Run your own server

Synara's server is open source under GPL-2.0 and ships as a Docker image. Start with one container and SQLite. Add Postgres, a Redis cluster and the trained recommendation model when you want them.

What you need

Docker with Compose

Any machine you control: a home server, a spare PC or a rented VPS.
Storage for your library

Lossless files are large. Put the data volume on a disk with room to grow.
A reachable address

Port 8080 on your network, or a reverse proxy with HTTPS for listening on the go.

Set it up

Write a compose file

Save it as compose.yaml in an empty folder. Change every change-me value before the first start.

Setup

Image

One container. The database is a SQLite file in the data volume, which is fine for personal libraries.

No stable server image yet, so this file uses the dev images (ghcr.io/dertyp7214/synara:latest-dev).

compose.yaml (SQLite)

services:
  synara:
    image: ghcr.io/dertyp7214/synara:latest-dev
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    environment:
      CLIENT_ID: admin                          # initial admin user (first run)
      CLIENT_SECRET: change-me                  # initial admin password
      JWT_SECRET: change-me-to-a-long-random-string
      DB_URL: jdbc:sqlite:/data/synara.db           # SQLite database file inside the data volume
      # CREDENTIALS_ENCRYPTION_KEY: ""          # openssl rand -base64 32
    volumes:
      - synara_data:/data
      - synara_config:/home/appuser/.config
      - synara_tiddl:/home/appuser/.tiddl
      - synara_backups:/backups
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  synara_data:
  synara_config:
  synara_tiddl:
  synara_backups:

Start it

The server listens on port 8080. Follow the log until it's ready.
Terminal
```
docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f synara
```
Connect an app

Use the admin account from your compose file. Get the apps.
1. Install the app from the download page and open it.
2. Enter your server's address, for example http://192.168.1.20:8080 or your HTTPS domain.
3. Log in with the CLIENT_ID and CLIENT_SECRET from your compose file.

Good to know

/data is Synara’s own folder: /data holds Synara’s data root (/data/Synara/…). Lossless files you already have can go into /data/Synara/other, which Synara indexes.
Owned by UID and GID 1000: The image runs as user 1000. If you swap the named volumes for bind mounts, make the folders writable for it: sudo chown -R 1000:1000 ./data.
SQLite or Postgres: SQLite needs no extra service, but search is simpler on it. Postgres is recommended for larger libraries and enables the full search index.
Redis has to be a cluster: Redis is optional. Leave REDIS_HOST empty to run without it. Synara connects to Redis in cluster mode only. Pointed at a plain standalone Redis, the server fails to start, so use synara-redis-cluster as in the full file.
Behind an HTTPS proxy: Set SERVER_SSL_SUPPORTED: "true" if your HTTPS reverse proxy doesn’t send X-Forwarded-Proto, so apps know to use https/wss.
Upgrading from 0.0.1 or older: Run ghcr.io/dertyp7214/synara:0.0.1-dev until the log shows Finished custom migration FillAlbumReleaseDates, then update.

Key settings

The environment variables you're most likely to touch.

All environment variables

Key environment variables
Variable	What it does	Default
`CLIENT_ID, CLIENT_SECRET`	Username and password of the initial admin. Created at startup if no user with that name exists. Changing them later does not change the password.	none
`JWT_SECRET`	Signs login tokens. Set a long random string.	`changeme`
`DB_URL`	JDBC URL. Use an absolute path for SQLite: `jdbc:sqlite:/data/synara.db`.	none
`DB_DRIVER`	`org.postgresql.Driver` for Postgres.	`org.sqlite.JDBC`
`DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD`	Database credentials (Postgres).	none
`CREDENTIALS_ENCRYPTION_KEY`	Encrypts credentials stored in admin settings. Generate with `openssl rand -base64 32` and keep it with your backups. If unset, Synara generates a key and stores it in the config volume.	none
`SERVER_SSL_SUPPORTED`	Set to `true` if your HTTPS reverse proxy doesn’t send `X-Forwarded-Proto`, so apps know to use https/wss.	`false`
`REDIS_HOST, REDIS_PORT`	Optional Redis. Leave `REDIS_HOST` empty to run without it. Cluster mode only: pointed at a plain standalone Redis, the server fails to start.	none
`AUDIO_EMBED_URL`	Audio embedding service. Empty disables it.	none
`RECSYS_DATA_DIR`	Directory shared with the recommendation service. Empty disables it.	none
`PORT`	Port the server listens on.	`8080`

Go further in the docs

Run your own server

Synara's server is open source under GPL-2.0 and ships as a Docker image. Start with one container and SQLite. Add Postgres, a Redis cluster and the trained recommendation model when you want them.

What you need

Docker with Compose

Any machine you control: a home server, a spare PC or a rented VPS.
Storage for your library

Lossless files are large. Put the data volume on a disk with room to grow.
A reachable address

Port 8080 on your network, or a reverse proxy with HTTPS for listening on the go.

1. Write a compose file

Setup

compose.yaml (SQLite)

services:
  synara:
    image: ghcr.io/dertyp7214/synara:latest-dev
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    environment:
      CLIENT_ID: admin                          # initial admin user (first run)
      CLIENT_SECRET: change-me                  # initial admin password
      JWT_SECRET: change-me-to-a-long-random-string
      DB_URL: jdbc:sqlite:/data/synara.db           # SQLite database file inside the data volume
      # CREDENTIALS_ENCRYPTION_KEY: ""          # openssl rand -base64 32
    volumes:
      - synara_data:/data
      - synara_config:/home/appuser/.config
      - synara_tiddl:/home/appuser/.tiddl
      - synara_backups:/backups
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  synara_data:
  synara_config:
  synara_tiddl:
  synara_backups:

One container. The database is a SQLite file in the data volume, which is fine for personal libraries.

No stable server image yet, so this file uses the dev images (ghcr.io/dertyp7214/synara:latest-dev).

Save it as compose.yaml in an empty folder. Change every change-me value before the first start.

2. Start it

Terminal

docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f synara

The server listens on port 8080. Follow the log until it's ready.

3. Connect an app

Install the app from the download page and open it.
Enter your server's address, for example http://192.168.1.20:8080 or your HTTPS domain.
Log in with the CLIENT_ID and CLIENT_SECRET from your compose file.

Use the admin account from your compose file. Get the apps.

Good to know

/data is Synara’s own folder

/data holds Synara’s data root (/data/Synara/…). Lossless files you already have can go into /data/Synara/other, which Synara indexes.
Owned by UID and GID 1000

The image runs as user 1000. If you swap the named volumes for bind mounts, make the folders writable for it: sudo chown -R 1000:1000 ./data.
SQLite or Postgres

SQLite needs no extra service, but search is simpler on it. Postgres is recommended for larger libraries and enables the full search index.
Redis has to be a cluster

Redis is optional. Leave REDIS_HOST empty to run without it. Synara connects to Redis in cluster mode only. Pointed at a plain standalone Redis, the server fails to start, so use synara-redis-cluster as in the full file.
Behind an HTTPS proxy

Set SERVER_SSL_SUPPORTED: "true" if your HTTPS reverse proxy doesn’t send X-Forwarded-Proto, so apps know to use https/wss.
Upgrading from 0.0.1 or older

Run ghcr.io/dertyp7214/synara:0.0.1-dev until the log shows Finished custom migration FillAlbumReleaseDates, then update.

Key settings

CLIENT_ID, CLIENT_SECRET
Username and password of the initial admin. Created at startup if no user with that name exists. Changing them later does not change the password.
JWT_SECRET
Signs login tokens. Set a long random string.

Default: changeme
DB_URL
JDBC URL. Use an absolute path for SQLite: jdbc:sqlite:/data/synara.db.
DB_DRIVER
org.postgresql.Driver for Postgres.

Default: org.sqlite.JDBC
DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD
Database credentials (Postgres).
CREDENTIALS_ENCRYPTION_KEY
Encrypts credentials stored in admin settings. Generate with openssl rand -base64 32 and keep it with your backups. If unset, Synara generates a key and stores it in the config volume.
SERVER_SSL_SUPPORTED
Set to true if your HTTPS reverse proxy doesn’t send X-Forwarded-Proto, so apps know to use https/wss.

Default: false
REDIS_HOST, REDIS_PORT
Optional Redis. Leave REDIS_HOST empty to run without it. Cluster mode only: pointed at a plain standalone Redis, the server fails to start.
AUDIO_EMBED_URL
Audio embedding service. Empty disables it.
RECSYS_DATA_DIR
Directory shared with the recommendation service. Empty disables it.
PORT
Port the server listens on.

Default: 8080

The environment variables you're most likely to touch. All environment variables

Run your own server

What you need

Docker with Compose

Storage for your library

A reachable address

Set it up

Write a compose file

Start it

Connect an app

Good to know

Key settings

Go further in the docs

What you need

Docker with Compose

Storage for your library

A reachable address

1. Write a compose file

2. Start it

3. Connect an app

Good to know

/data is Synara’s own folder

Owned by UID and GID 1000

SQLite or Postgres

Redis has to be a cluster

Behind an HTTPS proxy

Upgrading from 0.0.1 or older

Key settings

Go further in the docs