the new name, copy the content manually after the rename and save it as a new doc on the new path.

Can I export my documentation?

Currently the only export is via database backup - a mysqldump includes every doc in the documents table.

A user-facing export feature (Markdown bundle, PDF, etc.) is on the roadmap.

Can multiple people edit the same doc at once?

Not collaboratively (no live cursors). The last save wins. If two people edit simultaneously, one will overwrite the other. This is acceptable for most use cases - docs change less often than code.

Operations

Does Glyph push commits to my repo?

No, never. Glyph only reads from Git remotes. The only place Glyph creates commits is in the local Git repos it manages for Local Upload projects - those have no remote.

Can I use SQLite or PostgreSQL instead of MySQL?

No. The schema and a few queries use MySQL-specific features. Migrating to PostgreSQL is possible but non-trivial; SQLite is unsuitable for the concurrency requirements.

Does Glyph support multi-tenancy / SSO?

Not yet. The current architecture is single-tenant: one Glyph instance per organization. Workspaces give you internal separation, but they share the same user table and authentication.

SAML / OIDC SSO is on the roadmap.

Can I run Glyph behind a corporate proxy?

Yes. Set HTTP_PROXY and HTTPS_PROXY in the backend container environment so it can reach github.com, gitlab.com, and your email provider.

backend:
  environment:
    HTTP_PROXY: http://proxy.corp:8080
    HTTPS_PROXY: http://proxy.corp:8080
    NO_PROXY: db,meilisearch,localhost,127.0.0.1

How much disk does Glyph need?

The Glyph install itself is tiny (~500 MB images). Storage scales with the size of your imported repositories. A medium-sized monorepo can take 1-5 GB.

For Local Upload, you're storing the source twice: once in the Git working tree, once in the Git history. Plan accordingly.

Can I disable telemetry?

There is no telemetry to disable. Glyph makes zero outbound calls beyond what your configuration explicitly requires.

Limits

What's the maximum file size for documentation?

No hard limit, but practically: docs over 500 KB make the editor sluggish. Split large docs into multiple (file, commit) entries - that's the natural unit.

What's the maximum project size?

Tested with repos up to ~50,000 files. Beyond that, the file tree UI becomes slow. Plans exist to add lazy-loaded subtree expansion in the file tree.

Can I import a monorepo and only see one subdirectory?

Not currently. The whole repo is imported. You can navigate to a subdirectory and bookmark the URL, but the full tree is always indexed.

Roadmap

What's coming next?

Roadmap items, roughly in priority order:

  • Scheduled background sync (cron-style)
  • SSO (SAML / OIDC)
  • Documentation export (Markdown bundle, PDF)
  • Email notifications for @mentions
  • Live collaborative editing
  • Per-project access control (within a workspace)
  • Webhook on project events

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