LibreChat: Your Own Open-Source AI Chat Platform

In a world where AI chatbots are becoming everywhere—from customer support to personal assistants—many users want more control over their data, customization, and security. That’s where an open-source project that lets you host your own AI chat system and gives you full control over how it works and what data it uses comes in

Whether you’re a developer, a small business owner, or just curious about AI, LibreChat offers a flexible, privacy-focused way to create your own conversational AI environment. Plus, since it’s open source, you can tweak and extend it as much as you want.

What is LibreChat?

Think of LibreChat as a friendly, customizable chat app that uses artificial intelligence to have conversations. It’s not the AI brain itself. Instead, it’s more like a user-friendly portal or interface that connects you to AI models—these are the actual “thinking” parts that process messages and generate responses.

You can set up LibreChat on your own server, allowing you to tweak and extend it, while keeping your conversations private and under your control. It’s designed to be easy to install using Docker, so even if you’re not a tech expert, you can get it running without much hassle.

Designed for easy installation with Docker, it enables even non-technical users to get it running without much hassle.

What makes LibreChat special is that it supports many different AI providers, so you can choose the one that fits your needs, or even run your own AI models if you prefer. Whether you want a simple chatbot for your website or a more advanced AI assistant, LibreChat provides the interface to make it happen.

Why Use? Benefits and Use Cases

Hosting your own chat AI isn’t just about privacy, but also about control and customization. You can set what features to include, how the UI looks, and how data flows through your system. For example, small businesses can embed a support chatbot on their website that talks to visitors without sharing data with third-party services.

Tools like LibreChat are useful because it’s easy to extend, whether that means adding new AI models or integrating with other tools. Educators can set up interactive learning assistants, while tech enthusiasts can run private AI companions at home. Larger organizations benefit from deploying internal AI tools that keep sensitive data protected.

It’s a flexible platform suited for many scenarios—from personal projects to enterprise solutions—all with the control that comes from self-hosting.

How to Install LibreChat on Ubuntu: A Step-by-Step Guide

Getting LibreChat up and running on Ubuntu is straightforward. There are different ways you can install it, with customized installation options for different cloud providers. You can find all install options on the official docs here.

In this guide, we’ll show step-by-step on Ubuntu (22.04) with Docker Compose:

Install Docker and Dependencies

First, you’ll need to install docker and dependencies.

sudo apt install apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl software-properties-common gnupg lsb-release

curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg

echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

sudo apt update &&  sudo apt install docker-ce

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

sudo curl -L "https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/v2.26.1/docker-compose-$(uname -s)-$(uname -m)" -o /usr/local/bin/docker-compose

sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-compose

Install Git and NPM

LibreChat recommends installing Git and npm for easier updates:

sudo apt install git nodejs npm

Clone the Repository and Set Up

Clone the LibreChat repository then move into it’s folder:

git clone https://github.com/danny-avila/LibreChat.git

cd LibreChat

Create and edit the configuration file:

nano librechat.yaml

Paste this minimal setup:

# Configuration version (required)
version: 1.2.8
# This setting caches the config file for faster loading across app lifecycle
cache: true

Copy the example environment variables file:

cp .env.example .env

nano .env

Replace the placeholder secret keys (CREDS_IV, CREDS_KEY, JWT_SECRET, JWT_REFRESH_SECRET) with values generated from LibreChat’s toolkit. This is also where you add your AI provider API keys, such as OPEN_API_KEY for DeepAI.

Launch the System

Start Docker:

sudo systemctl start docker

Then, bring up LibreChat:

sudo docker-compose -f ./deploy-compose.yml up -d

Now, you can visit your server’s IP address in a browser and start chatting!

Securing with SSL

To make your chat secure, you’ll want to set up SSL with Certbot. Run the certbot command with “certonly” so certbot doesn’t try to manually configure nginx. We’ll need to manually update the values within the client/nginx.conf file:

sudo certbot certonly

Generate a Diffie-Hellman parameter:

sudo bash -c 'curl -s https://ssl-config.mozilla.org/ffdhe2048.txt > /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/dhparam'

Update your nginx.conf (or related config) to point to the correct SSL certificate files:

...

ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;

ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;

...

ssl_trusted_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/chain.pem;

Now you can deploy and test out your installation:

npm run start:deployed

And you should be able to access it directly in browser via your IP or domain name!

For a complete, detailed guide—including customizing your setup, adding new features, and troubleshooting—check out the official LibreChat documentation. It’s a great resource to help you make the most of your self-hosted AI chat system.

LibreChat is a fantastic way to run your own AI chat environment, giving you privacy, control, and the freedom to customize. Whether for personal projects, small business support, or enterprise solutions, it’s a flexible platform that can grow with your needs.