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The original was posted on /r/selfhosted by /u/gumofilcokarate on 2025-03-11 15:11:03+00:00.
After a bit of trial and error I got myself a hosting stack that works almost like an own manga site. I thought I'd share, maybe someone finds it useful
1)My use case.
So I'm a Tachiyomi/Mihon user. A have a few devices I use for reading - a phone, tablet and Android based e-ink readers. Because of that this my solution is centred on Mihon.
While having a Mihon based library it's not a prerequisite it will make things way easier and WAAAY faster. Also there probably are better solutions for non-Mihon users.
- Why?
There are a few reasons I started looking for a solution like this.
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Manga sites come and go. While most content gets transferred to new source some things get lost. Older, less popular series, specific scanlation groups etc. I wanted to have a copy of that.
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Apart from manga sites I try get digital volumes from official sources. Mihon is not great in dealing with local media, also each device would have to have a local copy.
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Keeping consistent libraries on many devices is a MAJOR pain.
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I mostly read my manga at home. Also I like to re-read my collection. I thought it's a waste of resources to transfer this data through the internet over and over again.
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The downside of reading through Mihon is that we generate traffic on ad-driven sites without generating ad revenue for them. And for community founded sites like Mangadex we also generate bandwidth costs. I kind of wanted to lower that by transferring data only once per chapter.
- Prerequisites.
As this is a selfhosted solution, a server is needed. If set properly this stack will run on a literal potato. From OS side anything that can run Docker will do.
- Software.
The stack consists of:
- Suwayomi - also known as Tachidesk. It's a self-hosted web service that looks and works like Tachiyomi/Mihon. It uses the same repositories and Extensions and can import Mihon backups.
While I find it not to be a good reader, it's great as a downloader. And because it looks like Mihon and can import Mihon data, setting up a full library takes only a few minutes. It also adds metadata xml to each chapter which is compatible with komga.
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komga - is a self-hosted library and reader solution. While like in case of Suwayomi I find the web reader to be rather uncomfortable to use, the extension for Mihon is great. And as we'll be using Mihon on mobile devices to read, the web interface of komga will be rarely accessed.
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Mihon/Tachiyomi on mobile devices to read the content
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Mihon/Tachiyomi clone on at least one mobile device to verify if the stack is working correctly. Suwayomi can get stuck on downloads. Manga sources can fail. If everything is working correctly, a komga based library update should give the same results as updating directly from sources.
Also some questions may appear.
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Why Suwayomi and not something else? Because of how easy is to set up library and sources. Also I do use other apps (eg. for getting finished manga as volumes), but Suwayomi is the core for getting new chapters for ongoing mangas.
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Why not just use Suwayomi (it also has a Mihon extension)? Two reasons. Firstly with Suwayomi it's hard to tell if it's hosting downloaded data or pulling from the source. I tried downloading a chapter and deleting it from the drive (through OS, not Suwayomi UI). Suwayomi will show this chapter as downloaded (while it's no longer on the drive) and trying to read it will result in it being pulled from the online source (and not re-downloaded). In case of komga, there are no online sources.
Secondly, Mihon extension for komga can connect to many komga servers and each of them it treated as a separate source. Which is GREAT for accessing collection while being away from home.
- Why komga and not, let's say, kavita? Well, there's no particular reason. I tried komga first and it worked perfectly. It also has a two-way progress tracking ability in Mihon.
- Setting up the stack.
I will not go into details on how to set up docker containers. I'll however give some tips that worked for me.
- Suwayomi - the docker image needs two volumes to be binded, one for configs and one for manga. The second one should be located on a drive with enough space for your collection.
Do NOT use environmental variables to configure Suwayomi. While it can be done, it often fails. Also everything needed can be set up via GUI.
After setting up the container access its web interface, add extension repository and install all extensions that you use on the mobile device. Then on mobile device that contains your most recent library make a full backup and import it into Suwayomi. Set Suwayomi to auto download new chapters into CBZ format.
Now comes the tiresome part - downloading everything you want to have downloaded. There is no easy solution here. Prioritise what you want to have locally at first. Don't make too long download queues as Suwayomi may (and probably will) lock up and you may get banned from the source. If downloads hang up, restart the container. For over-scanlated series you can either manually pick what to download or download everything and delete what's not needed via file manager later.
As updates come, your library will grow naturally on its own.
While downloading Suwayomi behaves the same as Mihon, it creates a folder for every source and then creates folders with titles inside. While it should not be a problem for komga, to keep things clean I used mergerfs to create on folder called "ongoing" and containing all titles from all source folders created by Suwayomi.
IMPORTANT: disable all Inteligent updates inside Suwayomi as they tend break updating big time.
Also set up automatic update of the library. I have mine set up to update once a day at 3AM. Updating can be CPU intensive so keep that in mind if you host on a potato. Also on the host set up a cron job to restart the docker container half an hour after update is done. This will clear and repeat any hung download jobs.
- komga - will require two binded volumes: config and data. Connect your Suwayomi download folders and other manga sources here. I have it set up like this:
komga:/data -> library --------- ongoing (Suwayomi folders merged by mergerfs)
---- downloaded (manga I got from other sources)
---- finished (finished manga stored in volumes)
---- LN (well, LN)
After setting up the container connect to it through web GUI, create first user and library. Your mounted folders will be located in /data in the container. I've set up every directory as separate library since they have different refresh policies.
Many sources describe lengthy library updates as main downside of komga. It's partially true but can be managed. I have all my collection directories set to never update - they are updated manually if I place something in them. The "ongoing" library is set up to "Update at startup". Then, half an hour after Suwayomi checks sources and downloads new chapters, a host cron job restarts komga container. On restart it updates the library fetching everything that was downloaded. This way the library is ready for browsing in the morning.
- Mihon/Tachiyomi for reading - I assume you have an app you have been using till now. Let's say Mihon. If so leave it as it is. Instead of setting it up from the beginning install some Mihon clone, I recommend TachoyomiSY. If you already have the SY, leave it and install Mihon. The point is to have two apps, one with your current library and settings, another one clean.
Open the clean app, set up extension repository and install Komga extension. If you're mostly reading at home point the extension to you local komga instance and connect. Then open it as any other extension and add everything it shows into library. From now on you can use this setup as every other manga site. Remember to enable Komga as a progress tracking site.
If your mostly reading from remote location, set up a way to connect to komga remotely and add these sources to the library.
Regarding remote access there's a lot of ways to expose the service. Every selfhoster has their own way so I won't recommend anything here. I personally use a combination of Wireguard and rathole reverse proxy.
How to read in mixed local/remote mode? If your library is made for local access, add another instance of komga extension and point it to your remote endpoint. When you're away Browse that instance to access your manga. Showing "Most recent" will let you see what was recently updated in komga library.
And what to do with the app you've been using up till now? Use it to track if your setup is working correctly. After library update you should get the same updates on this app as you're getting on the one using komga as source(excluding series which were updated between Suwayomi/Komga library updates and the check update).
After using this setup for some time I'm really happy with it. Feels like having your own manga hosting site :)
