Deploy and Host Watcharr on Railway

About Hosting

Watcharr is a self-hosted, open-source media tracking application for movies, TV shows, anime, and optionally video games. It features a modern SvelteKit frontend with a Go (Gin) backend, TMDB-powered search and metadata, watch status tracking with ratings and thoughts, activity feeds, user follows, and integrations with Jellyfin, Plex, Sonarr, and Radarr.

Watcharr runs as a single Docker container with two internal processes: a Go binary serving the API and reverse-proxying to an internal Node.js SvelteKit frontend. It uses SQLite for storage — no external database is required. All persistent data (database, config, images, logs) lives under a single /data volume.

Why Deploy

• All-in-one media tracker — Track movies, TV shows, anime, and games in a single, unified interface with TMDB metadata.
• Zero external dependencies — Built-in SQLite database; no Postgres, MySQL, or Redis services needed.
• Rich integrations — Authenticate via Jellyfin or Plex, request media through Sonarr/Radarr, and optionally track games via IGDB.
• Social features — Activity feeds, user follows, and shared watchlists make it fun for households or friend groups.
• Privacy-first — Your watch history and ratings stay on your own infrastructure.

Common Use Cases

• Personal watchlist management — Track what you've watched, are watching, or plan to watch across movies, TV, and anime.
• Household media tracking — Multiple users can each maintain their own watchlists with follow and activity feed features.
• Media server companion — Pair with Jellyfin or Plex for authentication and with Sonarr/Radarr for one-click media requests.
• Anime tracking — Dedicated anime support with per-episode tracking and season management.
• Game library tracking — Optionally enable IGDB integration to track video game backlogs alongside media.

Dependencies for Deployment

Deployment Dependencies