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Shoko Server

Shoko Server is a self-hosted anime metadata manager and collection database for personal anime libraries.

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Shoko Server is a self-hosted anime metadata manager and collection database for personal anime libraries. It scans local anime files, matches series and episodes to metadata, and maintains a database for use with Shoko Desktop or compatible media stack plugins. It is aimed at homelab users who manage large anime collections and want automated organization without relying on Shoko to download or stream content. Use it to centralize anime metadata, reduce manual file management, and provide consistent episode information to media players.

Platform availability

Available on 3 of 9 platforms

  • Unraid
  • TrueNAS
  • Umbrel (not listed)
  • ZimaOS (not listed)
  • Proxmox
  • Helm (not listed)
  • Mac (not listed)
  • Windows (not listed)
  • Linux (not listed)

Health score?A 0-100 score computed nightly from four factors: maintained (40%: recent commits and steady activity), popular (25%: GitHub stars, log scale), easy to install (20%: platforms, install notes, setup guides, Docker image) and light to run (15%: minimum RAM, ARM support). When the source code has been checked, a fifth factor, security check (20%: automated scan for committed secrets, unsafe desktop-app settings, known-vulnerable dependencies and project hygiene; any serious finding caps it at 20), is added. Factors without data are left out and the rest are rescaled.

78/100 Good

Maintained
100last commit 7 days ago
Popular
58768 GitHub stars
Easy to install
553 install platforms, install notes, Docker image
Light to run
801 GB minimum RAM, runs on ARM

Availability: platform listings confirmed today, links checked 15 days ago

GitHub stars
768
Open issues
62
Last commit
2026-10-06
Latest release
v5.3.3
License
MIT
Activity
rising

Checked 7 days ago - source: GitHub (ShokoAnime/ShokoServer)

Resources & Compatibility

Minimum requirements: 1 GB RAM. ARM (e.g. Raspberry Pi) is supported.

Checked 15 days ago - source: Docker Hub image tags and published docs

First-install notes

  • Install MediaInfo and hash tools If you install directly on a Debian or Ubuntu machine, run sudo apt install mediainfo librhash-dev before starting Shoko. These tools let Shoko read video details and create file fingerprints, and missing them can break media scanning. source
  • Set video packages before first start If you run Shoko in Docker, set INSTALL_PACKAGES (a setting passed to the container) to add packages like ffmpeg and Intel video decoding before the server first starts. Without it, video processing can fail or lack hardware acceleration on some hardware. source

Fetched 15 days ago - each note links to its source

Alternatives (4)

  • Ember Media Manager - Ember Media Manager is just that: a media manager.
  • MediaElch - MediaElch is a media metadata manager designed for Kodi that scrapes and stores movie, TV show, concert, and music information as NFO files…
  • Mydia - A modern, self-hosted media management platform for tracking, organizing, and monitoring your media library.
  • tinyMediaManager - tinyMediaManager is a media management tool written in Java/Swing.

Checked 12 days ago - source: AlternativeTo

Common questions

Where are Shoko Server settings, logs, and the database stored?

They live under the SHOKO_HOME directory, which defaults to /home/shoko/.shoko/Shoko.CLI and is the directory to mount a volume at. The SQLite database is in the SQLite folder unless database settings point elsewhere.

Which packages should be installed before first starting Shoko Server?

On Debian or Ubuntu, install mediainfo and librhash-dev before starting Shoko. In Docker, set INSTALL_PACKAGES to add packages such as ffmpeg and Intel video decoding before first start so video processing does not fail or lack hardware acceleration.

Why is the Shoko web interface shutdown option off by default?

ENABLE_SHUTDOWN defaults to false because a stopped container will not restart itself from the web interface that just stopped it.

Does Shoko Server rely on NFO files or strict naming conventions?

It integrates directly with media software rather than working around NFO files or naming conventions. It aims to solve edge cases from anime's differing structure from western media.

Answers sourced from github.com, github.com, github.com

Community

Collected 14 days ago - public community threads