Redlib

An alternative private front-end to Reddit, with its origins in Libreddit.

---

10-second pitch: Redlib is a private front-end like Invidious but for Reddit. Browse the coldest takes of r/unpopularopinion without being tracked.

• 🚀 Fast: written in Rust for blazing-fast speeds and memory safety
• ☁️ Light: no JavaScript, no ads, no tracking, no bloat
• 🕵 Private: all requests are proxied through the server, including media
• 🔒 Secure: strong Content Security Policy prevents browser requests to Reddit

---

Instances

🔗 Want to automatically redirect Reddit links to Redlib? Use LibRedirect or Privacy Redirect!

Follow this link for an up-to-date table of instances in Markdown format. This list is also available as a machine-readable JSON.

Both files are part of the redlib-instances repository. To contribute your self-hosted instance to the list, see the redlib-instances README.

---

About

Find Redlib on 💬 Matrix, 🐋 Quay.io, :octocat: GitHub, and 🦊 GitLab.

Built with

• Rust - Programming language
• Hyper - HTTP server and client
• Askama - Templating engine
• Rustls - TLS library

Info

Redlib hopes to provide an easier way to browse Reddit, without the ads, trackers, and bloat. Redlib was inspired by other alternative front-ends to popular services such as Invidious for YouTube, Nitter for Twitter, and Bibliogram for Instagram.

Redlib currently implements most of Reddit's (signed-out) functionalities but still lacks a few features.

How does it compare to Teddit?

Teddit is another awesome open source project designed to provide an alternative frontend to Reddit. There is no connection between the two, and you're welcome to use whichever one you favor. Competition fosters innovation and Teddit's release has motivated me to build Redlib into an even more polished product.

If you are looking to compare, the biggest differences I have noticed are:

• Redlib is themed around Reddit's redesign whereas Teddit appears to stick much closer to Reddit's old design. This may suit some users better as design is always subjective.
• Redlib is written in Rust for speed and memory safety. It uses Hyper, a speedy and lightweight HTTP server/client implementation.

---

Comparison

This section outlines how Redlib compares to Reddit.

Speed

Lasted tested Jan 12, 2024.

Results from Google PageSpeed Insights (Redlib Report, Reddit Report).

	Redlib	Reddit
Speed Index	0.6s	1.9s
Performance Score	100%	64%
Time to Interactive	2.8s	12.4s

Privacy

Reddit

Logging: According to Reddit's privacy policy, they "may [automatically] log information" including:

• IP address
• User-agent string
• Browser type
• Operating system
• Referral URLs
• Device information (e.g., device IDs)
• Device settings
• Pages visited
• Links clicked
• The requested URL
• Search terms

Location: The same privacy policy goes on to describe that location data may be collected through the use of:

• GPS (consensual)
• Bluetooth (consensual)
• Content associated with a location (consensual)
• Your IP Address

Cookies: Reddit's cookie notice documents the array of cookies used by Reddit including/regarding:

• Authentication
• Functionality
• Analytics and Performance
• Advertising
• Third-Party Cookies
• Third-Party Site

Redlib

For transparency, I hope to describe all the ways Redlib handles user privacy.

Server

• Logging: In production (when running the binary, hosting with docker, or using the official instances), Redlib logs nothing. When debugging (running from source without --release), Redlib logs post IDs fetched to aid with troubleshooting.

• Cookies: Redlib uses optional cookies to store any configured settings in the settings menu. These are not cross-site cookies and the cookies hold no personal data.

Official instance (redlib.matthew.science)

The official instance is hosted at https://redlib.matthew.science.

• Server: The official instance runs a production binary, and thus logs nothing.

• DNS: The domain for the official instance uses Cloudflare as the DNS resolver. However, this site is not proxied through Cloudflare, and thus Cloudflare doesn't have access to user traffic.

• Hosting: The official instance is hosted on Replit, which monitors usage to prevent abuse. I can understand if this invalidates certain users' threat models, and therefore, self-hosting, using unofficial instances, and browsing through Tor are welcomed.

---

Installation

2) Docker

Docker lets you run containerized applications. Containers are loosely isolated environments that are lightweight and contain everything needed to run the application, so there's no need to rely on what's installed on the host.

Docker images for Redlib are available at quay.io, with support for amd64, arm64, and armv7 platforms.

For configuration options, see the Deployment section.

Docker CLI

Deploy Redlib:

docker pull quay.io/redlib/redlib:latest
docker run -d --name redlib -p 8080:8080 quay.io/redlib/redlib:latest

Deploy using a different port on the host (in this case, port 80):

docker pull quay.io/redlib/redlib:latest
docker run -d --name redlib -p 80:8080 quay.io/redlib/redlib:latest

If you're using a reverse proxy in front of Redlib, prefix the port numbers with 127.0.0.1 so that Redlib only listens on the host port locally. For example, if the host port for Redlib is 8080, specify 127.0.0.1:8080:8080.

If deploying on:

• an arm64 platform, use the quay.io/redlib/redlib:latest-arm image instead.
• an armv7 platform, use the quay.io/redlib/redlib:latest-armv7 image instead.

Docker Compose

Copy compose.yaml and modify any relevant values (for example, the ports Redlib should listen on).

Start Redlib in detached mode (running in the background):

docker compose up -d

5) GitHub Releases

If you're on Linux and none of these methods work for you, you can grab a Linux binary from the newest release.

6) Replit/Heroku/Glitch

Warning

These are free hosting options, but they are not private and will monitor server usage to prevent abuse. If you need a free and easy setup, this method may work best for you.

---

Deployment

Once installed, deploy Redlib to 0.0.0.0:8080 by running:

redlib

Configuration

You can configure Redlib further using environment variables. For example:

REDLIB_DEFAULT_SHOW_NSFW=on redlib

REDLIB_DEFAULT_WIDE=on REDLIB_DEFAULT_THEME=dark redlib -r

You can also configure Redlib with a configuration file named redlib.toml. For example:

REDLIB_DEFAULT_WIDE = "on"
REDLIB_DEFAULT_USE_HLS = "on"

For Docker deployments

If you're deploying Redlib using the Docker CLI or Docker Compose, environment variables can be defined in a .env file, allowing you to centralize and manage configuration in one place.

To configure Redlib using a .env file, copy the .env.example file to .env and edit it accordingly.

If using the Docker CLI, add --env-file .env to the command that runs Redlib. For example:

docker run -d --name redlib -p 8080:8080 --env-file .env quay.io/redlib/redlib:latest

If using Docker Compose, no change is needed as the .env file is already referenced in compose.yaml via the env_file: .env line.

Instance settings

Assign a default value for each instance-specific setting by passing environment variables to Redlib in the format REDLIB_{X}. Replace {X} with the setting name (see list below) in capital letters.

Name	Possible values	Default value	Description
SFW_ONLY	["on", "off"]	off	Enables SFW-only mode for the instance, i.e. all NSFW content is filtered.
BANNER	String	(empty)	Allows the server to set a banner to be displayed. Currently this is displayed on the instance info page.
ROBOTS_DISABLE_INDEXING	["on", "off"]	off	Disables indexing of the instance by search engines.
PUSHSHIFT_FRONTEND	String	www.unddit.com	Allows the server to set the Pushshift frontend to be used with "removed" links.

Default User Settings

Assign a default value for each user-modifiable setting by passing environment variables to Redlib in the format REDLIB_DEFAULT_{Y}. Replace {Y} with the setting name (see list below) in capital letters.

Name	Possible values	Default value
THEME	["system", "light", "dark", "black", "dracula", "nord", "laserwave", "violet", "gold", "rosebox", "gruvboxdark", "gruvboxlight"]	system
FRONT_PAGE	["default", "popular", "all"]	default
LAYOUT	["card", "clean", "compact"]	card
WIDE	["on", "off"]	off
POST_SORT	["hot", "new", "top", "rising", "controversial"]	hot
COMMENT_SORT	["confidence", "top", "new", "controversial", "old"]	confidence
SHOW_NSFW	["on", "off"]	off
BLUR_NSFW	["on", "off"]	off
USE_HLS	["on", "off"]	off
HIDE_HLS_NOTIFICATION	["on", "off"]	off
AUTOPLAY_VIDEOS	["on", "off"]	off
SUBSCRIPTIONS	+-delimited list of subreddits (sub1+sub2+sub3+...)	(none)
HIDE_AWARDS	["on", "off"]	off
DISABLE_VISIT_REDDIT_CONFIRMATION	["on", "off"]	off
HIDE_SCORE	["on", "off"]	off
FIXED_NAVBAR	["on", "off"]	on

Proxying using NGINX

Note

If you're proxying Redlib through an NGINX Reverse Proxy, add

proxy_http_version 1.1;

to your NGINX configuration file above your proxy_pass line.

systemd

You can use the systemd service available in contrib/redlib.service (install it on /etc/systemd/system/redlib.service).

That service can be optionally configured in terms of environment variables by creating a file in /etc/redlib.conf. Use the contrib/redlib.conf as a template. You can also add the REDLIB_DEFAULT__{X} settings explained above.

When "Proxying using NGINX" where the proxy is on the same machine, you should guarantee nginx waits for this service to start. Edit /etc/systemd/system/redlib.service.d/reverse-proxy.conf:

[Unit]
Before=nginx.service

launchd

If you are on macOS, you can use the launchd service available in contrib/redlib.plist.

Install it with cp contrib/redlib.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents/.

Load and start it with launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/redlib.plist.

Building

git clone https://github.com/redlib-org/redlib
cd redlib
cargo run