OfflineAcademy

A self-hosted, LAN-first video course library for private learning.

Turn a local folder of course videos into a clean learning dashboard with progress tracking, bookmarks, tags, categories, and optional AI-generated quizzes.

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Table of Contents

• Why OfflineAcademy?
• Feature Highlights
• Screenshots
• Tech Stack
• Quick Start
• Docker Deployment
• Configuration
• Course Folder Structure
• Data & Persistence
• Updating
• Backup
• Security Notes
• License

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Why OfflineAcademy?

Most online course platforms assume cloud storage, user accounts, subscriptions, and constant internet access. OfflineAcademy is built for a different workflow:

• You already have course videos stored locally.
• You want a clean interface to browse, watch, and resume lessons.
• You want progress tracking without uploading your learning data anywhere.
• You want a private LAN app that works from your desktop, laptop, tablet, or phone.
• You want optional quiz practice without turning the app into a cloud product.

OfflineAcademy is designed for single-user local/LAN deployments: home servers, NAS boxes, mini PCs, Docker hosts, homelabs, and personal workstations.

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Feature Highlights

Course Library

• Scan a local course directory and build a browsable library.
• Display course cards with progress, metadata, tags, categories, and quick actions.
• Pin/favorite important courses.
• Rename courses from the UI.
• Delete from library to hide/archive without deleting files.
• Delete from disk when you intentionally want to remove course files.
• Unified action menus across dashboard and course pages.

Video Learning Experience

• Browser-based playback for local video files.
• Resume playback from the last watched position.
• Track lesson progress automatically.
• Continue watching card for the most recent lesson.
• Mobile-friendly controls and responsive layout.
• Playback speed controls.
• Fullscreen and picture-in-picture support where supported by the browser.
• Keyboard shortcuts overlay.

Bookmarks & Learning Notes

• Bookmark lessons for later review.
• Store bookmark notes alongside lessons.
• Revisit saved moments without hunting through folders manually.

Course Organization

• Add custom tags to courses.
• Add categories to courses.
• Filter and search the course library.
• Keep all organization metadata local to the app/database.

AI Quiz Practice

• Generate module-level practice quizzes.
• Supports QuizAPI and The Trivia API.
• Per-video quiz topic overrides.
• Clear or regenerate quizzes from course actions.
• Smart skip logic for low-value quiz targets:
  • introductions
  • footnotes
  • appendices
  • bonus lectures
  • modules without useful quiz topics
• Graceful fallback handling when providers rate-limit or lack matching categories.

Offline & Local-First Design

• No accounts.
• No user profiles.
• No required cloud storage.
• Local SQLite database via Prisma.
• Offline-capable PWA behavior through service worker caching.
• Machine-scoped settings from the app UI.

Deployment-Friendly

• Local Node.js deployment.
• Docker and Docker Compose support.
• Portable folder mounts for courses and database.
• Suitable for trusted LAN/homelab environments.

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Screenshots

Dashboard

Browse courses, continue the most recent lesson, filter your library, and see learning stats at a glance.

Course Page

View course progress, modules, lessons, and quick actions from a focused course detail page.

Watch Page

Watch lessons with progress tracking, course navigation, and bookmark notes in one place.

Settings

Configure the course directory, quiz provider, auto-fetch behavior, and API key from the local settings page.

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Tech Stack

Frontend      Next.js 14, React 18, TypeScript
Styling       Tailwind CSS, Radix UI
Database      SQLite
ORM           Prisma
Runtime       Node.js
Deploy        Docker / Docker Compose or local Node.js

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Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ recommended
• npm
• A folder containing your course videos

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/offlineacademy.git
cd offlineacademy

2. Create your environment file

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env if needed:

DATABASE_URL="file:./dev.db"
COURSES_ROOT="./My_Courses"
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL="http://localhost:6767"
QUIZAPI_KEY=""

3. Install dependencies

npm ci

4. Prepare the database

npx prisma generate
npx prisma db push

5. Add courses

Create a course folder:

mkdir -p My_Courses

Place your course folders inside My_Courses.

6. Build and run

npm run build
npx next start -p 6767

Open:

http://localhost:6767

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Docker Deployment

Docker is the recommended deployment path for most users.

Option A: Use the published Docker Hub image

After the image is published to Docker Hub, users can run OfflineAcademy without building from source.

mkdir -p offlineacademy/My_Courses offlineacademy/prisma
cd offlineacademy
curl -fsSL -o docker-compose.yml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nicetry247/offlineacademy/main/docker-compose.hub.yml
curl -fsSL -o .env https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nicetry247/offlineacademy/main/.env.example
touch prisma/dev.db
docker compose up -d

Open:

http://localhost:6767

For LAN access, replace localhost with your server IP:

http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:6767

Option B: Build locally from source

git clone https://github.com/nicetry247/offlineacademy.git
cd offlineacademy
cp .env.example .env
mkdir -p My_Courses prisma
touch prisma/dev.db
docker compose up --build -d

Custom Course Folder

You can store courses anywhere on the host. Update your Compose file and map your folder to /app/My_Courses inside the container:

volumes:
  - /path/to/your/courses:/app/My_Courses
  - ./prisma/dev.db:/app/prisma/dev.db

Examples:

# Linux
- /mnt/media/courses:/app/My_Courses

# macOS
- /Users/you/Videos/Courses:/app/My_Courses

# Windows with Docker Desktop
- C:/Users/you/Videos/Courses:/app/My_Courses

Publishing to Docker Hub

Maintainers can publish manually:

docker login
docker build -t nicetry247/offlineacademy:latest .
docker push nicetry247/offlineacademy:latest

You can also automate Docker Hub publishing later with GitHub Actions. To do that, add repository secrets for:

DOCKERHUB_USERNAME
DOCKERHUB_TOKEN

Then add a workflow that builds and pushes nicetry247/offlineacademy:latest on pushes to main and version tags like v1.0.0.

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Configuration

Variable	Required	Purpose	Example
DATABASE_URL	Yes	SQLite database path	file:./dev.db
COURSES_ROOT	Yes	Course folder path inside the app/container	./My_Courses
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL	Recommended	Public app URL used by metadata and links	http://localhost:6767
QUIZAPI_KEY	Optional	QuizAPI key for quiz generation	qa_...

Settings can also be managed inside the app at:

/settings

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Course Folder Structure

OfflineAcademy works best when courses are organized as folders containing module folders and video files.

My_Courses/
└── Example Course/
    ├── 01 - Introduction/
    │   └── 01 - Welcome.mp4
    ├── 02 - Core Concepts/
    │   ├── 01 - Lesson One.mp4
    │   └── 02 - Lesson Two.mp4
    └── 03 - Practice/
        └── 01 - Lab Walkthrough.mp4

Supported video extensions include common browser-playable formats such as .mp4, plus additional local media formats depending on browser support.

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Data & Persistence

OfflineAcademy stores app data locally.

SQLite database    prisma/dev.db
Course files       My_Courses/ or your configured course mount
Environment        .env
Quiz cache         Course/module folders where generated

Important user data:

• watch progress
• bookmarks
• bookmark notes
• course metadata
• tags and categories
• quiz records/cache
• local app settings

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Updating

Local Node.js

git pull
npm ci
npx prisma generate
npx prisma db push
npm run build
npx next start -p 6767

Docker

git pull
docker compose up --build -d

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Backup

Back up these items regularly:

prisma/dev.db       Main SQLite database
.env                Local configuration and optional API key
My_Courses/         Your source course library, if not backed up elsewhere

A simple backup can be as easy as copying prisma/dev.db somewhere safe before updates.

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Security Notes

OfflineAcademy is designed for trusted local networks and personal/homelab use.

Before exposing it to the public internet, add:

• HTTPS
• reverse proxy authentication
• network access controls
• regular database backups
• careful handling of .env and API keys

Do not commit .env, local databases, course files, or private API keys.

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License

OfflineAcademy is released under the MIT License.

You are free to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the software, subject to the terms of the MIT License.

See LICENSE for the full license text.