PeerTube

PeerTube is a self‑hosted, federated video platform that replaces centralized services like YouTube with an open‑source, community‑owned network. From a developer’s perspective it is a full‑stack application that bundles video ingestion, transcoding, storage, and distribution while exposing a rich REST/JSON‑API for integration. The core goal is to give operators complete control over data, moderation policies, and monetization while still allowing cross‑instance discovery via ActivityPub.

• Backend: Written in Node.js with the express framework, leveraging passport for authentication and sequelize as an ORM.
• Frontend: Angular (v12+) delivers a SPA experience; the client talks to the backend through JSON endpoints and WebSocket streams for live events.
• Media Pipeline: Video files are processed by ffmpeg (via the fluent-ffmpeg wrapper) into HLS and DASH manifests, then stored in a PostgreSQL‑backed database for metadata and an S3/MinIO compatible object store for the actual media files.
• Federation: ActivityPub is implemented using activitypub-node, enabling instances to share videos, comments, and follow relationships.
• Database: PostgreSQL (>=12) for relational data; Redis is optional for caching and job queues.
• Background Workers: Node‑based workers (using bull/Redis) handle transcoding, thumbnail generation, and federation tasks asynchronously.

• REST/JSON API: CRUD operations for videos, channels, playlists, and user accounts; OAuth2 support for third‑party clients.
• Webhooks & ActivityPub: Subscribe to events such as new uploads or instance joins; publish and consume ActivityPub objects for federation.
• Transcoding Jobs: Expose job status, progress, and logs via API; allow custom transcoding profiles.
• Plugin System: Loadable modules (npm packages) that hook into lifecycle events, add routes, or extend the UI.
• CLI Tools: peertube-cli for database migrations, instance checks, and media cleanup.

PeerTube can be deployed on any Linux distribution with Node.js, PostgreSQL, and a compatible object store. Docker Compose is the official deployment method; images are available on Docker Hub (chocobozzz/peertube). Kubernetes manifests (Helm chart) are community‑maintained. For scaling, horizontal pod autoscaling can be applied to the worker pool; media files are served via a CDN or edge cache (e.g., Cloudflare R2). The application is stateless except for the database and object store, making it straightforward to add replicas.

• Custom Authentication: Replace the default passport strategies with LDAP, SAML, or OAuth providers.
• External Analytics: Expose raw event streams that can be consumed by Prometheus or Grafana dashboards.
• Content Moderation: Hook into the moderation API to integrate AI‑based filtering or external policy engines.
• UI Themes: Angular components can be overridden via CSS variables and custom component bundles.

The documentation is hosted on the official website and includes a dedicated “Developer” section with API reference, SDK examples (JavaScript/TypeScript), and migration guides. The community is active on GitHub Discussions, Matrix rooms, and a dedicated Mastodon instance, providing quick support for integration questions. The open‑source license (AGPLv3) encourages customization while ensuring that improvements remain community‑shared.

• Educational Institutions: Host lecture videos on a private federated network, avoiding third‑party trackers.
• NGOs & Advocacy Groups: Create a resilient platform that can interoperate with other activist networks (e.g., Mastodon).
• Enterprise Video Portals: Deploy an internal video hub with custom authentication and analytics, while still allowing selective federation.
• Open‑Source Projects: Provide a community channel for demos, tutorials, and release videos without vendor lock‑in.

• No Vendor Lock‑In: Operators own the code, data, and moderation policies.
• Federated Growth: Small instances can interconnect, creating a larger audience without central servers.
• Performance & Flexibility: Node.js + Angular offers modern, responsive UI; the transcoding pipeline is fully configurable.
• Open‑Source Licensing: AGPLv3 ensures that any modifications are shared, fostering a healthy ecosystem.
• Scalable Architecture: Stateless API servers, worker queues, and CDN‑compatible storage make horizontal scaling straightforward.

PeerTube delivers a developer‑friendly platform that balances modern web technologies with the principles of decentralization, giving you full control over your video distribution while still tapping into a growing federated community.