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Self-host CollectiveAccess

2.0.11

Collections management software for museums and archives

ReleaseOpen SourceGPL-3.0
Updated7 months ago
LanguagePHP
Setup difficultyAdvanced
Stars
387
CPU
2+ cores (4+ recommended)
RAM
4 GB minimum (8 GB recommended)
Storage
Variable based on media count and size; formula provided in docs
Requires
MySQL
Install with Linux
Providence cataloguing software home screen showing collection management interface

What is CollectiveAccess?

Providence is the cataloging backend of CollectiveAccess, a web-based platform for managing museum, archive, and research collections. It handles diverse metadata standards and media types including documents, images, audio, video, and 3D files. Notable capabilities include a GraphQL API for programmatic access, BagIT export for preservation workflows, machine translation via Google Translate and DeepL, automated transcription with OpenAI Whisper, multi-instance data synchronization, and broad import/export format support such as Dublin Core, METS, and MODS. The application requires PHP 8.2 or newer with MySQL or MariaDB, running on Apache or Nginx across Linux, macOS, or Windows.

Should you self-host CollectiveAccess?

CollectiveAccess scores 55/100 on selfhost.directory (how scoring works) and ranks #6 of 15 in Asset Management. It has 387 GitHub stars.

It shipped 2 stable releases in the past year. The latest, 2.0.11, came out on 16 March 2026. New versions land roughly every 3 days.

Setup is advanced: plan for several services and some ongoing maintenance. It is GPL-3.0-licensed and written mostly in PHP.

Its closest alternative on selfhost.directory is Snipe-IT (77/100, 15 109 stars). It scores higher overall, so compare the two before you pick. See CollectiveAccess vs Snipe-IT side by side.

Features

  • Audio/video transcription
  • Automated Translation
  • Background media processing
  • BagIT export
  • Collections cataloguing
  • Data replication
  • External media references
  • GraphQL API
  • Location Tracking
  • Media metadata extraction
  • Metadata standards support
  • Multi-format import/export
  • Reporting and PDF generation
  • Search Engine

CollectiveAccess README

How to install CollectiveAccess

Install CollectiveAccess with Linux

  • Set up an empty MySQL database for your installation. Give the database a name and create a login for it with full read/write access.
  • Install a web server. This is typically Apache or Nginx but any http server can be used.
  • Copy the contents of the CollectiveAccess software distribution to the root of the web server instance in which your installation will run. You can obtain the latest release version from our download page.
  • Copy the setup.php-dist file (in the root directory of the CA distribution) to a file named setup.php. Edit setup.php, changing the various directory paths and database login parameters to reflect your server setup.
  • Make sure the permissions on the app/tmp, app/log, vendor/ezyang/htmlpurifier/library/HTMLPurifier/DefinitionCache and media directories are such that the web server can write to them.
  • In a web browser navigate to the web-based installer. Enter your email address and select the installation profile that best fits your needs. Then click on the "begin" button.

Standard production installation method

How to configure CollectiveAccess

  • CA_QUEUE_ENABLED0 (off)Enable background processing of media files exceeding a specific size

    Enable background processing of media files exceeding a specific size

    values: 0 or 1

  • database login parametersMySQL database connection settings in setup.php

    MySQL database connection settings in setup.php

  • directory pathsVarious directory paths for media, tmp, log in setup.php

    Various directory paths for media, tmp, log in setup.php

CollectiveAccess releases & version history

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