MetaChan

[!CAUTION] I do not provide pre-hosted instances of the MetaChan API. You will need to host your own instance of the API to use it. MetaChan is provided on an "as-is" basis and fetches data from various public sources and projects, some of which may have rate limits, restrictions, and even contain pirated content. The API is intended for personal use only and should not be used for commercial purposes. I do not take any responsibility for any legal issues that may arise from using the API. Please use it at your own risk. I do not condone piracy or illegal distribution of content.

MetaChan

Welcome to MetaChan. MetaChan is an Anime and Manga metadata API that provides a RESTful interface for accessing metadata for various anime and manga titles. MetaChan best integrates with MyAnimeList and uses MAL IDs as the primary identifier for anime and manga titles. AniList is also supported partially and will reverse lookup MAL IDs.

[![](https://tokei.rs/b1/github/luciferreeves/metachan?category=code&style=for-the-badge)](https://github.com/luciferreeves/metachan) [![](https://tokei.rs/b1/github/luciferreeves/metachan?showLanguage=true&languageRank=1&label=Top%20Language&style=for-the-badge)](https://github.com/luciferreeves/metachan) ![GitHub License](https://img.shields.io/github/license/luciferreeves/metachan?style=for-the-badge) ![GitHub repo size](https://img.shields.io/github/repo-size/luciferreeves/metachan?style=for-the-badge) ![GitHub Repo stars](https://img.shields.io/github/stars/luciferreeves/metachan?style=for-the-badge)

Prerequisites

Go 1.24.1 or later
Make

If you wish to use Docker, you will also need to install Docker. Additionally, you may need to install one of the supported databases if you wish to use a database other than SQLite.

PostgreSQL
MySQL
Microsoft SQL Server
SQLite (not required, but recommended for development)

You might also need to install Git if you want to clone the repository.

Configuring Environment Variables

You can configure the environment variables by creating a .env file in the root directory of the project. The example .env file contains all the available environment variables and their default values. You can modify these values to suit your needs.

The following environment variables are available:

Variable Name	Description	Default Value
`HOST`	The host address to bind the server to.	`0.0.0.0`
`PORT`	The port to run the API on.	`3000`
`DEBUG`	Enable debug logging.	`false`
`DB_DRIVER`	The database driver to use. Supported drivers are `sqlite`, `postgres`, `mysql`, and `sqlserver`. The options are case-sensitive.	`sqlite`
`DSN`	The Data Source Name (DSN) for the database connection. The format depends on the database driver you are using. See Configuring Data Source Names (DSN) below.	`metachan.db`
`ANISYNC`	Enable background anime sync task.	`false`
`TMDB_API_KEY`	API key for TMDB episode enrichment.
`TMDB_READ_ACCESS_TOKEN`	Read access token for TMDB API v4.
`TVDB_API_KEY`	API key for TVDB episode enrichment.

Configuring Data Source Names (DSN)

The DSN format varies depending on which database driver you are using. Refer to the table below for the correct format for each driver.

Driver	DSN Format
`sqlite`	`metachan.db` or `/path/to/metachan.db`
`postgres`	`host=localhost port=5432 user=postgres password=postgres dbname=metachan sslmode=disable`
`mysql`	`root:password@tcp(localhost:3306)/metachan`
`sqlserver`	`sqlserver://localhost:1433?database=metachan`

Local Development

After you have installed the prerequisites, forked the repository and cloned it to your local machine, start by installing the dependencies:

make setup

This will create an example .env file in the root directory of the project. You can use this file to configure the environment variables for your local development environment and database connection.

Now you can start the development server by running:

make dev

Building for Production

[!WARNING] The API is still under heavy development and the main branch contains breaking changes. A lot of features are still missing and the Documentation is not complete. There are no releases yet. If you still want to use the API, you can build it from the source code or use the Dockerfile to build a Docker image. The API is not production ready yet and should be used at your own risk. I am not responsible for any data loss or damage caused by using the API.

To build for production, run the following commands:

make build
make run

This will build the binary and run it. The API will be available at http://localhost:3000 by default.

Docker

You can also run the API using Docker. To build the Docker image, run the following command:

docker build -t metachan .

To run the Docker image:

docker run -p 3000:3000 -e DB_DRIVER=sqlite -e DSN=metachan.db --name metachan metachan

This will expose the API on port 3000. You can change the DB_DRIVER and DSN environment variables to use a different database.

API Documentation

[!NOTE] Documentation for this API is not complete. The API is still under heavy development and the endpoints are subject to change. This README file will be updated with the API documentation once it is available.