Cinefile 🎬

A simple, clean, and modern self-hosted web application for cataloging and displaying your personal collection of physical video media (Blu-rays, 4K UHDs, DVDs, LaserDiscs, and VHS). You can see a live read-only version of this at https://cinefile.itsanhonor.me/ (which is my own humble collection!)

Features

• Media Management: Add, edit, and delete entries with TMDb API integration
• Poster Selection: Choose from all available movie posters on TMDB when editing items
• Multiple Formats: Support for 4K UHD, 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD, Digital-UHD, Digital-HD, Digital-SD, LaserDisc, and VHS
• CSV Import/Export: Backup and restore your collection with full metadata
• Beautiful Gallery: Responsive collection view with cover art and filtering
• Two-Port Architecture: Read-only public port and full admin port for enhanced security
• Privacy Control: Public or private collection visibility
• Custom Metadata: Track physical format, edition details, and personal photos

Gallery View

The main gallery displays your collection with beautiful cover art, filtering by format, and search functionality.

Admin Panel

Manage your entire collection with the admin interface - add, edit, and delete items with ease.

Editor Panel

Edit entries with TMDb integration for automatic metadata fetching, or manually enter custom details.

Data Concepts

Cinefile organizes your physical media collection around these core concepts:

Physical Items

A Physical Item is the actual disc, tape, or other physical media object in your collection. This is what you can hold in your hand. Each physical item can have:

• A unique barcode or identifier
• A physical format (4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD, Digital-UHD, Digital-HD, Digital-SD, LaserDisc, VHS)
• Optional custom photos of the physical media
• Edition details (Criterion, Steelbook, Limited Edition, etc.)
• Other custom metadata fields links to the store page, buying links, etc.

Movies

A Movie represents the film itself - the artistic work independent of its physical format. Multiple physical items can reference the same movie (for example, you might own both the Blu-ray and 4K UHD of the same film).

Series

A Series represents a collection of related content such as the "Marvel Cinematic Universe" or "Wes Anderson Collection." Like movies, multiple physical items can reference the same series (complete series collections, etc.).

When editing a physical item, you have two series-related options:

• Primary Series: Setting this will automatically add all movies in the physical item to the selected series and set it as their primary series. This is the main way to manage which series movies belong to.

• Sort Series: This is a sorting preference for the physical item. When you sort your collection by series, items are grouped by their Sort Series value. This is useful when a physical item contains movies from multiple series and you want to control how it's sorted.

Physical Formats

Cinefile supports tracking these physical formats:

• 4K UHD: Ultra HD Blu-ray discs
• Blu-ray: Standard high-definition Blu-ray discs
• 3D Blu-ray: Blu-ray discs specifically encoded for 3D films
• DVD: Standard definition DVDs
• Digital-UHD: Digital copies in Ultra HD quality
• Digital-HD: Digital copies in high definition
• Digital-SD: Digital copies in standard definition
• LaserDisc: Legacy LaserDisc format
• VHS: VHS tapes

Each physical item in your collection is tagged with one of these formats, making it easy to filter and organize by media type.

Quick Start with Docker

Prerequisites

• Docker and Docker Compose
• TMDb API key (free at https://www.themoviedb.org/settings/api)

Setup Steps

1. Create a docker-compose.yml file:

version: '3.8'

services:
  cinefile:
    image: ghcr.io/itsanhonor/cinefile:latest
    container_name: cinefile
    restart: unless-stopped
    # User: Defaults to nodejs (UID 1001) from Dockerfile
    # To override, uncomment and set to your user ID:
    # user: "1000:1000"
    ports:
      # Read-Only Port (Public-facing)
      # Maps host port to container port 3000 (read-only server)
      # Default: 3000, change if needed (e.g., 3006:3000)
      - "3000:3000"
      # Admin Port (Full API - Internal/VPN only)
      # Maps host port to container port 3001 (full API server)
      # WARNING: Do not expose this port to the public internet!
      # Default: 3001, change if needed
      - "3001:3001"
    environment:
      - NODE_ENV=production
      # TMDb API Key - Required for movie search and metadata
      # Get your free API key from: https://www.themoviedb.org/settings/api
      - TMDB_API_KEY=${TMDB_API_KEY}
      # Admin Password - Required for admin panel access
      # Set a secure password for the admin panel
      - ADMIN_PASSWORD=${ADMIN_PASSWORD}
      - DATABASE_PATH=/data/database.sqlite
      - UPLOAD_DIR=/data/uploads
    volumes:
      # CHOOSE YOUR STORAGE HERE!
      # Ensure the host directory is writable by the container user (UID 1001 by default)
      # If needed: sudo chown -R 1001:1001 /opt/cinefile
      - /opt/cinefile:/data

2. Configure your environment:

Create a .env file in the same directory:

TMDB_API_KEY=your_tmdb_api_key_here
ADMIN_PASSWORD=your_secure_password

Or replace ${TMDB_API_KEY} and ${ADMIN_PASSWORD} directly in the docker-compose.yml file.

3. Start the container:

docker compose up -d

4. Access the application:
   • Read-only (public): http://localhost:3000
   • Admin (internal): http://localhost:3001

Two-Port Architecture

Cinefile runs two servers in one container:

• Read-Only Port (default 3000): Public-facing server with collection viewing only
• Admin Port (default 3001): Full API with all CRUD operations - keep this restricted to VPN/internal network

Both servers share the same database, but the read-only server cannot modify data by design.

AI Disclosure

Cinefile was generated almost entirely by a combination of Cursor's Compooser and Google's Gemini 2.5 and 3.0 and Claude Ops 4.5 models. As a hobby project, I am deliberately using it as a testing ground to 'feel' out the capabilities of current LLM models. If this is not to your taste or preferences, I completely understand but I am disclosing this for transparency reasons. I'm committed to building a good products, and this is a low stakes way for me to try new tools.

License

MIT