hydra-selfhosted

Self-hosted backend for the entitybtw/hydra fork of Hydra Launcher.

Run your own server for cloud saves, accounts, profiles, and game data — no Hydra Cloud subscription needed.

Features

Accounts & profiles

• Accounts — register and log in with username and password
• Public profile — shareable page at /u/username with playtime, library, and recent activity
• Avatar & banner — upload and crop a profile picture and banner image
• Bio and display name — editable from the launcher or web dashboard
• Accent color & custom CSS — personalize your profile appearance
• Steam integration — connect your Steam account to show Steam hours and Steam library on your profile

Library & game management

• Cloud saves — game save backups stored on your own server, unlimited slots
• Pin games — pin any game to the top of your profile; pinned state syncs to the launcher sidebar
• Favorite games — mark games as favorites; heart icon shown on library cards
• Playtime tracking — accurate playtime recorded per game and shown on profile
• Recent activity — last played games shown per tab (Hydra / Steam) with configurable visibility and section order

Web dashboard

Full web interface at http://your-server:3000:

• Edit profile: avatar (with crop editor), banner, display name, bio
• Browse your Hydra library and Steam library (if connected)
• Pin and unpin games, mark favorites
• Toggle visibility of library and recent activity sections
• Reorder sections (library above or below recent activity) per tab
• Change password

Optional proxies

Feature	What it does
Reviews	Read and write game reviews stored on your server

Big Picture support

The entitybtw/hydra fork's Big Picture mode fully supports self-hosted accounts:

• Self-hosted profile in Big Picture — library, stats, friends, and recent activity all load correctly even when the server does not return optional fields
• Dual accounts — if you also have an official Hydra account, both avatars appear in the Big Picture sidebar; clicking the small official avatar opens that profile without affecting your self-hosted session

Other

• No subscription required — all features work without Hydra Cloud
• Friendships API stub — enough for the launcher to work without errors
• Download sources — the launcher routes /download-sources to the official Hydra API automatically

Requirements

• Docker + Docker Compose

Setup

git clone https://github.com/entitybtw/hydra-selfhosted.git
cd hydra-selfhosted
cp .env.example .env
# edit .env — set API_TOKEN to a random secret string
docker compose up -d --build

The server runs on port 3000 by default.

.env options

API_TOKEN=your-random-secret        # required
PORT=3000
SESSION_TTL_DAYS=30                 # launcher session duration (default 30)
PUBLIC_URL=http://your-server:3000  # shown in the web dashboard

Connecting to Hydra Launcher

1. Open the entitybtw/hydra fork
2. Settings → Integrations → Self-Hosted API
3. Enter your server URL and API_TOKEN, click Save
4. A login window opens — register or sign in
5. The launcher connects automatically and syncs your library

Data

Everything is stored in ./data/ — back this folder up to preserve all user data.

data/
  hydra.db        # SQLite database (users, games, achievements, artifacts)
  images/         # uploaded avatars and banners
  artifacts/      # cloud save archives

Cloud save size limit

Cloud save uploads are capped at 50 MB by default. To change the limit, set MAX_SAVE_SIZE_MB (in megabytes) in your .env:

MAX_SAVE_SIZE_MB=100

Then restart the API (docker compose up -d). No code changes needed.

Updating

git fetch origin && git checkout origin/main -- api/ docker-compose.yml && docker compose up --build -d

Your .env and data/ are never touched by updates.