OSS TanbouOverview
Loops is an open-source platform for publishing, discovering, and sharing short videos through ActivityPub federation. Communities can operate independent servers while interacting with compatible services such as Loops, Pixelfed, and Mastodon. The latest release checked is v1.0.0-beta.14.
Features and best fit
Based on official documentation; not hands-on tested · Content checked:
Publish short videos and discover them through feeds, hashtags, and profiles
Loops provides Following and For You feeds plus hashtags and profiles, with comments, replies, mentions, likes, shares, and boosts for social interaction under community-controlled server policies.
Sources: [2]
Federate through ActivityPub and extend the platform through an open REST API
ActivityPub connects a Loops instance to the wider fediverse, while the JSON REST API uses OAuth 2.0 and is documented for third-party clients and integrations without requiring a partnership or prior approval.
Sources: [2]
For communities that want short video under their own rules while remaining federated
It fits groups that want a TikTok-like short-video experience without depending on one centralized operator, while keeping interoperability with the fediverse and an API for custom clients.
Sources: [2]
Plan for beta-stage changes and the operational cost of video plus federation
The current release is v1.0.0-beta.14. Self-hosting requires PHP 8.3+, MySQL 8.0+, Redis 6.0+, FFmpeg, Node.js, Composer, and configured media storage. Public instances need capacity, bandwidth, transcoding, moderation, abuse handling, and federation operations. Loops is AGPL-3.0.
Official sources
- [1]joinloops/loops-server repository(2026-09-18)
- [2]Loops README(2026-09-18)
- [3]Loops installation guide(2026-09-18)
- [4]Loops Docker Compose guide(2026-09-18)
- [5]Loops LICENSE(2026-09-18)
- [6]Loops v1.0.0-beta.14 release(2026-09-18)
Supplemental curator note
Loops brings a TikTok-style short-video experience to ActivityPub federation rather than a single centralized service. Self-hosting also means operating video processing, storage, Redis/MySQL, mail, and HTTPS.
Try it in 3 steps
- 1
Get the source
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/joinloops/loops-server.git - 2
Enter the repository
cd loops-server - 3
Check the official steps
Continue with the commands in the README Installation, Quick Start, or Getting Started section.
find . -maxdepth 1 -iname 'README*' -exec sed -n '1,220p' {} \; -quit
Growth
Growth trends · Last 30 days
454 Stars
Trend data is still being collected.
Development activity
Last 90 days · weekly
- Commits (last 30 days)
- 49
- Open PRs
- 36
Development activity is still being collected.
Built with
Categories and tags
Categories
GitHub data
GitHub dataView detailed GitHub data
GitHub Topics
- activitypub
- loops
- reels
- short-videos
- social-media
- social-network
- tiktok
- Stars
- 454
- Forks
- 59
- Watchers
- 9
- Open issues
- 43
- Primary language
- PHP
- License
- AGPL-3.0
- Repository last updated
- Sep 18, 2026
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