GhostHub

A self-hosted media server for Raspberry Pi 4. Browse your photos and videos from any device on your network — no cloud, no account, no subscription.

App Releases · Quick Start · Flash Image · DIY Install · User Guide · Contributing · Security

Compatibility: GhostHub targets Raspberry Pi 4 using the supported 2022-01-28 Raspberry Pi OS Lite Bullseye image. Use arm64 for the recommended Pi 4 setup, or armhf if you need the 32-bit build. It is not a generic installer for every Raspberry Pi OS image.

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What It Does

GhostHub turns a Raspberry Pi 4 and USB storage into a private media server for your home network. Open it from a phone, tablet, laptop, desktop browser, or HDMI display to browse, play, upload, download, organize, and share your photo and video library.

GhostHub supports two network modes: - Home network — the Pi connects to your router by Ethernet and is reachable from devices on that LAN, including phones and laptops on the router's Wi-Fi. - Access point — the Pi broadcasts its own GhostHub Wi-Fi network for portable or offline use.

Features

• Streaming and Gallery layouts for photos and videos
• Profiles with avatars, resume progress, and per-user history
• Upload, download, rename, and delete actions
• Categories, hidden folders, playlists, sorting, and search
• Subtitles for video (.srt .vtt .ass .ssa), auto-converted via ffmpeg
• TV casting to an HDMI display attached to the Pi
• Sync watching and chat between connected viewers
• Admin panel: updates, storage, Wi-Fi, cache, restart, logs, system status
• Offline access-point mode
• Optional remote access via Cloudflare Tunnel or a Tailscale/Headscale mesh

Supported Media

Plays in any modern browser without extra setup:

Video    .mp4 (H.264/AAC), .webm
Images   .jpg .jpeg .png .gif .webp  (.heic on Safari)
Subs     .srt .vtt .ass .ssa  (text tracks auto-extracted via ffmpeg)

Plays through GhostStream, an experimental companion transcoder that runs on a separate machine:

.mkv .avi .mov .wmv .flv .ts .m2ts .mpg .vob
HEVC / H.265 / AV1 / VP9 video
AC3 / DTS / TrueHD / E-AC3 audio
Anything above ~25 Mbps over remote links

GhostStream is not bundled, is off by default, and its transcoding path has not been heavily tested inside GhostHub yet. Without it, files in the second list show a "No transcoding server connected" message instead of playing. Most phone recordings, screen captures, and downloaded .mp4 files are in the first list and play directly.

Quick Start

Option 1 — Flash the prebuilt image (fastest)

1. Download the GhostHub SD card image from the ready-to-flash image release built on v5.2.0. Use arm64 for the recommended Raspberry Pi 4 image, or armhf if you need the 32-bit build.
2. Flash it to a microSD card with Raspberry Pi Imager or balenaEtcher.
3. Boot the Pi, connect your phone or laptop to the GhostHub Wi-Fi network, and open http://ghosthub.local (or http://192.168.4.1).

Option 2 — DIY install on stock Raspberry Pi OS

Flash the supported 2022-01-28 Raspberry Pi OS Lite Bullseye base image with Raspberry Pi Imager v1.8.5:

Recommended: 2022-01-28-raspios-bullseye-arm64-lite
https://downloads.raspberrypi.org/raspios_lite_arm64/images/raspios_lite_arm64-2022-01-28/2022-01-28-raspios-bullseye-arm64-lite.zip

32-bit fallback: 2022-01-28-raspios-bullseye-armhf-lite
https://downloads.raspberrypi.org/raspios_lite_armhf/images/raspios_lite_armhf-2022-01-28/2022-01-28-raspios-bullseye-armhf-lite.zip

In Imager's advanced options, set:

Hostname: ghosthub
Username: ghost
Enable SSH: yes
Password: (your choice)

SSH into the Pi, then run the installer:

ssh ghost@ghosthub.local

APP_TAG="$(curl -fsSL https://api.github.com/repos/BleedingXiko/GhostHub/releases \
  | sed -n 's/.*"tag_name": "\(v[0-9][0-9.]*\)".*/\1/p' \
  | head -n 1)"
curl -L -o install_ghosthub.sh \
  "https://github.com/BleedingXiko/GhostHub/releases/download/${APP_TAG}/install_ghosthub.sh"
chmod +x install_ghosthub.sh
sudo ./install_ghosthub.sh

The APP_TAG variable should point at the newest app release tag (vX.Y.Z). Image tags such as B5 are published separately.

The installer downloads Ghosthub_pi_github.zip from GitHub Releases, installs system dependencies, configures the systemd service, prepares USB, access-point, and HDMI support, then starts GhostHub.

Option 3 — Deploy local source from your computer

If you cloned this repo and want to deploy your working tree to a Pi instead of installing a public release:

./scripts/deploy_to_pi.sh        # macOS / Linux
.\scripts\deploy_to_pi.ps1       # Windows PowerShell

The deploy CLI builds a local ghostpack ZIP, uploads it to the Pi, and does not use GitHub Releases.

See Quick Start, Flash Image, or DIY Install for detailed setup instructions.

How It Runs

Raspberry Pi 4 + USB storage
        |
        v
GhostHub service on port 5000
        |
        +-- phone / tablet / desktop browser
        +-- HDMI kiosk / TV display
        +-- optional mesh or tunnel access

GhostHub uses Python 3.9, Flask, and SPECTER on the backend; modular ES modules and RAGOT on the frontend; and SQLite for local state. It is packaged for Raspberry Pi, but the source tree remains a normal Flask project for local development.

Updates

Updates ship through GitHub Releases. The admin UI checks the latest vX.Y.Z release tag, downloads the installer, validates it, and schedules the update with systemd-run.

Updates preserve instance/, venv/, headscale, and cloudflared.

Public release assets: - Ghosthub_pi_github.zip - install_ghosthub.sh

The ready-to-flash SD card image is published separately by the maintainer. The GitHub release workflow does not build it.

See Release Process.

Manual install flags

sudo ./install_ghosthub.sh --version vX.Y.Z                          # pin a specific app release tag
sudo ./install_ghosthub.sh --local-zip /path/to/Ghosthub_pi_github.zip   # install from a local zip
sudo ./install_ghosthub.sh --local-only                              # use /tmp/ghosthub_deploy.zip

Development

GhostHub targets Python 3.9. Use a Python 3.9 virtual environment so local tests match Pi deployments.

python3.9 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
cd static/js && npm install && cd ../..
python ghosthub.py

On Windows PowerShell, use py -3.9 -m venv venv and .\venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1; the rest is the same with backslash paths.

Run the full test suite:

./venv/bin/python scripts/run_all_tests.py

Run a focused subset:

./venv/bin/python -m pytest tests/test_admin_routes.py -v
cd static/js && npm test && cd ../..

Architecture

• Backend routes and services use the specter-runtime package (Service / Controller / Handler primitives).
• Frontend modules use the RAGOT runtime at static/js/libs/ragot.esm.min.js.
• SQLite stores app state under instance/.
• Raspberry Pi service setup is handled by install_ghosthub.sh.
• Release ZIPs are built with scripts/ghostpack.py --zip.

Start with Architecture before changing internals.

Related Projects

GhostHub uses three open-source companion projects:

• SPECTER — backend runtime for services, controllers, handlers, and the event bus. Installed from PyPI as specter-runtime.
• RAGOT — frontend runtime for component lifecycle, module lifecycle, DOM updates, events, and sockets. Shipped as a prebuilt bundle at static/js/libs/ragot.esm.min.js.
• GhostStream — experimental companion transcoder for .mkv, HEVC, AV1, DTS, and other browser-incompatible formats. Runs on a separate machine, is off by default, and has not been heavily tested inside GhostHub yet.

Documentation

• Quick Start
• Docs Index
• Flash The GhostHub Image
• DIY Install
• User Guide
• Contributing
• Release Process
• Architecture
• Manual QA
• Secure Mesh Quick Start
• Secure Mesh Troubleshooting
• Design Language
• Third-Party Licenses
• Security Policy

Contributing

Issues, fixes, docs, tests, Pi validation, and release-readiness work are welcome. Read CONTRIBUTING.md before opening larger changes. For backend work, follow the SPECTER controller and service patterns. For frontend work, use the existing ES module structure and the RAGOT runtime.

Security

Do not post credentials, private media, device logs with secrets, or private network details in public issues. See SECURITY.md for private vulnerability reporting.

License

GhostHub is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0. See LICENSE.

Donations

If GhostHub is useful to you, donations and sponsorships help cover Raspberry Pi test hardware, maintenance time, and release infrastructure.