chibisafe: Host a Shareable File Upload Service

Overview

Chibisafe is a self-hosted file upload and sharing service. It accepts files such as images, videos, and documents, then provides links that users can share directly. It combines a media library and file management tools with account, access, and instance settings.

It suits individuals and teams who want control over their upload service rather than relying on a third-party file host. Public, account-based, and invite-only access modes let administrators choose how uploads are shared.

Key Features

• Chunked uploads help handle large files and reduce the impact of network interruptions.
• S3 storage support and network storage options support different storage setups.
• A media browser, albums, folders, tags, and quotas help organize and manage files.
• Shareable links are available for uploaded files, albums, and text snippets.
• A built-in URL shortener provides another way to share links.
• An administration dashboard exposes settings such as file size limits, accepted extensions, and rate limits.
• ShareX support, an iOS shortcut, and a browser extension offer ways to upload from other tools.

Use Cases

• Individuals can run a personal vault to share screenshots, documents, and other files from their own server.
• Small teams can organize shared media in albums and folders and control access with accounts or invitations.
• Communities can offer a public upload endpoint while applying file size, extension, and rate limits.
• Developers can use API keys to connect uploads to scripts or other services.

Getting Started

The project recommends Docker for installation. Follow the Docker installation guide for setup details, or see the repository README for other installation and migration guidance.

Alternatives

• zipline: Zipline also handles file uploads and sharing, with ShareX support and organization features; Chibisafe emphasizes managing uploads, users, and service settings.

Considerations

• This is a service to deploy and operate, not a hosted file-sharing site. Plan for server and storage administration.
• Installation creates an admin account with the same password. Change it after the first login.
• The README says migration from versions earlier than v5 to v6 is not possible. Migration from v5 to v6 requires copying the uploads and database folders.
• The project notes that it logs request IP addresses, despite otherwise describing the service as having no tracking.