Save and organize bookmarks with Karakeep

Karakeep (formerly Hoarder) is a self-hosted bookmark and content management app that stores links, notes, images, and PDFs in one place. It automatically fetches page metadata, indexes content for full-text search, supports shared lists, and can auto-tag entries with a local AI model.

Running Karakeep on Olares keeps your saved content and AI processing entirely on your device.

Learning objectives

In this guide, you will learn how to:

• Install Karakeep on Olares.
• Save a bookmark from the web interface.
• Sign in to Karakeep from your phone.
• Enable AI auto-tagging with a local model.
• Enable video downloads for bookmarked links.
• Configure SMTP for email invitations.

Prerequisites

To complete the AI auto-tagging section, prepare the following model:

Model type	Model	How to get it
Chat	Gemma 4 26B (Ollama)	Install from Market

Install Karakeep

1. Open Market and search for "Karakeep".

   

2. Click Get, then Install, and wait for installation to complete.

After installation, open Karakeep from the Launchpad and create the first account. The first user to register becomes the Karakeep administrator.

Save your first bookmark

Karakeep automatically fetches the page title, content, and metadata when you paste a URL.

1. Open Karakeep from the Launchpad.

2. Paste any URL into the input box at the top of the dashboard, and then click Save. Karakeep saves the link and starts fetching the page in the background.

   

For the full feature set, including notes, lists, and collaboration, see the Karakeep documentation.

Access Karakeep from mobile devices

The Karakeep mobile app lets you save images and links from your phone directly into your Olares-hosted instance. To connect, you need a reachable endpoint and an API key.

Install the Karakeep mobile app

Install the Karakeep app from the App Store (iOS) or Google Play (Android). You can find direct download links on the Karakeep page in Market.

Allow mobile app access

By default, Karakeep is private to your Olares account. To let the mobile app sign in, change the authentication level.

1. Open Settings, and then go to Applications > Karakeep > Entrances > Karakeep.

2. Set Authentication level to one of the following, and then click Submit:

   • Internal: Requires LarePass VPN. Recommended for personal use.
   • Public: Accessible without LarePass VPN, but exposes Karakeep to the internet and uses FRP traffic.

   

Public access

Use a strong account password and keep your API key secure.

Get your Karakeep endpoint URL

How app endpoints work

When a client connects to another Olares app, it uses that app's endpoint as the network address. If the app exposes multiple endpoints, choose the one that matches the feature or protocol the client needs.

On the same Entrances page, copy the Endpoint URL shown for Karakeep.

Use this Endpoint as the Server Address in the Karakeep mobile app.

Generate an API key

1. Return to Karakeep in your browser.

2. Click your profile icon, and then select User Settings.

3. Go to the API Keys tab, and then click New API Key.

4. Enter a name for the key (for example, mobile), and then click Create. Copy the generated key. You only see it once.

   

Sign in from the mobile app

1. If you selected Internal in the authentication step, open LarePass on your phone and turn on the VPN.

   

2. Open the Karakeep app, and then select Use API key instead.

3. Enter your details:

   • Server Address: Paste the Karakeep Endpoint you copied earlier.
   • API Key: Paste the API key you generated.

4. Tap Sign in. You can now save images and links from your phone.

   

Karakeep also supports browser extensions and other clients. For the full list, see karakeep.app/apps.

Auto-tag bookmarks with a local model

Karakeep can use a local model hosted on Olares to generate tags for your saved content. It currently connects to local models through the Ollama API.

This guide uses the pre-built Gemma 4 26B (Ollama) model app from Market.

Get the model connection details

How model connections work

A standalone model on Olares runs as a separate service from the client app. To connect them, the client needs the exact Model name and a Base URL that matches the API format it expects.

You can get both values from the model's console. For more details, see Connect AI apps.

For Gemma 4 26B (Ollama):

1. Open the model app from Launchpad. Its Model Console opens automatically.

2. Wait until Model shows READY and Engine shows RUNNING.

3. Under Service status, select Apps in Olares and Ollama, then copy the Model name and Base URL exactly as shown.

   

Connect Karakeep to the local model

1. Open Settings, and then go to Applications > Karakeep > Manage environment variables.

2. Click edit_square next to each variable, enter the value, and then click Confirm:

   • OLLAMA_BASE_URL: The Base URL copied from the Gemma 4 26B Model Console.
   • INFERENCE_TEXT_MODEL: The Model name copied from the Model Console. In this example, it is gemma4:26b.
   • INFERENCE_IMAGE_MODEL (optional): To tag images, install Ollama, pull a vision model such as llava, and enter its model name.

3. Click Apply, and wait for Karakeep to restart.

   

Text-only tagging

If you only need text tagging, leave INFERENCE_IMAGE_MODEL empty.

Generate tags for existing bookmarks

1. Open Karakeep, click your profile icon, and then select User Settings.

2. Go to AI Settings. The default prompts work for most cases.

3. Click your profile icon, select Admin Settings, and then go to Background Jobs.

4. In Inference Jobs, click Regenerate AI Tags for All Bookmarks. The queue size increases.

   

5. After the queue empties, refresh the dashboard. Tags appear on your bookmarks.

   

Enable video downloads

Karakeep can use yt-dlp to automatically download videos from saved links to Olares. After a video is downloaded, you can watch it offline in Karakeep or download the video file to your local computer from the bookmark attachments.

1. Open Settings, and then go to Applications > Karakeep > Manage environment variables.

2. Click edit_square next to CRAWLER_VIDEO_DOWNLOAD, set the value to true, and then click Confirm.

3. Click Apply, and wait for Karakeep to restart.

4. After Karakeep restarts, add a video link as you would any other bookmark.

   Karakeep downloads the video to Olares in the background. This may take some time depending on the video size and network conditions.

5. On the bookmark card, click pan_zoom to open the bookmark details.

   After the video is downloaded to Olares, Video appears in the content type drop-down at the top of the detail page.

6. Optional: To download the video file to your local computer, find Video under Attachments in the right sidebar, and then click download next to it.

   

Download failures

Video downloads can fail due to network issues or anti-bot protections on the source site. If a download fails, see Why does my video download fail for troubleshooting.

Configure SMTP for email invitations

To invite users by email, configure the system SMTP settings in Olares. Karakeep uses the system SMTP settings by default.

1. Open Settings, and then go to Advanced > System environment variables.

2. Set the following system SMTP variables according to the SMTP settings provided by your mail provider:

   • OLARES_USER_SMTP_ENABLED: Set to true.
   • OLARES_USER_SMTP_SERVER: SMTP server host, such as smtp.gmail.com.
   • OLARES_USER_SMTP_PORT: SMTP port, such as 587 for TLS.
   • OLARES_USER_SMTP_USERNAME: SMTP username. For Gmail, use your full Gmail address.
   • OLARES_USER_SMTP_PASSWORD: SMTP password or app password.
   • OLARES_USER_SMTP_FROM_ADDRESS: Sender email address.

   For most mail providers, these variables are enough. If your provider requires specific SSL/TLS settings, also configure the related SMTP security variables as instructed by the provider.

3. Click Apply. Karakeep restarts for the new SMTP settings to take effect.

After Karakeep restarts, you can send email invitations from the admin user management page.

FAQs

Why does my video download fail?

Cause

Video sites apply anti-bot measures such as CAPTCHAs, IP blocking, and headless browser detection. These measures can block yt-dlp, the tool Karakeep uses for video downloads. Network instability can also cause partial downloads.

Solution

1. Open Control Hub, click Browse, select your Karakeep project, expand Deployments, and select the running pod.

2. In the right panel, scroll down to the Containers section, locate the karakeep container, then click article next to it.

   

3. Search for [VideoCrawler] to find the specific error.

   For example, if you see an error like the following, the source site has blocked the download request:

   ERROR: [youtube] mZp8yCueuKU: Sign in to confirm you're not a bot

4. If your network uses a dynamic IP address, wait for the IP address to change and try again.

Some failures are caused by restrictions on the source website. In these cases, Karakeep may not be able to download the video until the restriction is lifted or yt-dlp supports the updated site behavior.

Learn more

• Karakeep documentation: Official feature reference, API documentation, and third-party client integrations.
• Download and run local AI models via Ollama: Install Ollama to host a vision model for image tagging.
• Set up Open WebUI for local AI chat: Reference workflow for shared model endpoints on Olares.