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EnglishHow Content Sharing Works in Hydrus Network
Updated
Content sharing in Hydrus Network works through user-run servers, not a central platform. You import files and tags locally, then connect your client to servers that other users operate if you want to exchange content. The scope of what you can see or share depends on which servers you connect to and what their operators allow. Hydrus is not a built-in public social network, so there is no global feed or default account that exposes your library to everyone.
The local-first model
Hydrus is described as a personal booru-style media tagger. Its core job is importing files and tags from your hard drive and popular websites. Tagging, organizing, and searching happen in your own client against your own database.
Sharing is an optional layer on top of that local library. Nothing is published to a central service by default. If you never connect to a server, your files and tags stay on your machine.
What actually gets shared
When you do connect to a server, the exchange is built around two things:
- Files — the media itself, imported into your client.
- Tags — the labels you or others apply to those files.
This matters because Hydrus does not share a platform account identity the way a hosted social site would. There is no single profile that represents you across the network. Instead, your client talks to specific servers, and what moves between them is file and tag data.
Who controls the sharing scope
Two parties set the boundaries:
- You — you decide which servers to connect to and what you are willing to sync or upload.
- The server operator — whoever runs the server decides who can access it, what content it accepts, and how it is moderated.
Because servers are user-run, there is no single authority defining the rules for all of Hydrus. A server might be private, shared among a small group, or open to a wider set of users. Its policies are set by the person or group running it.
What this means in practice
| Expectation from a central platform | How Hydrus works instead |
|---|---|
| One account across the whole network | No global account; you connect to individual servers |
| A default public feed | No built-in public feed; visibility depends on server access |
| Platform-wide moderation | Rules set per server by its operator |
| Content shared automatically | Sharing is opt-in through server connections |
If you are looking for a drop-in public social network, Hydrus is not that. If you want a personal tagging tool that can also exchange files and tags with trusted servers, the user-run server model is the mechanism that makes it possible.
A concrete scenario
Suppose you maintain a tagged collection locally and want to share a subset with a small group. You would connect your client to a server that group runs, and the exchange would involve the files and tags you choose to sync. The group's server operator controls who else can join and what the server accepts. Your local library remains yours; the server is the shared space, and its reach is only as wide as its operator allows.