Skip to main content

Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/ShaneIsrael/fireshare/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Demo mode is designed for public showcases where you want visitors to explore Fireshare’s interface without granting them the ability to delete content, change settings, or trigger heavy operations. When DEMO_MODE=true is set, Fireshare automatically creates a second account with known credentials alongside the normal admin account. The admin account retains full, unrestricted access at all times.

​
Accounts Created in Demo Mode

AccountUsernamePasswordRole
Adminadmin (or ADMIN_USERNAME)admin (or ADMIN_PASSWORD)Full access, no restrictions
DemodemodemoRestricted — see below
The demo account credentials (demo / demo) are fixed and cannot be changed. The account is created automatically on startup when DEMO_MODE=true and removed automatically if you set DEMO_MODE back to false and restart.
Never use the default ADMIN_USERNAME / ADMIN_PASSWORD values on a public instance. Set strong admin credentials via environment variables even when demo mode is enabled.

​
What the Demo Account Can and Cannot Do

✅ Allowed

Browsing & Playback
  • Browse and watch all public videos and images
  • Browse games and tags
  • View video and image detail pages
Uploads
  • Upload videos and images (subject to DEMO_UPLOAD_LIMIT_MB if set)
File Manager
  • View all files and folders (videos and images)
  • Bulk rename file titles
  • Bulk set privacy (public or private)
  • Create new folders
  • Delete empty folders
  • Bulk remove crop settings from videos
Metadata & Tags
  • Edit video and image titles and descriptions
  • Add and remove tags on videos and images
  • Link and unlink games on videos and images
Settings
  • View application settings (API keys are hidden)

❌ Blocked

File Operations
  • Delete individual videos or images
  • Move individual videos
  • Bulk delete videos or images
  • Bulk move videos or images
  • Remove transcoded variants (bulk remove transcodes)
  • Clean up orphaned derived files
Scanning
  • Manual video scan
  • Manual image scan
  • Manual date extraction scan
  • Manual game scan
  • Remove missing videos/images
Game Folder Rules
  • Create or delete video game folder rules
  • Create or delete image game folder rules
Transcoding
  • Start transcoding for the library
  • Start transcoding for individual videos
  • Cancel transcoding jobs (transcoding is disabled entirely in demo mode)
Settings & Administration
  • Change any application settings
  • Test Discord or generic webhooks
  • Reset the database
  • Create new user accounts
Sensitive API keys — such as the SteamGridDB key — are automatically stripped from the settings response when the demo account requests the configuration. The field is simply omitted; no placeholder or masked value is shown.

​
Configuration

VariableDescriptionDefault
DEMO_MODESet to true to enable demo mode and create the demo accountfalse
DEMO_UPLOAD_LIMIT_MBMaximum upload size in MB for the demo instance. Files over the limit are rejected before the upload begins. Set to 0 to allow unlimited uploads.0
DEMO_MODE_DELETE_ALLSet to true to wipe all data, processed, video, and image directories on container startup. Only takes effect when DEMO_MODE is also true. Useful for resetting a demo instance to a clean state on every restart.false

​
Example Docker Compose configuration

services:
  fireshare:
    image: shaneisrael/fireshare:latest-lite
    environment:
      - ADMIN_USERNAME=myadmin
      - ADMIN_PASSWORD=a-strong-admin-password
      - SECRET_KEY=replace_with_random_string
      - DOMAIN=demo.example.com
      - DEMO_MODE=true
      - DEMO_UPLOAD_LIMIT_MB=50
      - DEMO_MODE_DELETE_ALL=true
    volumes:
      - /path/to/data:/data
      - /path/to/processed:/processed
      - /path/to/videos:/videos
      - /path/to/images:/images
    ports:
      - "8080:80"

​
Automatic Data Reset on Restart

Setting DEMO_MODE_DELETE_ALL=true causes Fireshare to wipe the following directories on every container startup (only when DEMO_MODE=true):
  • /data — database and configuration files
  • /processed — symlinks, derived files, posters
  • /videos — all source video files
  • /images — all source image files
DEMO_MODE_DELETE_ALL=true permanently deletes all content in those directories on each restart. Only use this on a dedicated demo instance with content you do not mind losing. Never point it at a production video library.
This is useful when running a live public demo: populate the instance with a small set of sample videos, then let it reset to that baseline every time the container restarts. You can achieve a repeatable demo state by scripting a container restart on a schedule.

​
Lifecycle of the Demo Account

The demo account is managed entirely by Fireshare at startup:
  • Created automatically whenever DEMO_MODE=true is set and the account does not already exist.
  • Removed automatically if DEMO_MODE is set back to false on the next container restart.
  • Not configurable — the username (demo) and password (demo) cannot be changed. These credentials are intentionally public and well-known.
Because the demo account cannot change application settings, it also cannot elevate its own privileges or disable demo restrictions from within the UI.

Environment Variables

Full reference for all Fireshare environment variables including DEMO_MODE, DEMO_UPLOAD_LIMIT_MB, and DEMO_MODE_DELETE_ALL.

File Manager

Learn which bulk operations the demo account can and cannot perform in the admin file manager.

Uploads

Understand how upload limits and public upload folders interact with demo mode restrictions.

Troubleshooting

Solutions to common issues including login problems and permission errors.

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us