Our take
Inactiveno commits in over a year- Activity
- 19
- Community
- 43
- Issues
- 21
- Pull requests
- 20
-5 stars in the last 30 days
Dim offers a straightforward self-hosted media-library concept, but its inactive status and highly concentrated contributions make it a cautious choice for a new long-term deployment.
Good fit if
- You want a self-hosted web interface for organizing and playing a personal media collection.
- You can run a Docker container or install the documented system dependencies, and are comfortable evaluating an inactive project.
- AGPL-3.0 works for your intended use and distribution.
Look elsewhere if
- You need evidence of ongoing releases, recent issue handling, or active development.
- Your team needs a project with contributions distributed across its contributor base, since most code comes from one person.
- Your deployment requires a license other than AGPL-3.0.
All health signals
| Last commit | 2025-09-21 (1 year ago) |
|---|---|
| Commits, last 90 days | 0 |
| Releases, last 12 months | 0 (latest v0.3.0-rc6, 2021-10-19) |
| Contributors | 29 (top contributor: 86% of commits) |
| Issues closed, last 90 days | 0 |
| Pull requests merged, last 90 days | 0 |
| Project age | 5 years |
Checked on 2026-10-08 with the GitHub API.
Project history
Daily GitHub snapshots since Oct 7, 2026. History covers stars and forks; health signals are not tracked historically.
Stars
4,121Forks
182Change since Nov 13, 2026: -1 stars·0 forks
Overview
Dim is a self-hosted media manager for people who want a single web interface to organize and access their media collections. It aims to make a collection easier to browse and play from different locations, without relying on a hosted media service.
The project includes a web UI and can run as a binary or Docker container. Its latest recorded activity and release are old, so Dim is best approached as an existing tool to evaluate rather than a project with demonstrated ongoing maintenance.
Key Features
- Organizes media collections in a self-hosted service.
- Provides a browser-based interface for browsing and playing media.
- Runs from prebuilt binaries or a Docker image.
- Supports mounting media directories into a Docker container, including read-only mounts.
- Documents a Docker option for passing through a device for hardware acceleration.
- Can be built from source with Rust and a separately built UI.
Use Cases
- A home media enthusiast can make a local collection accessible through a browser on their network.
- A household can use one self-hosted interface to browse and play media stored in mounted directories.
- A Rust developer can inspect or build a media-management application from source, with the caveat that recent maintenance is not evident.
- A user with an existing Docker setup can try the service without installing the application directly on the host.
What you need
Detected in the repository
- Rust (from Cargo.toml)
- A Dockerfile, so it can run in a container
- Automated checks on GitHub Actions
License in plain words
AGPL-3.0network copyleft
- Commercial use: yes
- Modify and redistribute: yes
- You must keep: the license notice
- Share your changes: yes, the full source, also when people only use it over a network (e.g. as a hosted service)
- Includes an explicit patent grant from the contributors:
A summary, not legal advice: the LICENSE file is what applies.
Getting Started
For Docker, mount a media directory and the configuration path, then open the web UI at http://localhost:8000:
docker run -d -p 8000:8000/tcp -v $HOME/.config/dim:/opt/dim/config -v /media:/media:ro ghcr.io/dusk-labs/dim:dev
See the README for binary and source installation instructions, hardware acceleration, and configuration details.
Alternatives
- iptvnator: IPTVnator organizes and plays IPTV playlists, while Dim manages and streams a broader personal media collection.
| Project | Language | License | Stars | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| dim | Rust | AGPL-3.0 | 4.1k | Inactive |
| iptvnator | TypeScript | MIT | 7.3k | Active |
Considerations
The repository is marked inactive: it has had no commits or releases in over a year, and the latest listed release dates back several years. There has also been no recent issue closure or pull-request merging recorded. Although the project has multiple contributors, most of the code comes from one person, which can make continuity dependent on that contributor.
Running from source requires Rust, a nightly compiler, SQLite, FFmpeg, and UI build tools; Linux VA-API libraries are needed for the documented hardware-acceleration build. Docker is an alternative, but hardware acceleration requires passing through a relevant device. The repository documents AGPL-3.0 licensing, which teams should review against their distribution and deployment plans.
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