Directory Lister

PHP web app that turns a folder on your web server into a browsable public download page with search, file hashes and zip downloads.

2.5k stars, 515 forks PHP On GitHub since February 2011

Directory Lister at a glance

Open sourceYes, MITNo paid parts in the repository
Health64 of 100Actively developed
Self-hostingDockerOne-click in YunoHost
Interface25 languagesIncluding English, German and French
Issue repliesWithin ~21 hoursMedian first reply; 70% of recent issues answered

What is Directory Lister?

Directory Lister publishes the contents of a web-accessible folder as a clean, browsable listing. You copy its files to a PHP web server, point it at a directory, and visitors can navigate folders, search for files, check file hashes and download a whole directory as a zip archive. README files inside folders are rendered on the page, the sort order is configurable, and light and dark themes are included. Settings live in a .env file. The interface is available in 25 languages.

Good fit if

  • You want to offer public downloads, such as releases or datasets, from ordinary PHP hosting.
  • You need a listing that works with almost no configuration and can be dropped onto an existing server.

Look elsewhere if

  • Your files are private or sensitive; the README warns that everything in the configured path, hidden files included, is public. A multi-user manager such as FileGator adds accounts.
  • You just need to serve a folder over HTTP for a moment, without setting up PHP: miniserve.
  • You need uploads, WebDAV and media indexing alongside browsing: copyparty.

Before you adopt it

Directory Lister uses the MIT license and the repository has no paid parts; development is funded through sponsorships. It needs PHP 8.2 or newer with the Multibyte String extension, plus the Zip, DOM and Fileinfo extensions for zip downloads and README rendering. A separate Directory Lister Compose project covers Docker setups. Chris Kankiewicz created and maintains it, and he wrote most of the recent commits, so its pace depends largely on one person. The latest release is 5.8.3.

Drafted with AI from the project's README and repository data, then checked against that data on 7 November 2026. Report a correction

How to run Directory Lister yourself

One-click install

Not listed in Umbrel, TrueNAS, Unraid, CasaOS, Runtipi, Proxmox VE Helper-Scripts and Coolify. Checked against each panel’s app catalog on 12 November 2026.

Ways to install

Docker files
Dockerfile or compose file in the repository
Docker image
directorylister/directorylister: 47.1k pulls · x86-64 · 265 MB download
Compose file
docker-compose.yaml: 4 services (redis)
Setup effort
3 of 5, judged from the compose file
Kubernetes
No Helm chart in the repository
Desktop and mobile
No app builds in GitHub releases
Interface languages
25 languages, including English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Turkish and Chinese
Show all 25

Arabic, Azerbaijani, Basque, Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Kanuri, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish

Install instructions: directorylister.com or the README on GitHub. Docker images and packages are checked weekly.

Directory Lister health: is it still maintained?

64 of 100, actively developed

Release rhythmEvery ~33 days11 releases in 12 months; latest 5.8.3
Issue repliesWithin ~21 hoursMedian first reply; 70% of recent issues answered
Bus factorHigh riskThe most active of 3 authors wrote 85% of recent commits
  • Activity
    28 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 30 October 2026.
    18 / 30
  • Contributors
    3 people wrote the 28 commits of the last 90 days; the most active wrote 85% of them.
    5 / 20
  • Releases
    11 releases in the last 12 months; the latest, 5.8.3, on 30 October 2026.
    18 / 20
  • Replies to issues
    Maintainers answered 70% of recent issues, with a median first reply after 21 hours.
    18 / 20
  • Security practices
    OpenSSF Scorecard 4.8 of 10.
    5 / 10

Read from GitHub on 12 November 2026. How the score works

Directory Lister security

Security advisories are the vulnerabilities the maintainers disclosed on GitHub, with the versions that fix them; many advisories can mean careful disclosure as much as weak code. OpenSSF Scorecard checks how a project is developed and released: reviews, protected branches, pinned dependencies, signed releases. It does not audit the code itself.

Security advisoriesNone publishedNo advisories in the repository’s Security tab
OpenSSF Scorecard4.8 of 10How the project is built and released
Security policyPartlyExplains how to report a vulnerability
Signed releasesNoDownloads cannot be checked against a signature

What each Scorecard check found

  • Binary files10 / 10No compiled binaries checked into the repository
  • Dangerous workflows10 / 10No risky patterns in GitHub Actions
  • License file10 / 10A license file is present
  • Maintained10 / 10Steady commits and issue activity in the last 90 days
  • Packaging10 / 10Releases are published as packages from CI
  • Security policy9 / 10A security policy exists but leaves things out
  • Branch protection3 / 10Rules on the main branch are partly enforced
  • Code review1 / 10Some changes are merged without review
  • Pinned dependencies1 / 10Some dependencies use fixed versions
  • Best-practices badge0 / 10No OpenSSF Best Practices badge
  • Fuzzing0 / 10No fuzz testing found
  • Signed releases0 / 10Releases are not signed
  • Static analysis0 / 10No static analysis found
  • Token permissions0 / 10CI tokens have broad write rights

Advisories read from GitHub on 12 November 2026. From the OpenSSF Scorecard of 9 November 2026; checks that do not apply to Directory Lister are left out.

Directory Lister license: is it open source?

Directory Lister uses MIT, an open-source license approved by the OSI.

  1. February 2011First published on GitHub.
  2. TodayMIT.

Directory Lister for developers

Written in

  • PHP 89%
  • Twig 6%
  • JavaScript 2%
  • CSS 1%
  • Dockerfile 1%
  • Other 1%

Getting involved

Contributing guideYesCONTRIBUTING.mdOpen issues8On GitHub
Authors, 90 days3Of 28 commits
Donations2 waysGitHub Sponsors, own page

Language shares are GitHub’s count of the code in the repository.

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  • NextcloudNextcloud server, a safe home for all your data 90 health · AGPL-3.0 · 37.5k stars
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All 18 projects in File storage & sync

Questions about Directory Lister

Is Directory Lister open source?

Yes. Directory Lister is published under MIT, an OSI-approved open-source license.

Is Directory Lister still maintained?

Its health score is 64 of 100 (actively developed). It had 28 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 30 October 2026, and its latest release came out on 30 October 2026.

How do I run Directory Lister?

You can run it with the Docker image directorylister/directorylister and in one click from YunoHost. The README on GitHub has the exact steps.

What is Directory Lister written in?

Directory Lister is written mainly in PHP (89% of the code), with Twig (6%), by GitHub’s count of the repository.

What languages is Directory Lister available in?

The repository has interface translations for 25 languages, including English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish and Russian.

What are the alternatives to Directory Lister?

Close alternatives in the File storage & sync category include Nextcloud, ownCloud, OpenCloud.