SpotwebNG — a modern Spotweb

SpotwebNG is a modern, self-hosted Spotweb alternative — a clean reimagining of the classic Spotweb Spotnet/Usenet community indexer, rebuilt in Python/FastAPI with a fast Netflix-style web UI and a Newznab-compatible API.

If you're looking for a faster, better-looking, actively modern replacement for the old PHP Spotweb — this is it.

Keywords: spotweb, spotweb alternative, modern spotweb, spotnet, usenet, newznab indexer, nzb, self-hosted usenet, FastAPI.

Why SpotwebNG

The original Spotweb is powerful but dated: PHP, end-of-life dependencies, a heavy server-rendered UI, and a security audit that ships switched off. SpotwebNG keeps what Spotnet does well and modernizes everything around it:

• ⚡ Newznab API — caps, search, tvsearch, movie, get. Drop it into Radarr, Sonarr, Prowlarr or any Newznab client as a regular indexer.
• 🎬 Modern web UI — Netflix-style poster grid with a one-click table-view toggle and rich detail pages.
• 🧭 Setup wizard — choose from a catalog of 68 Usenet providers (host/port/SSL autofill); you just add your username and password.
• 🐘 Postgres via SQLAlchemy 2.0 async (a local SQLite file works out of the box for dev).
• 🐳 Docker-first deployment.

Run it

Quick look (no infra — SQLite + demo data)

git clone https://github.com/Mx4flav0r/SpotwebNG.git
cd SpotwebNG
python3 -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
uvicorn app.main:app --reload --port 7979
# open http://localhost:7979  (first run redirects to /setup)

Production (Postgres, Docker)

SPOTWEBNEXT_API_KEY=your-strong-key docker compose up --build

Use it as an indexer

In any Newznab client (Radarr / Sonarr / Prowlarr), add a Newznab indexer pointing at:

• URL: http://<your-host>:7979
• API key: the key shown in the setup wizard

It serves GET /api?t=search&q=…&apikey=…&cat=… and works alongside your other indexers.

Roadmap

• Phase 1 (done): schema, Newznab API, modern web UI, setup wizard.
• Phase 2: richer browsing — comments, watchlist, advanced filters.
• Phase 3: native Python Spotnet retrieval engine (NNTP + spot-signature verification), replacing the legacy fetcher scaffold (see scaffold/README.md).

Configuration (env, prefix SPOTWEBNEXT_)

Variable	Default	Notes
DATABASE_URL	local SQLite file	set to postgresql+asyncpg://… for production
DEFAULT_API_KEY	changeme-spotwebnext-key	the Newznab key clients authenticate with
SEED_DEMO_DATA	true	seed demo spots on first boot; set false in production

License

MIT — same spirit as the original Spotweb.