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Getting started

Pick a run path below. Most self-hosters use Docker or the installer. Building from source is for development.

Installer​

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Quad4-Software/Athenaeum/master/install.sh | bash

Or download and run it interactively:

curl -fsSL -o install.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Quad4-Software/Athenaeum/master/install.sh
chmod +x install.sh
./install.sh

Non-interactive examples and flags are in Deploying.

Docker (GHCR)​

docker run -d --name athenaeum \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  -v athenaeum-data:/data \
  -v /path/to/books:/library \
  ghcr.io/quad4-software/athenaeum:latest

latest tracks master. Pin a release with a v* tag.

Docker Compose​

git clone https://github.com/Quad4-Software/Athenaeum.git
cd Athenaeum
cp .env.example .env
# set ATHENAEUM_LIBRARY_HOST_PATH to your media folder
docker compose up -d

Open http://localhost:8080 (or the port in ATHENAEUM_PUBLISH_PORT).

docker compose up -d pulls ghcr.io/quad4-software/athenaeum:latest. Use docker compose up -d --build to build locally. Full Compose options, profiles (Postgres, Kokoro, ALTCHA), and Coolify notes are in Deploying.

Release binary​

Download a release for your OS/arch from GitHub Releases, then:

chmod +x athenaeum
./athenaeum --addr :8080 --library /path/to/books --data ./data

Linux (amd64/arm64/armv6/armv7/riscv64), macOS, Windows, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD builds are published on release tags. Each release also ships a slim binary (athenaeum-slim-*) that omits in-browser Kokoro (about 110+ MiB smaller). Slim still supports browser speech and the optional Kokoro sidecar. Multi-arch images also go to GHCR.

First login​

Open http://localhost:8080. Create an admin in the setup wizard, or pass --admin-user / --admin-pass (or the matching env vars) when no users exist yet. See Authentication.

Check a running install with:

./athenaeum --self-check

(or the same flag on your installed binary path).

What files it indexes​

KindExtensions
Ebooks.epub, .pdf, .mobi, .azw, .azw3 (read in browser), .kfx (download)
Comics.cbz, .cbr
Audio.mp3, .m4b, .m4a, .ogg, .flac

Multi-file audiobook folders merge into one book. Local mounts are watched for changes (plus periodic auto-scan). Remote s3:// mounts are not filesystem-watched.

Build from source​

Needs Go 1.26+, Node 22+, and pnpm 11+. Task is optional.

git clone https://github.com/Quad4-Software/Athenaeum.git
cd Athenaeum

Make​

cd web && pnpm install && cd ..
make build
# or: make build-slim
./bin/athenaeum --addr :8080 --library /path/to/books --data ./data

Manual​

go mod download
cd web && pnpm install && pnpm build && cd ..
mkdir -p bin
go build -trimpath -o bin/athenaeum ./cmd/athenaeum
./bin/athenaeum --addr :8080 --library /path/to/books --data ./data

Task​

task setup
task build
# or: task build:slim   # smaller binary, no in-browser Kokoro WASM
./bin/athenaeum --addr :8080 --library /path/to/books --data ./data

Contributor workflow: Development.

Next steps​