Install KIVO on your own server

1Download the image and the licence

After you buy, you get an email with the licence attached (license.key) and a link to download the image. The same link stays available on your order page at Lemon Squeezy.

Make a folder on the server and put both files in it:

mkdir -p ~/kivo && cd ~/kivo
ls
# kivo-selfhost-1.0.0.tar.gz  license.key

2Load the image into Docker

docker load -i kivo-selfhost-*.tar.gz

Docker answers with Loaded image: kivo-selfhost:latest and the exact version, for example kivo-selfhost:1.0.0. Both tags name the same image.

3Start KIVO

Docker Compose is the recommended way, because the configuration stays written down in a file. Create docker-compose.yml in the same folder:

services:
  kivo:
    image: kivo-selfhost:latest
    container_name: kivo
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    volumes:
      - ./license.key:/app/license.key:ro

docker compose up -d

If you would rather use a single command, with no file:

docker run -d --name kivo --restart unless-stopped \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  -v "$PWD/license.key:/app/license.key:ro" \
  kivo-selfhost:latest

4Check that it works

Open http://your-server:3000 in a browser. If no yellow notice appears at the top of the page, the licence is active.

From the server you can also check in a terminal:

curl http://localhost:3000/api/health
curl http://localhost:3000/api/license

The first answer says KIVO is up and which version you are running:

{"ok":true,"edition":"selfhost","version":"…","released":"…"}

The second shows the licence: "state":"valid", who it is issued to, the plan and when included updates end.

5Put it behind HTTPS

On localhost KIVO already works in full. From other computers on the network it needs HTTPS: browsers only enable offline use, the QR reader's camera, the recorder's microphone and copying to the clipboard on secure connections.

The simplest route is Caddy, which gets and renews the certificate on its own. One Caddyfile is all it takes:

kivo.example.com {
  reverse_proxy localhost:3000
}

If you already run nginx with a company certificate:

server {
  listen 443 ssl;
  server_name kivo.example.com;

  ssl_certificate     /etc/ssl/kivo.crt;
  ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/kivo.key;

  location / {
    proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
    proxy_set_header Host $host;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
  }
}

Updates

Each new version arrives as a new kivo-selfhost-….tar.gz file, at the same link. To update:

docker load -i kivo-selfhost-*.tar.gz
docker compose up -d

Your licence stays as it is: there is nothing to reinstall. If a new version gives you trouble, go back by naming the version instead of latest in the compose file (for example image: kivo-selfhost:1.0.0) and running docker compose up -d again. The previous version stays in Docker until you delete it.

How the licence works

• It is perpetual. You can use the version you have for good.
• Updates have an end date, usually 12 months from purchase (unlimited on the lifetime plan). Every version released before that date is covered.
• If you install a version released after that date, KIVO still works but shows a notice until you renew updates.
• It is checked on your own server, with a digital signature. KIVO never contacts our servers, not even to check it.
• When you renew you get a new license.key. Replace the file: the notice goes away on the next page load, no restart needed.

To renew, paste your licence at kivotool.com/en/self-host/renew. The full terms are at /self-host/license, on your own installation too.

Isolated networks, no Internet

The image already contains everything: the PDF, video and audio engines, text recognition with its languages, the background-removal model. It downloads nothing at start-up and opens no outbound connections: no analytics, no CDN, no remote licence check.

For a network without Internet, bring the two files to the server (on a USB stick, say) and follow the steps above. To verify it, block the container's outbound traffic at the firewall: KIVO keeps working exactly the same.

Configuration

For example, with the licence passed as a variable:

docker run -d -p 3000:3000 -e KIVO_LICENSE="$(cat license.key)" kivo-selfhost:latest

There is nothing to back up beyond license.key and the compose file. People's Recipes and preferences live in their own browsers, not on the server.

Common problems

Uninstalling

docker compose down
docker image rm kivo-selfhost:latest

Nothing else is left on the server. If you need help at any point, reply to your licence email with its code (KV-…) and the output of /api/health.