Skip to content
Server

Connect LightBites and add your photo folders

Once the server runs, every device signs in with the same address, a user name and a password, and shares one library.

6 min · Updated 26 October 2026

  1. 1

    Add the people who will sign in

    Open /admin on your server, then Users, Add user. One user per person: each gets a library of their own, shared by all their devices. An admin is also an ordinary user.

  2. 2

    Sign in from LightBites

    On the iPhone, iPad or Mac, open Settings, then Sync. Type the server’s address, the user name and the password, and tap Sign In. The device appears on the admin page, under the user’s Devices.

    The first device with photos to sign in to an empty server uploads its library. Every other device starts from a new, empty library and fills from the server: thumbnails first, then the smart preview of each photo you open, and originals when you ask for them.

  3. 3

    Add photo folders already on the server

    On the admin page, Users, the user, Library folders, Add folder. Enter the folder’s path as the server sees it (inside Docker, under /photos, such as /photos/ann) and a name. The server reads the files where they are and again every 15 minutes: ratings, labels, keywords and edits in XMP files come along.

    The folder is read only by default. Nothing in it is moved or copied. You can let the server write XMP sidecars, or file the photos your devices upload, per folder.

    Terminal
    docker exec lightcraft lightcraft-server folder add ann /photos/ann --name Photos
  4. 4

    Use it

    Edits, ratings, albums, keywords and presets travel between devices. Make Available Offline keeps an album editable without a network; Download Originals fetches full-size files. Share an album as a link that anyone can open in a browser, with an end date and a password if you like.