--- title: "Deploy YT Zero" description: "YouTube subscriptions as a feed reader. RSS, no Google account needed." category: "Other" url: https://railway.com/deploy/yt-zero --- # Deploy YT Zero YouTube subscriptions as a feed reader. RSS, no Google account needed. **[Deploy YT Zero on Railway](https://railway.com/template/yt-zero)** - **Creator:** Auromations - **Category:** Other - **Total deploys:** 4 ## Template content ### YT Zero https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Pelski/ytzero/main/docs/assets/ytzero-logo.svg - **Image:** ghcr.io/pelski/ytzero:latest - **Health check:** /api/health - **Public domain:** Yes ## Documentation # Deploy and Host YT Zero on Railway YT Zero is a self-hosted YouTube subscription inbox. It watches the public feeds of the channels you follow and gives you one chronological list of their videos, with no Google account, no YouTube Data API key and no recommendation algorithm in the way. Subscriptions, watch progress, playlists and tags live in your own database. ## About Hosting YT Zero YT Zero runs as a single container with everything stateful on one disk. It serves its own frontend, refreshes channel feeds on a background schedule, and stores subscriptions, watch history, playlists and cached thumbnails in a local SQLite database. There is no separate worker process, no queue and no cache server to run alongside it, which is why one Railway service with one volume is the whole deployment. Because it reads public channel feeds rather than talking to a Google account, there is nothing to authorize and no API quota to manage. The container also bundles yt-dlp and ffmpeg, so the optional download feature works without adding anything to the stack. ## Common Use Cases - Following YouTube channels without a Google account, an algorithmic home feed or a watch history that follows you around the web. - A household install with a profile each, including child profiles with daily watch-time limits, subscribed-content-only mode and a settings PIN. - Offline and low-bandwidth viewing, where scheduled videos are downloaded ahead of time and played back from local disk with instant seeking. ## Dependencies for YT Zero Hosting - A container runtime and one persistent disk. Nothing else. SQLite is built in, and PostgreSQL is optional rather than required. - Outbound internet access to fetch public channel feeds, video metadata and thumbnails. ### Deployment Dependencies - Upstream project: https://github.com/Pelski/ytzero - Documentation: https://github.com/Pelski/ytzero/wiki - Container image: `ghcr.io/pelski/ytzero` - License: AGPL-3.0-only ### Implementation Details This template deploys one service from upstream's own image with a volume mounted at `/data`, which holds the database, the thumbnail cache, profile avatars, logs and any downloaded videos. The health check points at `/api/health`, which is deliberately declared before the login middleware so it keeps answering after you turn authentication on. Four variables are set for you: | Variable | Value | Reason | | --- | --- | --- | | `PORT` | `3001` | Railway injects `8080` into image services by default, which would move the listener off the port the public domain targets | | `APP_URL` | your Railway URL | Used as the sign-in redirect origin for single sign-on and passkeys | | `DOWNLOAD_COOKIES_DIR` | `/data/download-cookies` | The image does not set this one, so it would fall back to disposable container disk | | `RESTORE_SESSION_DIR` | `/data/restore-sessions` | Same gap, and this directory stages backup restores | Everything else the application reads is already pointed at `/data` inside the image and does not need repeating here. **Turn on a login before you share the URL.** YT Zero ships with authentication set to `None`, because upstream assumes a trusted home network. On a public address that means anyone with the link can read your feed and change your settings. There is no variable that switches a login on, so open **Settings > Authentication**, choose **Shared login + profiles** or **Login per profile**, set a password and activate it. Only the first profile created can change this. Exactly one login method is active at a time and there is no fallback to any other. If you lock yourself out, add `YTZERO_AUTH_DISABLE=1` to the service variables, redeploy, fix the setting in the app, then remove the variable and redeploy again. **Getting started.** The app boots empty. Add channels under **Settings > Channels** by URL, by OPML file, or by importing `subscriptions.csv` from Google Takeout. The feed fills within a minute or two, then refreshes every five minutes on a schedule that adapts to how often each channel actually uploads. **Optional extras**, all off by default and addable later: - Video downloads, using the bundled yt-dlp and ffmpeg. Files go to `/data/downloads`, so set a retention policy and a storage cap in the same settings screen or the volume will grow quickly. - Single sign-on and passkeys. `APP_URL` is already correct for the Railway domain. On a custom domain, update `APP_URL` and add `WEBAUTHN_RP_ID`. - `REFRESH_INTERVAL_MINUTES` and `FULL_SYNC_INTERVAL_MINUTES` to slow the refresh pace if you follow a very large number of channels. **Moving to PostgreSQL later.** Add a Postgres service, then use **Settings > Dangerous > Database** in the app to run the migration, which copies a snapshot and verifies row counts before anything switches over. Only then set `DATABASE_URL` and redeploy. Setting `DATABASE_URL` on an install that already has data without doing the in-app migration is refused by design. **Troubleshooting.** If a deploy hangs in "Deploying" and then fails, check that `PORT` is still `3001`. If the feed stays empty after adding a channel, the first fetch runs in the background just after you add it, so wait a minute and reload before re-adding the channel with its full `youtube.com/@handle` URL. If sign-in redirects break after you attach a custom domain, `APP_URL` still points at the old address. **Updating.** The template tracks `latest`, and upstream releases very often, so redeploying the service picks up the newest build. Migrations run forward automatically on boot. Pin the image to a dated tag on your own service if you would rather have reproducible redeploys. ## Why Deploy YT Zero on Railway? Railway gives this app exactly the two things it needs and nothing it does not: a container and a persistent disk. There is no database server to provision, no queue, no reverse proxy to configure for TLS, and no port mapping to reason about. The public domain, the certificate and the health check are handled for you. It also suits how the app is maintained. Upstream ships releases constantly, and a redeploy on Railway is a single click that pulls the newest image and runs migrations on boot. Scaling up is raising the volume size when downloads start piling up, and moving to PostgreSQL later is adding one more service in the same project rather than rebuilding the deployment. ## Similar templates - [Rocky Linux](https://railway.com/deploy/rocky-linux) — [Jul'26] Hosted Rocky Linux 9 workspace with SSH and persistent storage. 🚀 - [Foundry Virtual Tabletop](https://railway.com/deploy/X5tR6G) — A Self-Hosted & Modern Roleplaying Platform - [Letta Code Remote](https://railway.com/deploy/letta-code-remote) — Run a Letta Code agent 24/7. No inbound ports, just deploy. Open this page in a browser: https://railway.com/deploy/yt-zero