Tippr
Tippr is a community site built on the classic reddit codebase, updated
for Python 3 and current Linux, and aimed at self-hosting in production.
About
This project is based on the open-source reddit codebase, originally
released under the Common Public Attribution License (CPAL). The original
code is at https://github.com/reddit-archive/reddit.
What's different:
- Python 3.12 on Ubuntu 24.04. The code is ported from Python 2, with
current dependencies and packaging.
- One-command install. It sets up the app and every service it needs,
with TLS, generated passwords, systemd units, and production or
development settings.
- Search with OpenSearch.
- AI content labels: each post is marked human-made, AI-assisted or
AI-generated. Vaults can restrict them, and users can hide them.
- A welcoming default community: starter vaults leaning toward
technology, science, making things and fun, including LGBTQ+. The
content policy explicitly bans hate based on sexual orientation and
gender identity.
- Feeds: vaults can fill themselves from RSS and Atom feeds, so a new
site has posts from day one (starter feeds included).
- Gold and sold ads with your own payment accounts: PayPal, Stripe
(cards, Google Pay, Apple Pay), Coinbase and BitPay, set up on an admin
page.
- Built-in reading features that used to need a browser extension:
night mode, infinite scroll, keyboard navigation, expanding images,
filters, user tags, new-comment counts and an account switcher.
- Admin pages for site settings, email, spam protection, AdSense,
payments, feeds, backups, users and vaults, and a support queue for
messages to the admins, without editing config files.
- Backups and server moves: export the whole site, copy it to another
server over HTTPS, and restore it there.
- A new look: teal theme, Noto Sans, the tippr bot.
Developed by TechIdiots LLC.
License
This project is licensed under the Common Public Attribution License
Version 1.0 (CPAL), the same license as the original reddit code. See the
LICENSE file.
Attribution: Based on reddit open-source code. Original code © 2006-2015
reddit Inc.
Quickstart (Ubuntu 24.04)
On a fresh server or VM, as root:
useradd -m -s /bin/bash tippr
git clone https://github.com/TechIdiots-LLC/tippr.git /opt/tippr
cd /opt/tippr
TIPPR_USER=tippr TIPPR_DOMAIN=example.com ./install-tippr.sh
Or use a release: the
Docker Compose bundle (docker/README.md) or the
Proxmox LXC template (docs/PROXMOX.md).
A domain ending in .local, .localhost or .test gets a development
install; any other domain gets production settings. For a test site, map
the name to the server in your hosts file (192.168.1.50 tippr.local)
and browse to https://tippr.local.
The admin account is tippr; its password is TIPPR_ADMIN_PASSWORD in
/etc/tippr/secrets.env. See docs/INSTALL_tippr.md
for every option (TLS, Cloudflare, firewall, site name) and what to do
after installing.
Managing a site
tippr-start | tippr-stop | tippr-restart # the whole stack
journalctl -u tippr-paster -f # web app logs
systemctl list-units 'tippr*' # service status
sudo tippr-backup export --offline # back up the site
Documentation
Contributing
Contributions are welcome. Please open an issue or a pull request.
Credits
- Original code: reddit Inc. (2006-2015)
- Python 3 migration and modernization: TechIdiots LLC (2024-2026)
