Skrongle mini · no experience needed

Run Skrongle at home on a tiny computer

Put it on a Raspberry Pi at home, and everyone on your Wi-Fi can use it. You'll just copy and paste a few commands.

Start with what you need Technical version

your Pi

Skrongle mini

What this page installs: the same app, set up for a handful of people who know you, with no outside services.

What it leaves out

  • No e-mail or text messages: links show up in the page instead.
  • No plans or payments: everyone has everything.
  • Sign-up by invitation: you make a link for each person.
  • Your own Terms of Service, not ours.
  • Background work runs inside the app: no extra services to run.
  • One database file (SQLite): no database server.

Keeping it safe is your job

  • A strong password for every account.
  • Two-factor sign-in with an authenticator app: Profile settings → Two-factor authentication.
  • Reach it only over Tailscale or a VPN (step 6). Never forward a port on your router.

🔒 The app slows down password guessing, but it isn't built to face the open internet. What it covers and what it doesn't.

1 Why host it yourself?

🔒 Your data, on your device

Lessons, progress and accounts live on a memory card in your home, not on someone else's server.

🔌 Cheap to keep running

After the Pi itself, the only running cost is a little electricity.

👪 One box for everyone

A family or a classroom shares one Pi. Everyone gets their own account and their own progress.

🛠️ A real skill

Once you've done this, you can self-host almost anything. See the ideas at the end.

2 What you need

Estimated cost: ~$40, or ~$47 with a card reader. US reseller prices, before shipping; they vary. No screen, keyboard or mouse needed.

3 Set up the Pi

  1. Install Raspberry Pi Imager on your computer from raspberrypi.com/software. It's the official free tool that prepares the memory card.
  2. Put the microSD card in your computer and open Imager.
  3. Choose your device: Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W.
  4. Choose the system: Raspberry Pi OS (other) → Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit).
  5. Choose your memory card, then fill in the settings Imager offers:
    • Hostname skrongle
    • Username & password your choice; write them down
    • Wi-Fi your network name and password
    • Location your country
    • SSH on, with password login
  6. Write the card.
  7. Put the card in the Pi and plug it in. Give it a few minutes to start.

💡 Can't connect later? Usually a Wi-Fi typo. Write the card again.

4 Install Skrongle

Connect to your Pi

Open Terminal (Mac) or PowerShell (Windows) and type, with your username:

ssh yourname@skrongle.local

Type yes if asked, then your password (it stays invisible as you type).

Download it

Paste these lines:

curl -LO https://github.com/alexbeeken/pooki/releases/download/v0.1.0/skrongle-0.1.0-aarch64.tar.gz
sudo mkdir -p /opt/skrongle
sudo tar -xzf skrongle-0.1.0-aarch64.tar.gz -C /opt/skrongle

Start it (and on every boot)

sudo mkdir -p /etc/skrongle
sudo cp -n /opt/skrongle/terms.example.md /etc/skrongle/terms.md
sudo cp /opt/skrongle/skrongle.service /etc/systemd/system/
sudo systemctl enable --now skrongle

Open it

First, print the link that makes your own account, the owner's. It works once:

sudo journalctl -u skrongle -g "Owner link" -o cat | tail -n 1

Open that link on any phone or laptop on the same Wi-Fi and make your account. After that, the address is:

http://skrongle.local:8080

🎉 Done. Bookmark it.

💡 Not loading? Run hostname -I on the Pi and use that number instead, e.g. http://192.168.1.42:8080.

5 Make it yours

  • Invite everyone else with a link from Superuser (in the account menu).
  • Put your name in the Terms. Everyone accepts them when they sign up. Edit them with sudo nano /etc/skrongle/terms.md, then sudo systemctl restart skrongle; everyone accepts the new text at their next visit.
  • Pick a course. Spanish is built in, or make your own.
  • Optional: AI tutor and course generator. Paste an Anthropic, OpenAI or Google key in Profile settings → AI API keys. They bill you directly.

🔒 Only people you invite can make an account.

6 Use it away from home optional

Use Tailscale (free): a private link between your own devices. Don't open ports on your router.

home anywhere
  1. Make a free Tailscale account.
  2. On the Pi, run these, then open the link it prints and approve the Pi. 
    curl -fsSL https://tailscale.com/install.sh | sh
sudo tailscale up
  3. Install Tailscale on your phone, same account.
  4. Open http://skrongle:8080 from anywhere.

7 What else can your Pi do?

You've done the hard part. Try one of these next:

🔑 Store your passwordsVaultwarden, a password manager you host. 🎵 Stream your own musicNavidrome plays your collection anywhere. 📁 Store files and notesSyncthing keeps them in sync across devices.

More at projects.raspberrypi.org.

More detail: the technical guide.