Documentation

Everything you need to run The Shelf at home and share it with the people you play with.

What it is

The Shelf is a web app for a household’s game collection: board games, card games, RPG books and console or PC games. It runs on your own server and stores everything in your own PostgreSQL database.

• A game is the title. A copy is a physical or digital instance someone owns, with its own owner, location, condition and platform.
• Plays record who sat at the table. Players do not need an account, so a visiting friend can be logged by name and linked to an account later.
• Loans track which copy is out and with whom. Due dates are optional.
• Guest links and restricted profiles control who sees what.

Where to start

• Self-hosting: install it with Docker, enable HTTPS, update it and back it up.
• Configuration: every environment variable, and the optional BoardGameGeek lookup.
• Sharing and privacy: guest links, kid profiles and what is never exposed.
• FAQ: quick answers.

The project is open source. Architecture notes and contribution conventions live in the repository.