FileGator is a self-hosted web file manager: one binary, no runtime dependencies, and a browser interface for browsing, uploading and editing files on your own server.
- Single binary. Go, standard library plus four vendored dependencies, one file to deploy and one process to run.
- No build step for the frontend. Plain HTML, CSS and ES modules served from the binary itself.
- Your files stay ordinary files. Any existing folder can be managed; the app writes no index, no metadata and no hidden files into it.
- Accounts and files are ordinary data.
private/users.jsonholds the accounts, any folder on the server can be the storage root, and nothing FileGator-specific is written into it. - Mobile-friendly. The listing becomes one-line rows on a phone, dialogs become bottom sheets, and every control is at least 44px tall.
Start here
- Upgrading and what's new — coming from FileGator 7: how to upgrade, what carries over, what is new and what is missing
- First five minutes — password, storage root, a user, and HTTPS, in that order
- Installation — build, run, the folder layout, and running it as a service
- Docker — the container image: volumes, ownership, a proxy in front, and upgrading it
- Configuration — every setting in
config.json, including the ones with no admin screen - Users, roles and permissions — accounts, home folders and confinement
Setting it up
- Storage backends — local, SFTP or S3
- Authentication — users file, LDAP, MySQL, PostgreSQL
- Database users — the SQL schema
- Guest access — publish a folder without a login
- Running under a subpath — serving from
example.com/browser/ - Single sign-on from other apps — let a CMS or panel log users in
- Customising the interface — logo, title, colours, and serving an edited copy without rebuilding
Operating it
- Event log — sign-ins, changes and refusals, in JSON Lines
- HTTP API — the JSON endpoints
- Development — layout, tests and conventions
Project
- License and contributing — MIT, and signing off your commits
What it does
| Browsing | Folders, breadcrumbs, folder tree, search across the whole home folder, column sorting |
| Files | Upload (resumable, pausable), download, rename, move, copy, delete, permissions |
| Archives | Zip a selection, extract an archive, download many files as one zip |
| Preview | Image gallery with keyboard and swipe navigation; PDFs inline |
| Editing | Text editor for the extensions you allow, with Ctrl/Cmd+S |
| Admin | Users, interface, file handling, security, repository and auth, all from the browser |
| Security | Signed-cookie sessions, CSRF protection, IP allow/deny lists, lockout, event log |
Deletion is permanent — there is no trash — and nothing is ever overwritten without being asked first.
Access without accounts
Two ways to reach files without signing in, both off until you turn them on:
- Guest access — anonymous visitors browse and download as the
guestaccount, read-only. - Single sign-on — another application signs a ticket and FileGator opens a session for that user.
Public share links are not implemented.